Giles Gibbons, one of the leading experts in the world of sustainability, visited Ferrari to discover how much a business that produces sports cars can do for the world that awaits us. Energy production at low environmental impact, greenery in the factory and the development of high-performance hybrid cars are some of the realities which characterise Ferrari today
When I was eight I had a poster of a red Ferrari F40 on my wall. Brutal, fast, expensive – it was the most desirable thing in the world and I wanted one. It was my dream, my desire, my reason to be successful. The pinnacle of my ambition. Fast forward 32 years and I find myself outside the Ferrari factory. It should be a dream come true, but over the years my dreams have changed. It’s not that I don’t want a Ferrari any more. I do. I absolutely do. That raw desire hasn’t gone anywhere. However, over the past three decades there has been a fundamental change; not just for me, for everyone.
And that we’re using up too much of the world’s resources. My eight-year-old self grew up to be a sustainability specialist. I help businesses all over the world to be more sustainable and inspire people to make more sustainable decisions, and it was actually in this capacity that I found myself at the Ferrari factory. I’d been asked to conduct a review of the Company from a sustainability perspective, a task that also gave me the chance to try to get to the bottom of the ultimate conundrum. Could I square my desire to do my bit for the planet with my desire to own a Ferrari? On the face of it, it might seem that the answer would have to be a resounding ‘no’. After all, we’re talking about cars that emit anything up to 470g/km CO2. The Ferrari brand conjures up many things: performance, speed, excellence – but the environment is definitely not one of them. All of which left me standing at the Maranello entrance with a heavy heart, expecting to find that I would have to send that childhood dream packing. The good news is that I discovered a number of factors that made me feel much better than I’d expected. Yes, the emissions of the cars are high. But we have to remember that the actual emissions are only one part of the impact of the car. There’s no point looking at them in isolation. The whole life cycle of the car has to be taken into account; its production, getting it to the owner, driving and servicing and then finally getting rid of it at the end of use. I discovered much to feel positive about throughout this whole cycle and I found out that Ferrari has been taking significant, positive steps to address the big emissions question, too. What’s more,
It just felt that it was… well, it felt very Ferrari.
So, while I certainly believe the Company can do better, I also think it’s in a decent place to start. The first positive reaction comes from the way Ferrari are made and the fact that they are better constructed than pretty much anything else out there. I’ll give you one example. As I mentioned before, we have to look at the whole life cycle of the car when we’re thinking about its impact. The actual production of the car is a key part of this. One of the things that struck me throughout my visit was how much I heard people using the word ‘foundry’ in conversation. It’s not surprising; it really is where everything happens. Nearly every single part of a Ferrari is built from scratch on site and the bodywork completed a maximum of 10 miles away. Such control and precision is part of what drives Ferraris’ excellence. It sits in stark contrast to the way most companies make their vehicles, with 20,000-odd parts made in every corner of the world before being transported to a factory for assembly. When it comes to which approach is better for the environment it’s really pretty obvious isn’t it? Ferrari wins hands down. The very approach that helps it produce the best cars in the world also helps it make them in a way that’s better for the world. Ferraris, thanks to their very desirability and demand for respect and care, are better for the world. The average life span of a car like a Renault Clio is around seven years. So every seven years the car needs to be scrapped, which has a significant environmental impact, albeit one that car manufacturers have done much in recent years to redress by increasing recyclability. How does this compare to your average Ferrari? Over 75 per cent of Ferraris ever made are still being lovingly cared for by their owners. Who gets rid of a Ferrari? End-of-life impact is an irrelevance for the Prancing Horse and this helps to make it better for the planet. Then there’s the fact that the average mileage of a Ferrari is around 5,000km a year. Really nothing! That’s because no one has a Ferrari as their only car; it’s more likely to be their pride and joy than their primary mode of transportation. We drive an average of 24,000km a year in our family estate. This pushes its impact way above that of the average Ferrari. The less the car is driven the less its emissions and impact. And there we have another eco advantage. What’s more, as you’d expect, Ferrari owners are going to keep their cars well serviced with clean oil and perfectly-tuned engines. This also has a hugely beneficial impact on the CO2 emissions. The fact that Ferrari isn’t a ‘big’ company means that its overall emissions pale into insignificance when compared with the rest of the motor industry. This could have led it to rest on its laurels, simply doing what it needed to meet environmental regulations and no more than that. The key to sustainability is that everyone does their bit; we all need to move forward and do what we can rather than leaving it to big companies or governments. I was pretty impressed to discover that in 2007 the board of Ferrari took the decision to reduce the company’s emissions by 40 per cent by 2012. That definitely counts as a step forward and, having walked around the factory and explored all the developments taking place, I can vouch for the fact that they will reach this figure.
I met some very clever people whose sole role is to develop the elements which are needed to make the cars in the most environmentally friendly way possible. This speaks volumes about the seriousness of the company’s intent. It’s not just intent either; things have happened already. One of the most impressive steps is a new combined heat and power plant that creates all the energy, hot water and cold air needed for all the processes of making a car. It’s 32 per cent more efficient than taking the energy off the grid. This looks set to be a continuous process and I believe that not only will Ferrari make the 40 per cent reduction target by 2012, it will also set out another ambitious target to aim for.
It’s not just the manufacturing process that Ferrari is improving. The Company is applying the same principle to the cars as well. It’s important to be clear here: the latest Ferrari California emits 299g/km of CO2. This is still too high. It’s three times as much as that of a Fiat 500, which is unsurprising given it’s one of the finest performance cars in the world, but it is trying to bring this figure down. Improvement is what counts. The CO2 emissions of the cars have been reduced by around 30 per cent since 2007; they will meet the 2012 target. And here too the stage seems set for continuous, ongoing improvement. Someone I spoke with in the technical department told me that he was pretty sure they could continue to significantly reduce the CO2 emissions of new Ferraris for the next 10 years.
By my calculation, I reckon that means that by 2015 we could all be cruising the roads of the Dolomites in a Ferrari emitting much less than 300g/km. That would equate to a premium saloon at current levels, not bad for a car that can also get you round a track in the blink of an eye. And not so bad for the planet either. Ferrari has proved time and again that it can innovate to create the highest performance cars in the world. And this philosophy of excellence is now focused on the challenge of making the cars more environmentally friendly. This means Ferrari will not only be helping itself, it can help the rest of the car industry too. Many performance-driven innovations have transferred over time from the racing cars into the average family car; one example being the KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System), developed by the Ferrari F1 team. This nifty little piece of kit transfers the energy generated by the brakes back into the engine to boost performance. This energy, which would otherwise have been wasted, in turn reduces the need for petrol. And so the CO2 impact of the car is reduced. However, the technology was so good it ended up being disallowed by the FIA. Now it has been adapted for use in standard cars to reduce emissions. In five years the Fiat Doblo will probably have a version of this brilliant innovation and, over time, it will help power really significant emission reductions across the motor industry as a whole. Another example is the inclusion of an electric engine alongside petrol innovations.
The 599 Hy-Kers was revealed at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this year. It was referred to as a hybrid, but it’s really much more than that. Most hybrids simply include an electric engine to reduce overall emissions and leave it at that. This innovation is different. The Ferrari team looked at how the combination of electric and petrol engines could deliver even better performance as well as reducing the emissions. The brilliance of an electric engine is that, in comparison to a petrol engine, it is able to reach full power immediately, and therefore provide a huge boost to the engine from the moment it’s switched on. This means instant acceleration of the car – and instant deceleration of emissions. These innovations provide a window into the approach of the organisation. They’re so true to what Ferrari is all about. Having met the people responsible for coming up with them and seeing how and where they work, I feel confident that they will keep on coming; that Ferrari will continue to innovate and develop unique solutions that will deliver environmental benefits alongside magical performance. Why? Well, the people I met on my visit are as far removed as you can imagine from being ‘petrol-heads’; they are highly skilful technicians, masters of their craft, willing and able to apply their brilliance to new ends. And the environment in which they work enables them to do just that.
This is where we get to the use of plants. So often dismissed as something of a joke, can putting plants in offices and factories really make any difference to the performance of an organisation? In this case, I actually think yes they can (and I’m not just saying that because the greenery dotted around Maranello is the brainchild of the Chairman, Luca di Montezemolo, clearly someone good to keep onside). There really is an abundance of plants throughout the factory, helping to make a massive difference to the overall feel of the place. It ensures that the atmosphere at the factory gently, but continually, reminds everyone about the planet. And that’s what we want; that the planet be front of mind throughout the process of developing the most desirable car in the world. I was beginning to think I could square my twin desires – to do my bit for the planet and to own a Ferrari. There are lots of reasons to feel good about Ferraris and the environment after all. As I was turning this over in my mind, my mobile phone rang. It was my nine-year-old son, in a state of considerable excitement. ‘Did you get the poster of the California? Is it faster than the Veyron? Did you drive one? How fast did you go?’
Which got me thinking. Ferrari remains one of the great status symbols, standing for the pinnacle of ambition and aspiration, just as it did when I was my son’s age. For me, the ultimate feel-good factor would come from Ferrari taking a bold decision. Taking it upon itself to make the most of what it stands for and use it to inspire people everywhere to think differently about the future.
In many ways Ferrari is the perfect brand to paint a vision for a new future. A vision we can all buy into; one that shows you needn’t lose the magic of performance, of desire and speed and passion to save the planet. A vision that captures and inspires the imagination, dynamism and innovation that will go into the solutions of the future: the quest for new energy sources and ways of making the most of the resources we have and the search for solutions. Pushing the boundaries of performance because they’re performing for the people and the planet as well.
Published on The Official Ferrari Magazine issue 10, September 2010
Credit: Ferrari S.p.A. (www.ferrari.com)
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