Ferrari just found a way to keep its V8 and V12 engines alive

Ferrari just found a way to keep its V8 and V12 engines alive
B. Naumkin
Vlad Komarov
Author: Vlad Komarov

Ferrari's CEO says carbon-neutral fuel changes nothing under the hood. Two more cars are coming before 2026 ends, and combustion isn't going anywhere.

Ferrari's electric Luce hasn't sounded the death knell for Maranello's gasoline engines. The company has already tested several types of carbon-neutral fuel and found no change in how its engines perform, Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna announced.

According to Vigna, Ferrari places biofuels in the broader carbon neutral fuels category. He did not specify which fuel blends were tested or on which engines — so for now this is a successful test, not a confirmed switch of the production V6, V8 or V12 to new fuel. No sweeping conclusions yet.

The clarification reshapes how Ferrari's strategy looks after Luce. The electric car hasn't replaced the other powertrains — it has simply joined them. Under Ferrari's official 2030 plan, combustion-engine cars are set to make up around 40% of the lineup, hybrids another 40%, and fully electric models just 20%.

And there's more to come. Before the end of 2026, Ferrari will unveil two more cars — names still under wraps. One premiere could well be an open-top version of the F80 hypercar with a removable roof and the same roughly 1,200-horsepower hybrid powertrain. The second candidate is said to be a more extreme variant of the Ferrari 12Cilindri.

Both remain unconfirmed. Trademark filings, test prototypes and journalist forecasts don't by themselves prove a specific model is ready for its premiere.

Still, the two remaining debuts fit Ferrari's long-term roadmap: between 2026 and 2030, the brand plans to launch an average of four new cars a year. Gasoline, hybrid and electric development will all continue in parallel.

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