Ferrari’s new Luce – everything that you need to know about the Italian's first EV
Ferrari Luce
Ferrari’s new Luce has certainly caused a stir online. Arriving as the brand’s first electric car, this battery-powered performance car broke the internet due to its outlandish styling and revolutionary interior.
But there’s plenty more to the Luce than just looks alone, so we’ve been going under the skin to find out just what this new performance car has to offer.
It’s fair to say that the Luce’s design is one of the most talked-about aspects of the entire car. It breaks from Ferrari tradition in several ways; it’s a five-seater, for starters, while its rather upright look puts it closer in feel to the brand’s Purosangue SUV than a traditional sports car.
The overall look of the Luce is the brainchild of LoveFrom, a design agency founded by former Apple design boss Jony Ive and Marc Newson, who also came from Apple.
While it’s said that the team at LoveFrom worked extremely closely with Ferrari’s team in Maranello, it’s an altogether new look, which is quite different from typical designs which have come from the Italian manufacturer.
But the Luce has also been designed to be efficient and, in fact, it has the lowest drag coefficient of any Ferrari made. This should help to make it more efficient as it cuts through the air.
Read More
It’s in the interior where Ferrari fans might feel a little more comfortable. While the cabin of the Luce is certainly groundbreaking, it incorporates many ‘traditional’ elements that you might’ve expected to find on one of Ferrari’s classics.
For instance, you’ll find proper ‘needles’ on some of the clocks, while proper, physical controls are used on the steering wheel to tweak various driver modes.
Behind that steering wheel are control paddles, too, which are used to change how much regenerative braking you’re getting from the motors, and they’ll recreate the feel of a traditional gear change, too.
As mentioned before, the Luce is also a full five-seater and its 597-litre boot is also the largest ever to be found on a Ferrari, making it extremely practical as well.
The Luce is also a showcase of the latest EV technology. Underneath, you’ll find four electric motors – one on each wheel – which combine to bring 1036bhp.
The net result is a car that’ll manage the sprint from 0-60mph in 2.5 seconds – the quickest that any Ferrari has ever done it. The Luce will carry on to a top speed of 192mph, too.
But what about range? Well, Ferrari says that the Luce should be able to return up to 329 miles from its large 122kWh battery.
It should be able to manage a 10 to 80 per cent charge in around 20 minutes, thanks to 350kW rapid charging capability, too.
There are loads of other features within the Luce to check out. Sound is a big part of the Ferrari experience and this brand’s engineers have worked to give the Luce its own character.
A device at the rear of the car captures the sound of components vibrating before amplifying this and playing it through the car’s speakers.
So rather than a wholly ‘artificial’ sound – used by nearly all EVs – the Luce’s is actually created through physical components moving.
That central screen inside can also be moved using the silver handle, giving it an almost iPad-like quality. There are more than just a few nods to the company which pushed two of its key designers to stardom, that’s for sure.
Expected to launch in spring next year, the Luce will get a fearsome price tag of €550,000, making it an extremely expensive proposition overall.
However, that isn’t out of character for Ferrari’s cars; the Purosangue got tongues wagging when it launched with a price tag of €390,000, for example.
The proof will, of course, be in the driving – but there’s a lot that the Luce has to offer besides controversial design alone.
