The Ferrari 488 Pista is the fastest, most powerful version of the sports car the company has built to date. Complete with a biturbocharged 3.9-liter V8, the 488 Pista is good for 711 horsepower (530 kilowatts) and 568 pound-feet (770 Newton-meters) of torque – but it could be the last of a dying breed. Ferrari is testing out a hybrid powertrain on its 488, as this video clearly proves.

The short 18-second clip shows a Ferrari 488 prototype testing at Fiorano in complete silence. This is the first time we’ve seen the upcoming hybrid Ferrari running in complete electric mode; previous spy photos showed what was believed to be the a hybrid 488 prototype testing on the Nürburgring.

Rumor has it that the sports car will adopt a similar KERS hybrid system to the one found on the LaFerrari. That setup uses a 6.3-liter V12 paired to an electric motor to deliver nearly 1,000 hp (745 kW). The 488 will be less powerful, naturally, and should pair a hybrid powertrain with a V8 engine, not only boosting performance, but also efficiency.

With the current 488 delivering 661 hp (492 kW) in its standard trim, and 711 hp with the Pista package, the hybrid version should produce somewhere in the neighborhood of 675 hp (503 kW) by our best guesstimate. The hybrid powertrain will show up sometime in 2019, either on a 488 GTB successor, or an SUV.

CEO Sergio Marchionne confirmed the arrival of an SUV last year, with rumors suggesting it could use a hybridized V8, as well as the same platform as the GTC4Lusso replacement. But it won’t be the only one – Marchionne has also confirmed that most Ferrari vehicles will be electrified after 2019. We’ll have to wait to uncover the identity of this particular prototype.

Source: PurePerformance / YouTube