Ferrari set expectations sky high for its first electric vehicle. The company promised to revolutionize the industry, setting a new standard for electric performance cars that all of its rivals would follow. Instead, the Ferrari Luce was lambasted on social media for its controversial looks and confusing positioning—it wasn’t the immediate smash hit the company had hoped.
The design is what got people talking. Penned by Jony Ive and his team at LoveFrom, Ferrari partnered with the iconic designer in hopes that he would be able to usher in a daring new era for Ferrari’s first EV. Something the world had never seen.
Photo by: Ferrari
On paper, that made sense; Ive’s accolades are hugely impressive. His masterpiece—his Mona Lisa—is the original iPhone, a design that remains the standard for smartphones nearly 20 years later. And he’s credited for hundreds of other recognizable projects beyond that.
But a quick dive into Ive’s history will tell you that he might not have been the right man for the job. By his own words, Ive’s focus has always been on minimal, functional, and largely safe design. In a 2012 interview discussing Apple’s search for simplicity, he said:
‘Our products are tools, and we don’t want design to get in the way. We’re trying to bring simplicity and clarity; we’re trying to order the products… The quest for simplicity has to pervade every part of the process.’
Photo by: Jony Ive
That philosophy works for phones and laptops, technology meant to blend into the background, but it doesn’t exactly translate to Ferrari—a brand known for sports cars that stand out. A Ferrari is not simply a “tool.”
The result of that thinking is yet another generic blob plopped atop a skateboard platform with a focus on streamlining and simplicity rather than form. Sure, there are a few neat retro-futuristic touches, and the interior—love it or hate it—is at least interesting. But maybe the Luce’s biggest problem is that it doesn’t look like a Ferrari at all.
Outside of the signature S-Duct over the front axle, there’s not much here that screams Prancing Horse. The headlights feel anonymous, the overall shape is generic, and even the taillights—while interesting—aren’t that uncommon these days (see: Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door).
Maybe the Luce’s biggest problem is that it doesn’t look like a Ferrari at all.
In fairness to Ive, the Luce works within the restraints of aggressive aerodynamics. Modern EVs are all about efficiency, especially performance EVs looking to get the most out of a slippery body. But even with all that optimization, the Luce will likely only manage around 300 miles of EPA range. So what was it all for?
Ferrari’s decision to bring in Ive also feels like a vote of no confidence in its own design team—a team that’s spent the last decade proving it can carry Ferrari into the post-Pininfarina era relatively fine.
After Ferrari’s very public split from Pininfarina in 2013, the newly formed Ferrari Centro Stile introduced its first halo car without a Pininfarina badge: the LaFerrari. Under design chief Flavio Manzoni, the car was widely praised for blending modern aero with classic Ferrari proportions. It even nodded back to older halo cars like the Enzo.
Photo by: Ferrari
The LaFerrari would be followed by more hits—the GTC4 Lusso, the 812 Superfast, the Roma, the 12Cilindri, and more. But maybe the most important vehicle to debut in the post-Pininfarina era was the one that would eventually act as the precursor to the Luce: the Purosangue.
Even the Purosangue, controversial as it was, was still instantly recognizable as a Ferrari. Translating Ferrari’s design language onto a lifted five-door SUV shape was no easy task—and certainly not an immediate hit among enthusiasts—but Centro Stile pulled it off better than most people expected.
Ferrari’s decision to bring in Ive also feels like a vote of no confidence in its own design team.
That’s what makes the Luce so frustrating.
The Luce could have been great, but instead, Ferrari approached its first EV the same way Ive approached the iPhone: looking to revolutionize. In trying so hard to create the future, Ferrari lost sight of what made people fall in love with the brand in the first place.
The goal simply should have been to make the best-looking electric Ferrari on the planet. Instead, Ferrari ended up with an overthought piece of industrial design—an iPhone on wheels.
