Folgore. It's the Italian word for lightning and it's one that we're going to be getting used to reading and hearing thanks to Maserati. The brand which claims to have invented the Grand Tourer class has brought back the GranTurismo - which is Italian for...err...grand tourer - after a brief production hiatus.

You don't need me to tell you that this car is spellbindingly pretty. It has a flowing, long bonnet with air-channel cut-outs and a comically large power dome. There are flared, prominent wheelarches that house 20 and 21" rims in a collection of fabulous designs and a triple air outlet design to be found near the front wheel wells. The wide grille proudly carrying the trident logo is flanked by a pair of LED headlights with a split C-shaped running light and it looks sharp yet elegant to the eye. The roofline slopes gently from its peak into a long bootlid where the side character line, after accentuating the flared rear arches and underscoring the Maserati logo on the C-pillar, comes to meet it in a subtle ducktail spoiler.

The rear brake lights are narrow and pointed which naturally guide the eye back out to the widest point of the car yet below the number plate is a large rear diffuser with no exhaust pipes visible. In fact, look a little closer and you'll see on the left hand side of the rear bumper, something that looks like it's meant to open. Indeed it does but it is not the world's largest fuel flap...technically. It covers the charging socket for this new GT.

Yes, Folgore is the name to denote that a Maserati is electric. It sure sounds a lot better than EQ, e-tron, Recharge or even i, doesn't it? Maserati is back with both a bang and a spark as the revitalised brand is embracing both where we are and where we're going with the new GranTurismo. As such, there are three flavours of GranTurismo to choose from with the Modena and Trofeo getting a 3.0 litre twin-turbocharged V6 as featured in the MC20 supercar.

Power outputs are 483 and 542 hp respectively with a maximum speed of 200 mph in the Trofeo. The V6 model can get from 0-62 mph in just 3.5 seconds and sends its power to the rear wheels via an 8-speed automatic transmission. All these stats are very impressive and put the GranTurismo squarely among the fastest four-seat grand touring coupés on sale today like the Aston Martin DB12 and Bentley Continental GT. But the Folgore is the most interesting one to me - as its triple electric motor drivetrain with one motor on the front axle and one for each rear wheel can put out a maximum of 751 hp and catapult the car from rest to 62 mph in 2.7 seconds. That's quicker than an Ariel Atom.

The battery has 83 kWh usable capacity that can return a WLTP range of up to 283 miles - just three miles shy of the Audi RS e-tron GT. With an 800v electrical architecture, rapid charging at up to 270 kW makes it one of the quickest charging EVs on sale today, being able to add 62 miles of range in 5 minutes or go from 20-80% full in just 18 minutes. It seems that electric power really does mean fast in every measurable way for the GranTurismo Folgore.

Performance is always the star of the show with any grand tourer - the car which must have as equally breath-taking a powertrain as its looks, regardless of where that power comes from - but the touring aspect has been carefully considered too. The rear-set passenger cabin has room for four people thanks to some clever packaging for the battery; whilst most EVs have a "skateboard" layout for their batteries with the cabin placed on top, the GranTurismo has a slightly different arrangement, similar to the Mini Electric. The room in the transmission tunnel, under the bonnet and just behind the rear bench which no longer needs to house an engine, gearbox, exhaust, propshaft or differential is home for the T-shaped battery.

Whilst a skateboard chassis would allow for more energy storage, the T-shape battery means that there is no super-high floor or strangely positioned rear seats like in most EVs. Rear passengers have as deep a footwell in the Folgore as they would in a Trofeo. Technology is abundance with a large infotainment screen, a secondary display for air conditioning controls instead of buttons and a digital drivers display. A high-end sound system is available and the car can be equipped with an advanced driver assistance package with radar-guided cruise control, blind spot assist, traffic sign recognition and more to allow the car to take care of the less interesting bits of your grand tour for you.

As important as the stats and styling are, the real challenge for the GranTurismo Folgore i