Ferrari is making us wait for the full reveal of its first electric car, but at least Maranello is making the wait more bearable by dripping out details. After technical specifications were released last October, the interior was partially revealed yesterday. For the whole shebang, the world premiere is scheduled for May at an event in Italy.
Luce will stand out for more than just being the first Ferrari without a combustion engine. In a new official video, the company’s chairman emphasizes that it’s unlike any other Prancing Horse before it, calling it “completely different in every possible way to what we ever made.” John Elkann said the radical departure from past models made it easy to christen the new car Luce, which is Italian for “light” or “illumination.”
Perhaps an even more spectacular statement made later in the video comes from Gianmaria Fulgenzi, Chief Product Development Officer: “Ours is not an electric car. Ours is an electric Ferrari. And those are two very different things.”
A lot of effort has gone into developing this car, considering Ferrari did most of the work itself rather than outsourcing it to a third party. All the main components were engineered in-house, including the two electric axles and the battery pack. As with other major parts, the e-motors and the 800-volt battery will also be manufactured internally. More than 60 patents were filed during the development phase, which involved as many as 120 engineers, according to CEO Benedetto Vigna.
We still don’t know which shape it’ll take, but given recent sightings of prototypes, it will have rear doors. We’re certain it won’t be labeled an SUV, since the V12-powered Purosangue isn’t officially called one either. Using a bespoke electric-car platform should make it significantly more spacious than a similarly sized ICE model and possibly the most practical Ferrari ever.
Luce is at the forefront of a product onslaught that will see 20 new models launched by 2030. Luce has been a long time coming, as plans for an electric car were originally disclosed back in 2019. We’re now mere months away from its official debut. Ferrari has dismissed reports that a second EV has been canceled due to projected low demand, arguing it wasn’t even announced in the first place.
Motor1’s Take: While it remains to be seen whether Ferrari loyalists will warm up to an EV, traditionalists have no reason to worry. By the end of the decade, 40 percent of the lineup will still consist of pure combustion-engine cars, while another 40 percent will be reserved for hybrids. Only 20 percent of vehicles will skip the V6, V8, or V12 entirely.
The world didn’t end when the Purosangue was released in 2023, and we’re sure hell won’t freeze once the company starts selling EVs. Even for those who aren’t into electric vehicles, the concept of an electric Ferrari is mesmerizing.
Luce should spark the curiosity of the anti-EV crowd, perhaps even more so than the Rolls-Royce Spectre did. Bentley is another ultra-luxury brand about to rock down the electric avenue, leaving only a handful of automakers without an electric car in their portfolios.