Ferrari “outdid itself”

First EV Luce priced at $640,000

Ferrari has officially unveiled its first fully electric car, marking a historic moment for the global automotive industry. The company, long associated with roaring naturally aspirated V12 engines, the smell of gasoline, the Maranello circuit, and its iconic engine sound, is now making a full shift into the electric era. The new model is called Luce, meaning “light” in Italian. And judging by both market and enthusiast reactions, this “light” is both dazzling and controversial.

The launch took place in Rome and quickly became one of the most discussed automotive events of the year. Ferrari has effectively entered a segment it once considered incompatible with its brand philosophy. Many fans believed a Ferrari without an internal combustion engine would be like opera without music. However, regulation, environmental pressure, competition, and market evolution are reshaping even the most conservative automotive legends.

Ferrari Luce is not only the brand’s first EV but also one of its most unusual models ever. It is a four-door vehicle and the first five-seater Ferrari in history, showing how far the company is willing to go beyond tradition to capture new markets.

Technically, Luce is designed to compete with the best in the electric performance segment, including Tesla, Rimac, and Porsche. It delivers around 1,050 horsepower, accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in about 2.4 seconds, and offers a range of approximately 530 km.

Performance-wise, it enters the elite tier of global EVs. But this is where the key comparison emerges. Tesla Model S Plaid, which is even faster in acceleration, costs roughly five to six times less. That raises a central question: what exactly is the buyer paying for in a Ferrari EV?

Ferrari’s answer has always gone beyond numbers. It is about emotion, heritage, design, and exclusivity. Luce is positioned not simply as a fast electric car, but as a luxury object and a piece of technological art. One of the most discussed design features is its nearly fully glass body with a futuristic architectural approach.

A major highlight is the involvement of Jony Ive, former chief design officer at Apple. Together with his studio LoveFrom, he contributed to the vehicle’s exterior design and user interface philosophy. The collaboration is highly symbolic: one of the defining designers of the iPhone era is now shaping Ferrari’s electric future.

Following the presentation, Ferrari shares fell by nearly 9%, signaling that investors remain uncertain about the company’s EV strategy.

The paradox is that Ferrari is entering the EV market precisely when some competitors are scaling back their electric ambitions. Porsche is already facing weaker-than-expected demand for the Taycan, while Lamborghini and other luxury brands are taking a more cautious approach toward full electrification.

Ferrari’s deeper challenge lies in the nature of supercars themselves. The engine has always been part of the car’s identity. Buyers did not purchase Ferraris only for speed, but also for sound, vibration, and mechanical emotion. EVs remove much of that emotional layer.

This is why Luce is dividing opinion. For some, it represents the inevitable future of Ferrari. For others, it feels like a sanitized transformation of a cultural icon into another luxury electronic device.

Still, Ferrari is clearly targeting exclusivity rather than volume. At around $640,000, Luce sits firmly in the ultra-premium segment, where customers are buying status and rarity as much as transportation.

Ultimately, Luce becomes a test not only for Ferrari but for the entire supercar industry: can emotional driving survive in the age of silent batteries and software-defined performance?

There is no clear answer yet. But one thing is already evident: the era of Ferrari relying solely on its gasoline heritage is slowly coming to an end. And Luce is the company’s attempt to prove that even in a fully electric future, Maranello’s brand can still represent speed, status, and the dream of driving.