Ferrari Luce proves that super cars can go electric – here’s why it impresses

On the outskirts of Rome, a top-secret venue prepares to showcase what is arguably the biggest launch in Ferrari’s history – its first electric car. Known originally as the Electrica, the final product has been revealed as the Ferrari Luce.

The car is a collaboration between Ferrari Design Studio and Love From, the design company created by Sir Jony Ive and Marc Newson. While the interior had been earlier in 2026, today we got to see the full car, and it’s as breathtaking as you would expect from a Ferrari of this magnitude.

When I heard the car had four doors and five seats, I pictured an SUV design. The Luce (Italian for light) is definitely not that. With a wedge-shaped bonnet, this is every bit the sports car, despite its size and passenger capacity.

Lightning fast

Running on an 800V architecture, the Luce features a 210-cell battery that delivers 122kWh (around 110kWh net) – huge by EV standards. It supports fast DC charging at up to 350kW. The integrated power module, known as the Ferrari Power Pack, allows it to be recharged using 400V chargers at up to 150kW and up to 22kW using AC charging. It also allows it to maintain the 12V auxiliary battery.

With four electric motors – one on each wheel – four wheel steering, and electronically controlled active suspension, the level of control and power is unlike anything that has come before it. This is all brought together through the vehicle control unit, which provides torque vectoring to control the car better, not just around corners, but also on a straight.

The front electric motors deliver 105kW each, while the rear ones deliver 310kW each. This results in a total power of 772kW and up to 990Nm of torque. This gives the Luce a 0-62mph time of just 2.5 seconds and a top speed of 192.6 mph (310km/h).

For a car of this power, the potential range of over 329 miles (530km) is also impressive – though driven to its extremes, it will be much less. In ‘Range’ mode, power is limited to 320kW, while ‘Tour’ mode sees this increase t§§o 460kW and up to 725kW in ‘Performance’ mode. Placing the car into its launch mode gives you the full extent of its power.

The traction dial goes from ice to a full ESC off, for true ludicrous driving, and includes a new ‘dry’ mode for everyday use. This is managed by the Side Slip Control X system, which incorporates the active suspension and dynamic enhancer.

A digital-analogue interior

In many ways, the interior is still the most impressive part of the Ferrari Luce. Milled aluminium and a blend of manual and digital controls make the cabin feel like an industrial designer’s wet dream. Every single element here feels considered to the point of obsession, even bits not designed to be seen – a characteristic we once saw in Sir Jony Ive’s Apple designs.

The driver’s display, a 12.9-inch instrument panel or binnacle, is a dual-layered OLED design, fusing physical dials and needles with digital displays to create the speedometer and other vehicle dynamics. It has a very analogue feel, despite being made up of digital elements.

A 12-inch central panel combines a touchscreen display with not only physical switches for the temperature and fans, but also a clock. This has analogue hands but a digital display to show either the clock, stopwatch or compass. This display sits separate from the dashboard, on a ball joint with a handle to rotate it towards either the driver or passenger.

The touchscreen element is quite a small area of the display, providing control over vehicle functions and choosing profiles. There are quick buttons to access either the settings or menus, as well as a button to access a connected phone or radio.

There are no built-in apps here for mapping or other features – all of this comes from your phone, either via Android Auto or Apple CarPlay. Despite having a number of screens throughout the vehicle, this isn’t a car built around big-screen entertainment.

There’s another screen for the rear passengers, which provides climate and seat functions as well as giving readouts on vehicle speed. These are also combined with physical switches for those temperature and fan controls.

For music fans, it does have an extremely impressive specced audio system. The Ferrari Audio Signature system is made in-house and features 21 speakers, 24 channels and a 3000W amplification.

The three-spoke steering wheel looks fairly retro but is as advanced as the screens themselves. This includes beautifully designed ‘Manettino’ switches for the power and drive dynamics, as well as display settings, buttons for the indicators and paddles for the torque and regeneration.

The paddle controls allow a five-stage selection that either increases regeneration or increases power. This works much like gears, in that you can switch down going into a corner to increase the regen and reduce the power, then switch up when heading back out, to increase the power and reduce the regen – this works in performance or tour mode if required, or can be left in automatic.

What strikes you about the design is how well-engineered every element feels, even down to the aluminium air vents, which are inspired by aircraft design, using a simple twist to open and close the air flow.

There’s also a lot of space. The back seats offer generous leg room, while the car also has 600 litres of boot space, with a hatchback opening.

Street appeal

There is no doubt that the look of the Luce will divide opinion. On first glance, it can be quite jarring, as this is like no other Ferrari before it. However, the more you delve into the design, the better it looks, and having spent a couple of days seeing it ahead of the reveal, I really like it.

Its form is made up of almost two separate structures. The main shell of the car is finished mostly in black aluminium and glass, with a sharp wedged nose and more of a teardrop rear. A second structure in the paint colour of choice floats over the top of this shell, providing a large wing in the place of a bonnet and a second wing on the rear.

This design allows the air to flow between the two structures, creating a slippery aerodynamic form, while air going over the front and rear wings provides the necessary downforce to give the car its high-performance capabilities.

The combination of forms is a million miles away from your regular electric four-door saloon or SUV. While definitely not your typical Ferrari, its gentle curves remind you of a Ferrari Roma, and the circular halo taillights on the rear give 360 Modena vibes.

The sheer size of the car is well disguised by the split form design, but also thanks to the massive wheels that feel perfectly in proportion. It wears 23-inch alloys on the front and 24-inch alloys on the back – that’s bigger than those found on a BMW XM or a Rolls-Royce Spectre (which both use 23-inch front and back).

Launch colours for the Luce include a light blue (Azzurro la Plata), a Ferrari yellow (Giallo Luce), an orangey red (Rosso Dino), a silvery white (Bianco Artico) and a Ferrari red (Rosso Fiammante). Though lots more colour options, both for the paint work and interior, are coming.

Special aero wheels inspired by aircraft turbines help reduce drag and cool the brakes, and look like old steel wheels from a distance. Of course, you can opt for the more in-keeping five-spoke Ferrari wheels too.

How it sounds

The one question on everyone’s lips about the first electric Ferrari is, how does it sound? For this, Ferrari has taken a unique approach by amplifying the sound of the powertrain. The process is described as similar to that of an electric guitar pickup, in that a sensor captures the vibrations from the rear axle. This is filtered and processed before being pumped into the cabin and to the exterior of the car through speakers.

The sound is applied when the car is in ‘Perfo’ mode, with a scaled-back version when in ‘Tour’ mode and using the torque shifting. When in ‘Range’ mode, the car remains silent.

At the launch event, a short video clip of Ferrari’s F1 driver, Lewis Hamilton, test-driving the Luce teased the sound, which was very engine-like in its delivery. Designed to help inform the driver of when to shift the torque on the paddles, it sounds like a Ferrari at high revs, at least from what I heard.

Is it the future?

There’s a lot to unpack in the Luce, because everything about it is so new. From the powertrain to the audio system, there are pages of firsts, and every bit as interesting as the next.

There’s no doubt that the Luce will be divisive, but whatever you think of the design, it’s technically brilliant with some features that put it miles ahead of other EVs. This is an extremely impressive car that promises incredible handling, and is a milestone for Ferrari. For those reasons, I expect it will be in high demand.

Ferrari has pledged, as part of its ‘Ferrari Forever’ mission, that battery modules can be replaced on the Luce in the future as the cells age or as new technology is available. This is already being done with the La Ferrari, which is being upgraded with battery tech from the F80.

The Luce goes on sale in Europe in Q4 of 2026 with a price of €550,000. Final UK pricing and availability for the Ferrari Luce are still to be confirmed, but it’s expected to be in 2027 with prices upwards of £500,000.

As T3's Editor-in-Chief, Mat Gallagher has his finger on the pulse for the latest advances in technology. He has written about technology since 2003 and after stints in Beijing, Hong Kong and Chicago is now based in the UK. He’s a true lover of gadgets, but especially anything that involves cameras, Apple, electric cars, musical instruments or travel.