Pre-Launch Anxiety and Historical Responsibility
Ferrari is accustomed to controversy and rarely avoids it. Its future fully electric Luce may prove to be its most polarizing project to date. The man behind the design, Jony Ive, former chief design officer at Apple who shaped the iPhone and several other era-defining products, admits to feeling the pressure.
This seems a perfectly reasonable reaction two months ahead of a historic premiere, especially when you are tasked with reimagining what a Ferrari should be in the modern era.
After all, this is not just another EV launch. This is Ferrari, a brand built on top-tier racing and thrilling V12-engined supercars, sometimes accessible only through peculiar purchasing rituals, now venturing into the silent world of electric vehicles.
A Defining Electric Debut
Calling this a significant event would be a major understatement, and that is likely why Ferrari hired Ive and fellow designer Marc Newson to shape the Luce.
The exterior, in fact, was created by LoveFrom, the design firm founded by Ive and Australian designer Newson, making this not a typical Ferrari project but a collision between Maranello and Silicon Valley minimalism.
In a conversation with Autocar, Ive candidly admitted to feeling “anxiety” about revealing the car to the world. This feeling is driven not so much by concern over the design itself, but by the weight of the moment for Ferrari. He called it “still distinctly Ferrari,” but added that “it’s a different embodiment, based on certain convictions about simplicity and the intrinsic beauty of something.”
On the other hand, his co-designer Newson emphasized the freedom offered by such a project. “One of the wonderful and fortunate things is that it’s an electric vehicle, the first electric Ferrari, right? That afforded us a degree of freedom that perhaps we wouldn’t have otherwise had: literal physical freedom or creative freedom… on many levels,” he said.
The Philosophy Inside the Luce
At this stage, we have already seen official interior elements. The brand unveiled the dashboard earlier this month. It is quite a departure from other modern Ferraris. This is key, as Ive and Newson say the entire car has “coherence and unity.”
Ive also stressed that there is “no disconnect” between the exterior and interior, noting that both were developed simultaneously, not by separate departments. In his view, this approach yields a cohesive package that feels like a singular whole, not assembled from parts.
We also know so far that the Luce will be a four-door, four-seat GT with ground clearance similar to the Purosangue, and that it will have a 1,000 hp powertrain with four motors. Ive hinted that the car will be “large” in its proportions and as radical on the outside as it is on the inside.
Will the Luce Use Rear-Hinged Doors?
In light of this, we wonder if the exterior will be much more retro-futuristic than previously expected. While Ive was talking about the new Luce, our spies captured another heavily camouflaged prototype undergoing testing in northern Sweden this week.
Like earlier Luce test mules, this one was wrapped in makeshift panels from top to bottom, making it extremely difficult to understand what’s going on beneath them, beyond a general sense of its proportions and size.
One detail our photographers were able to capture is a set of door handles, circled in red, located directly below the B-pillar in the midsection. According to our photographer, the Luce may use rear-hinged doors that open towards the front of the car, similar to the Purosangue. This has not been officially confirmed, and it could just as easily be Ferrari being a bit tricky and misleading.
We will know for sure in May, when Ferrari finally unveils its first electric car.
Ferrari’s transition into the electric era with the Luce is not merely a technological update but a fundamental reimagining of the brand’s DNA. The involvement of figures like Jony Ive, whose influence on consumer electronics was revolutionary, signals a desire to create not just a car, but an object that defines the future of luxury and product design. The radicalism of the approach, as discussed by the designers, could either be a triumphant new path or a subject of fierce debate among purists. The success of the Luce will depend not only on its technical specifications but also on whether it can convey that emotional attachment and sense of exclusivity on which the Ferrari legend has always been built. The May premiere will undoubtedly be one of the most important moments in the automotive industry in the coming years.