Ferrari is building an EV. Hardly shocking news nowadays. But, unlike some trends, this doesn’t appear to be simply a digital mash-up for the sake of it. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Ferrari has reverted direction to the past, with purpose. Providing a cabin array that is, well, vintage. It’s strange, especially given its designer’s background at Apple, but it’s a strong start.
‘Luce’ directly translates to ‘light’ in Italian, and Ferrari has really gone to town about what Luce means and, to the prancing horse, its clarity of vision. The idea of Luce is to redefine the understanding of an EV as a means, not an end. It signals a long-term shift for the brand, rather than dropping an EV on our shoulders and running back to internal combustion. And its approach is quite poetic by redefining the future rather than chasing it.
To strike a balance between shaping the future and maintaining Ferrari’s identity, the brand has partnered with LoveFrom. Based in San Francisco, LoveFrom is a creative collective founded by Sir Jony Ive with fellow designer Marc Newson. Notably, Sir Jony Ive has quite the list of accolades from his time as senior vice president of industrial design and chief design officer at Apple. Now, this pair of designers has the task of defining Luce’s design direction, which is undoubtedly quite a daunting undertaking. The results, at least as far as the interior is concerned, as that’s all we have to go by, are gorgeous in a vintage way.
Let’s start with the steering wheel. It’s a historic three-spoke design that pays homage to the 1950s and ’60s wooden three-spoke Nardi wheel, and is constructed from 100% recycled aluminium, weighing 400 grams less than the typical Ferrari wheel. It further blends a classic design with an F1 wheel. The buttons are added to two analogue control modules for easier use, with a touch of racing heritage. It looks proper; only I can’t help but notice it looks like a sim racing wheel. But I digress.
Behind the steering wheel is the binnacle that houses the driver’s instrument cluster. It’s here where opinions will be divided. Firstly, it moves with the steering wheel for improved driver vision, which is a nice touch. Its instrument cluster consists of two overlapping ultra-bright, ultra-light OLED screens, developed with Samsung engineers. The most striking feature is its design, which echoes iconic Ferrari minimalism, featuring analogue readouts that feel both modern and classic, with a further focus on simplicity. It’s stunning but not very electric, which, to an extent, is the point.
Moving to the centre of the cabin, we find the second screen. It’s mounted on a ball-and-socket mechanism that allows it to be positioned on the fly according to preference. Ferrari has considered ergonomic ease, with a palm rest at the bottom to support the user’s fingers. Really nice feature there, Ferrari. To finish it off, the clock in the top right of the screen is called a multigraph, which Ferrari claims is a masterpiece of microengineering, featuring three individual motors that control each hand. The cabin has a strong retro flavour within. Lots of dials, lots of switches, a classic armrest design with a traditional gear selector in front, and seats woven in a familiar design.
It’s an idea I have always appreciated: blending modern engineering with classic design and simplicity. In my mind, it never looked achievable in a brand-spanking-new production vehicle, but LoveFrom has something spectacular it’s working with. From the images alone, this new EV’s cabin will be quite the experience. It’s charming, homey and classic in its delivery, which is not quite what we were expecting, but I am pleasantly surprised.
We have yet to see what the Luce will look like, but its interior is already something special. We hope that this new EV will embody Ferrari’s and LoveFrom’s ideas in a new, pure and engaging way, whilst remaining raw and typically Ferrari. So far, it looks the part, but time will tell just how revolutionary this new, electric Ferrari truly is.
