Ferrari Goes Electric With $640,000 Luce

Ferrari has unveiled the Luce, its first fully electric car, marking a major shift for one of the world’s most famous performance brands.

The new model, whose name means “light” in Italian, is priced at about $640,000 and is also Ferrari’s first five-seater. It was designed in collaboration with LoveFrom, the agency founded by former Apple design chief Sir Jony Ive, along with designer Marc Newson.

The Luce is a major departure from Ferrari’s traditional sports-car profile. It has four doors, rear-hinged back doors, a roomy second row and a shape closer to a luxury performance SUV than a classic low-slung Ferrari. That has made the launch deeply polarizing, because apparently even Ferrari cannot enter the EV era without the internet immediately forming a firing squad.

Some social media users attacked the design, comparing it to Jaguar’s controversial electric rebrand. Others praised it as a bold new direction for the company.

Under the skin, the Luce is still built around performance. It uses four Ferrari-made electric motors, one for each wheel, producing 1,035 horsepower. Ferrari says it can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in about 2.5 seconds and reach a top speed of 193 mph.

The car also includes four-wheel steering, active suspension and advanced traction systems that adjust power and suspension behavior every few milliseconds. Its 122-kWh battery is expected to deliver about 329 miles on Europe’s WLTP cycle, likely translating to under 300 miles under US testing.

Ferrari has also tried to address one of the biggest emotional challenges of an electric supercar: sound. Instead of using a fully artificial engine note, the Luce samples vibrations from the rear motors and amplifies them into a distinctive driving sound.

The launch comes as rivals Lamborghini and Porsche have scaled back EV plans because of weak demand and competition from Chinese automakers. Ferrari says it will continue selling petrol and hybrid models alongside the Luce.

CEO Benedetto Vigna said the car took five years to develop. Ferrari says its components are made in-house so the model can be repaired long-term, helping protect resale value.