Ferrari has entered the electric era. The Italian supercar maker unveiled the Luce in Rome on Sunday, revealing its first fully electric production car ahead of a planned on-sale date in spring 2027. 

The Ferrari Luce – the name means “light” in Italian – is powered by four electric motors, one at each wheel, producing a combined 1,050 horsepower. It sprints from 0 to 100km/h in 2.5 seconds, hits a top speed of over 310km/h and offers an estimated range of 530 kilometres from its 122kWh battery, with 350kW fast charging capability. 

It weighs 2,260kg – inevitable for a car of this size and battery capacity – yet Ferrari claims its handling characteristics feel equivalent to a car weighing 400kg less, thanks to an exceptionally low centre of gravity and sophisticated torque vectoring across all four wheels.

The Luce is a five-door, five-seat sedan, Ferrari’s first five-seater and only its second four-door model after the Purosangue. It was designed in collaboration with LoveFrom, the creative collective founded by Apple’s former chief designer Sir Jony Ive and Marc Newson, making it the first Ferrari developed in partnership with an outside creative collective. The result is clean, architectural and unmistakably modern – and it has split opinion sharply.

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Prominent designers told The Telegraph the interior was “utterly inappropriate for a Ferrari,” and one called it “soulless.” On automotive forums, the verdict was similar – good design philosophy, but not Ferrari, not sexy, not provocative, lacking drama. Apple Insider was more blunt, suggesting it looks more like a Lotus Elise redesigned for the EV era. Others have been won over, calling it sleek and gorgeous, while Autocar noted that opinions may shift dramatically once people actually drive it.

The deeper question the Luce raises is whether Ferrari can afford to lose its emotional core in the pursuit of a new audience. For decades, a Ferrari cabin was a deliberately dramatic place – layered and operatic. The Luce replaces all of that with calm symmetry and disciplined geometry. 

McLaren F1 designer Peter Stevens was perhaps the harshest critic, suggesting that without the prancing horse badge, the interior could pass for “a medium-sized Honda.” 

Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna is unapologetic. “We are convinced that a company demonstrates its leadership when it has the courage to dare,” he said. President John Elkann added that Rome was the appropriate starting point for a Ferrari that lights up the future: Ferrari won its first-ever race in Rome on Luce’s launch date in 1947.

Priced at around US$640,000, the Luce goes on sale in 2027 with UK deliveries confirmed for spring. Ferrari has not announced changes to its annual production volume of around 14,000 cars.