Philip Morris International (PMI), makers of cigarette brand, Marlboro and a long-time partner of Ferrari will open the Ferrari E-Lab. Considered as the next chapter of their long-term partnership, it will bring together the two companies’ technological capabilities to scout and explore new energy-related technologies that could support the decarbonization journey of their respective production facilities in Maranello and Crespellano, located 30 kilometers apart in the Emilia Romagna region of Italy.

Ferrari and PMI have had a strategic partnership since 1973, which mainly stems from sponsorship of Ferrari’s Formula 1 team.

The partnership aims to assess key solutions contributing to industrial electrification in the generation, storage, and transformation of renewable energy. The first study will explore the viability of long-duration energy storage technologies and should be completed by the third quarter of 2024.

No further details, including operational or financial ones, were provided.

Almost 5,000 people are employed at the Ferrari facility in its hometown of Maranello, while over 2,000 people work at PMI in Crespellano.

Ferrari is now developing a new assembly plant called ‘e-building’ in Maranello, where last year it also installed a fuel cell plant that produces electricity without combustion and supplies five percent of the energy required by production operations.

Ferrari aims to be carbon neutral by 2030 and aims to launch their first all-electric vehicle by 2025.