Let’s get one thing straight: I’ve driven battery electric vehicles before, Teslas and the like, so I know all about their amazing acceleration (despite the extra weight) and super-quiet running. However, I hadn’t ever ‘lived’ with one of these cars for an extended period, testing its range and charging requirements in real-world scenarios. Adding an extra layer of jeopardy is the fact that this road trip celebrates my 10th wedding anniversary! My wife and I would like to remember this for all the right reasons, not for getting stuck in the back of beyond…
The opportunity arose following a conversation with Maserati Formula E driver Jake Hughes at the Miami E-Prix. As we spoke, a Maserati Grecale Folgore passed by, prompting Hughes to share his daily experiences with the model. He praised its smoothness, instant torque, and comfort, noting how much he missed it during a return to a combustion engine vehicle.
The only drawback, he rued, was the lack of charging infrastructure in his homeland, the UK. And this is where my number one concern lay: Range anxiety. Having run out of fossil-fuel gas once in my life (thanks to an electronic tripmeter that was lying to me) that was one time too many for me. So, it sure wasn’t about to happen on my first week of electric motoring.
Inspired, I arranged a loan of the 2025 Maserati Grecale Folgore, priced at $135,855 with options. The SUV arrived with a 91% state of charge, sufficient for our initial drive from South Beach to Key Largo. As luck would have it, our chosen villa just happened to have an Electrify America charging point less than half a mile away (trust me, this wasn’t planned) – although it was a little alarming to discover that the only other option was in Key West… That journey would be 168 miles, which was doable but rather pushing it!
Instead, our journey was a more manageable 72 miles. Once on the road, it was clear that the Grecale Folgore’s road manners are excellent. I’d heard a few unflattering stories about this model’s bumpy ride and handling in all-electric form, but it seems that was limited to pre-production cars, and this all-electric Folgore model felt just as comfortable as its ICE-powered counterpart.
The instant throttle response helped navigate Miami’s Dolphin Expressway Sunday drivers, but as soon as I hit the Florida Turnpike for the big turn south, there’s a cloud on my horizon… An actual black cloud, that’s obliterated my horizon! The Folgore’s super-quiet electric motors made my phone’s ‘severe thunderstorm warning’ alarm all the easier to hear, and we plunged into a classic summertime Florida monsoon.
Despite driving this car for the very first time, I felt confident of its wet-weather abilities, and its heavy curb weight, plus four-wheel drive, helped carve through the waves, as we ploughed into deeper and deeper water. As the lightning flashed, and the thunder rolled from all angles, it was the kind of driving conditions that if you went near a truck, you’d risk getting swamped by its bow wave. Finally, after a good 20 minutes of 35mph chugging along through the storm with the wipers going at maximum speed, we finally came out the other side and were soon back motoring in the sunshine.
Now on U.S. 1, as the road narrowed to the classic single-lane main artery of the Keys, I could relax my grip on the wheel and focus on how my range was getting on. Pretty good was the answer, and as we arrived at our destination for check-in, the SOC states the Grecale is in the low 60s. So, perhaps aided by me pootling along through the rain in MaxRange mode, that’s effectively only a third of the battery spent for 75 miles.
With vacation mode engaged, as we’re hanging here for the first four days, our trips out are for meals and local sightseeing only. But with a shift of location to Tavernier up next, I decide it’s prescient to do a top-up charge while we’re close to that charging station at Tradewinds.
Thanks to some tutelage from our road tester Gabriel Vega Cortés, I arrive at the charging station with my Electrify America app in hand and some cash pre-loaded in the account. Gabe reckons that sometimes the chargers can be a little funky to get going if you drive them from unit’s screen, plus in bright sunlight it’s a squinty task just like the gas station.
I hook up the heavy cable to the Grecale, for my first-ever electric charge, and it’s an immediate ‘no’ from the machine. Despite a satisfying clunk from the plug/socket it says the connection is no good. Er, OK… hello range-anxiety panic! Good thing this is just a trial run that I don’t really need. But now it feels like I do…
I repeat the process, and this time all is well. I swipe right on my EA app, and it’s off and running. The Folgore’s green lights next to the connector are happily flashing away to confirm electricity is flowing, so safe in the knowledge it’s charging, I lock the car and head off to Publix for groceries.
After 38 minutes, which includes a browse of an outlet mall, my app is showing an SOC of 93%. As my mentor Gabe suggests, charging is a law of diminishing returns past 80%, and it slows down substantially as you get closer to 100. Happy with my lot, and at a cost of $22.77, I disconnect the cable and set off on the short hop to Tavernier.
After pottering around there for a few more days, our full final day of vacation involves an 88-mile round trip to the Turtle Hospital in Marathon, and after a fun time feeding some recovering sea-loving reptiles, on this drive I have a good play through the Grecale’s drive modes – including Offroad (as we take a couple of gravel avenues), GT and Sport. All seem fit for purpose, with Sport mode the most fun as it ratchets up the motor noise and squats the suspension down.
There aren’t many corners in the Keys to push any limits, but it’s clearly a car you could have fun in, and jumping into small gaps at junctions is easy with that instant throttle response. Even with 550 hp on tap, there were no nasty neck-snapping surprises when I gave it full beans to hit the speed limit asap.
In the cockpit, the column-mounted shift paddles are now tasked with adjusting the intensity of the Folgore’s regenerative braking system. I loved the one-pedal driving that allowed for, with maximum regen selected, but I didn’t quite get the sense in having the flappy paddles in the way of the indicator/wiper stalks. The gear selectors themselves are buttons sandwiched between its central displays, which upon first drive was a little unintuitive.
I really liked some of the exterior design cues, which I noticed were sporty enough to get some admiring glances – even from Porsche Macan owners – on multiple occasions. And my wife liked the interior design, which was copper-themed. Overall, it was both very pleasing on the eye and comfortable across our journey.
Ahead of the 77-mile return journey home, and with the battery down in the 50% range after our longest drive yet, I return to the charging station and couple up to the same unit at Tradewinds I used a few days earlier. Again, it refuses to comply the first time but looks to be working at the second time of asking. But as I browse the nearby outlet mall, I check the app: It’s stopped charging after just two minutes. I go back, try again. This time I stay with the car, and the same thing happens after 1m55s. By Zeus, just give me some charge!
Annoyed, I decide to switch chargers. There are two ‘up to 350kW’ stations here and the other one is available (a Genesis, impressively down to just 7% SOC, is hooked up to a ‘up to 150kW’ so I’m immediately suspicious that the higher-powered ones aren’t working) and I try the other one. This time, it’s a qualified success. The system works first time, and after a 45-minute charge I set off for home armed with 93% again. Max charging speed was 78kW, with 37.7kWh delivered for a grand total of $22.69. I will get home!
Charging electric cars is a doddle, when it works. Like Maserati’s racing ace Jake Hughes says, the electric car lifestyle is brilliant until a long distance, and that range anxiety, rears its head. As a city cruiser, Maserati’s Grecale Folgore is an excellent car; it looks great, it’s nippy through traffic, and I can confirm it’ll handle a big storm with ease. But if it was my daily driver for longer drives, I feel I’d have to become an expert in charging station locations, rather than ‘I’m getting low on gas, I’ll be sure to stop at the next station I see.’
As more and more full-electric cars are sold, is the infrastructure in America keeping up? According to reports, in the fourth quarter of 2024 some 433,843 full EVs were registered, while only 9,701 new public chargers were added – a ratio of about 45 new EVs for every new public charging port. This means a national average of 30 EVs per public charging port, highlighting the strain on charging demand – and, of course, their reliability.
Maybe my range anxiety isn’t misplaced after all…
