Maranello has officially pulled the covers off its first electric vehicle, the Ferrari Luce. While the spec sheet promises a devastating 772kW quad-motor onslaught, the global conversation has immediately been hijacked by the vehicle’s deeply divisive exterior design.
Not since the reveal of the Kia Tasman has an automotive design sparked this level of immediate, visceral polarisation across the industry.
Instead of keeping the design in-house under Flavio Manzoni, Ferrari outsourced the Luce to LoveFrom, the creative agency led by former Apple design chief Sir Jony Ive and Australian industrial designer Marc Newson. The result is a four-door, five-seat “shell-like” glasshouse that looks less like a traditional Prancing Horse and more like a high-velocity Apple Magic Mouse.
The internet reaction has been predictably savage. Pundits and purists are tearing into the stubby front end, the hidden ‘black panel’ taillights, and the massive 24-inch rear wheels, arguing that the pursuit of aerodynamic efficiency has completely erased Maranello’s aggressive visual DNA.
However, step inside the cabin, and the narrative flips. Critics are universally praising the Luce’s interior as an absolute masterclass in modern Human-Machine Interface (HMI). It ditches the cheap, giant-tablet trend in favour of tactile, precision-engineered mechanical switches crafted from glass and recycled anodised aluminium.
Additionally, the driver display layers Samsung OLED screens behind physical glass dials, ingeniously incorporating mechanical needles that physically rotate over the digital readouts.
Beneath the controversial sheet metal sits a bespoke 800V architecture. A massive 122kWh structural battery pack feeds four permanent magnet synchronous motors derived directly from the F80 project. Total system output sits at a staggering 772kW, launching the 2260kg behemoth from 0-100km/h in a claimed 2.5 seconds, before topping out north of 310km/h.
In a bid to retain the emotional engagement of a combustion engine, Ferrari has patented a tactile acoustic system. An accelerometer physically reads the vibration of the spinning axles and amplifies that mechanical frequency through the chassis – a feature it claims functions much like an electric guitar.
The Luce is a monumental gamble for the Italian marque. Whether the devastating performance and masterpiece cabin are enough to convince the Ferrari faithful to swallow that polarising exterior remains to be seen.
