Vigna brings Ferrari into the electric era: “Our battery-powered car will be an emotion”

“In track you win because you are faster than others, you don’t win by blocking your competitor. We at Ferrari know this well. If the person closest to you is faster than you, don’t waste time stopping them. Run faster. This is the first lesson.” Benedetto Vigna, 55 years old tomorrow, has been the CEO of Ferrari for more than two and a half years, called by the European chip champion, STM Microelectronics, to lead the Cavallino with particular attention to sustainable innovation. And precisely to run faster Ferrari, a company whose main shareholder is Exor which it also controls Republic through Gedi, he inaugurated the E-Cells Lab at the University of Bologna, a research center in the electrochemical field within the university. Center where the chemistry of the cells that will make up the batteries of Maranello’s cars will be studied.

Vigna, what is the second lesson?

“Collaborate. When you collaborate the pie doesn’t always stay the same, but it expands. And half of the larger pie is larger than the individual could have. In China they know this well, and in the USA too. Less so in Europe.”

Let’s start with the collaboration with the university. What will you study at the University of Bologna?

“With the electric car, Ferrari is entering an unexplored dimension, which is that of chemistry. Ferrari’s tradition requires us to study and understand. We can’t afford to fit components we don’t fully understand on a car. We must understand this object and make it ours. The University of Bologna will help us in this, which is an excellence in chemistry, and in collaboration with Nxp, the young researchers who will work within. Why go abroad if we have the skills here in the Motor Valley”.

And what will you do in the e-building under construction in Maranello?

“It will be inaugurated in June, as planned. The cells purchased outside will arrive and we will assemble them at home, but we need to know what we use, what we do and how. We have just renewed another collaboration, specifically for the supply of cells, with the South Korean Sk On. Our aim is to build batteries that make our cars increasingly fun”.

At what point is the transition towards electric in the automotive world?

“Comparing the car sector to the hi-tech sector, the difficulty is not the transition towards electric, but the transition itself. It is something that is frightening, that frightens, in the face of which people say it cannot be done. The car, perhaps due to the defined and stable boundary conditions, is a world where things have always happened slowly. We need to speed up processes and decisions. In this, Tesla has given a wake-up call to the entire sector.”

Is the new electric Ferrari ready?

“Several prototypes are already ready, I receive a daily upgrade, we are on schedule. The first electric Ferrari will be unveiled in 2025 and will go on the market the following year.”

What will the Cavallino battery-powered car be like?

“It will have Ferrari DNA. We thought about the dimensions of design, engineering and performance to give something unique and generate the thrill of driving for customers. It will be an emotion.”

Won’t the combustion engine be abandoned in Maranello?

“It’s the choice I’m most proud of since I joined Ferrari. I’ve seen several technology transitions in my career, and they never happen overnight. They take time in the consumer world, even more so in a world like the automotive one. We will move forward with thermal, electric and hybrid cars, then customers will choose, also so as not to be arrogant towards them. We believe in technological neutrality. We are working on carbon neutral fuels, which can be e-fuels or bio-fuels. I think it’s the right strategy, in line with what Ferrari has always done: taking new technology and, without impositions, reading it from the customer’s perspective.”

The new challenge is sailing. Why?

“Because it is a sector that offers a number of opportunities, it will allow us to develop new technologies and will be important for innovation, transition and sustainability. We will bring systems designed for four wheels to the sea and devices that we will create for our boats on land. This new challenge will allow us to observe problems from different points of view, bringing our racing DNA to other fields. Living in the past represents an obstacle, the challenge is to combine tradition and innovation.”

Did you get off to a better start in Formula 1 this year?

“Better than last year yes, but there is still work to be done and there always will be. The world of competitions is like a person’s life accelerated to the maximum, things can change quickly, between going well and going badly. Stasis does not exist, everything flows, everything is fast. A concept that must also be applied in business and we at Ferrari are doing it.”

What do you mean?

“That when the top management of a company is detached from reality, when it is not inside the business, but on the business, things don’t work at its best. You have to play short, especially when the sea is stormy like in this decade, have a low center of gravity, just like the Ferraris, so the organization is successful.”