Maserati has lifted the veil on the new Grancabrio Folgore, a soft-roofed electric GT promising to meld high-performance thrills with a tranquil open-air driving experience.

The Folgore (Italian for lightning) swaps its combustion-engined sibling’s twin-turbocharged 3.0-litre V6 for the three electric motors from the hard-roofed Maserati Granturismo Folgore.

One is mounted to the front axle and the other two are at the rear. Bosses have told Autocar that each produces a whopping 402bhp, although their combined outputs are pegged at 751bhp and 996lb ft.

This is because the 83kWh (usable) battery can only discharge up to 600kW (805bhp) at any one time. Autocar understands this limit could be raised as battery technology is improved and the car is facelifted.

Maserati claims a range of 278 miles from the drop-top Grancabrio, which is a similar figure to the 280 miles offered by the electric Granturismo. 

The Grancabrio’s Folgore’s structure is reinforced around the sills and the rear tray to maintain ride quality. The company prioritised comfort over agility for the cabrio, according to Davide Danesin, engineering chief for the GT and Quattroporte product lines.

He told Autocar: “The customer of Grancabrio is different from a customer of the GT. The Grancabrio customer is not usually a hard driver looking for the best performance from the car – it's a different way to enjoy the product. 

“They want a status product, they want to enjoy the free life in a good environment.”

Although the extra steel on the Grancabrio Folgore adds around 90kg compared with the coupé, its straight-line performance is almost identical.

It offers a 2.8sec 0-62mph sprint, just 0.1sec behind the Granturismo Folgore. That is also 0.4sec quicker than the dual-motor MG Cyberster, the only other electric drop-top GT coming to the UK over the next year. That car will, however, be significantly less expensive than the Grancabrio.

Visually, the Folgore swaps the slatted grille of its petrol equivalent for ‘inverted’ surfacing. This is to say that each grille pillar on the petrol car is an open area on the EV, and vice versa.

Maserati design chief Klaus Busse explained that he opted to reinvent the grille rather than move to a flat surface to avoid having a “faceless” car. “You get a true Maserati face whether it's the Folgore, Granturismo [ICE] or Grecale,” he said.

The Grancabrio Folgore uses the same folding fabric lid as the petrol car, which can be lowered or raised in 14 seconds, at speeds of up to 31mph.

A neck-warming system comes as standard, offering three levels of heat output. A wind deflector, which reduces turbulence over the passengers, is an optional extra.

Prices have yet to be confirmed by Maserati UK, but they are expected to start at around £185,000.