How Marc Newson and Jony Ive designed the most controversial Ferrari in history
The Ferrari Luce is causing a huge backlash – so how did it happen, and is it really that bad?
If we thought the reaction to Jaguar’s EV prototype was extreme, the reaction to Ferrari’s first EV has been off the charts. Talks of the company losing its mind, desecrating the brand's spirit, and creating something that looks like a cheap copy of a Nissan Leaf.
This level of reaction shows the passion some Ferrari fans have, and also how cruel the internet can be. They say all publicity is good publicity, and the Luce has had more than its fair share, but it doesn't feel great for the brand.
So how did we get to this? Why are people so angry about a new car – particularly those that would never buy it? What is it about the design that makes people so upset?
To get a better understanding, I chatted with Marc Newson and the Love From design collective, who designed the car, during the Ferrari Luce launch event in Rome.
Not the supercar you expected
It’s important to understand the Ferrari Luce for what it is, and what it isn’t. The project was seven years in the making, well before Ferrari had the Purosangue (its four-door model, which also drew criticism at the time). The project, according to Love From’s Marc Newson, didn’t start out as an EV. “There were a number of objectives that had been identified by Ferrari, for example, four doors, five seats,” says Newson.
That distinction is key here. The Luce isn’t a five-seater because it’s an EV – it’s an electric car, because that was the best solution for a five-seater car. This was always going to be a family car, not a supercar.
According to Ferrari, the Purosangue only has two seats in the back due to the front-mid-engine layout and rear gearbox needing that space in the middle. With an electric drivetrain – especially with four independent motors – there was space for a spacious bench seat in the rear, and lots of space for luggage.
A cohesive design
Love From had the opportunity to approach this problem from a completely fresh perspective and to be involved with every aspect of the car’s design – inside and out. “We couldn't really imagine doing this project unless we could touch everything,” says Newson.
It would have been easy for Ferrari to use Love From, with their industrial design expertise, for the interior and then use another firm for the exterior, or do it internally. However, using a single design concept throughout was important to both Ferrari and Love From. “What was really of the utmost importance was coherence; that everything married and meshed together,” says Newson.
An unmatched interior
One area where there has been little debate is the interior of the Luce. The fusion of analogue and digital in the interfaces is not just refreshing, but it’s extremely tactile, with switches and buttons all at hand, a centre screen that can be rotated towards the driver or passenger and a driver’s display that fuses manual dial needles with digital backgrounds in a layered OLED approach.
Small details like the air vents, finished in aluminium with a simple twist operation, show the craftsmanship on this car. Plus, there are some really clever features, like the key, which recesses into the centre console; its colour, created by E ink, transferred to the drive shift on start-up.
"We find it odd that modern cars, and especially electric cars, seem to put bigger and bigger multi-touch displays in, says Newson. “When you're driving, you need to be focused on driving, on the road.”
This was not the first foray into car design for Sir Jony Ive or Marc Newson. Back in the 90s, Newson worked on a concept for Ford that was shown at the Carrozzeria Ghia in Turin. Meanwhile, Ive was leading Apple’s product design at a time when there was certainly work on a car being undertaken – even if it never made it to the public.
Both Ive and Newson are also self-confessed petrolheads and longtime fans of Ferrari. “Johnny and I have Ferraris, like old Ferraris,” says Newson. “I've done the Mille Miglia fourteen times, so we understand the importance of analogue controls.
The backlash
So, if we are to believe the barrage of recent criticism, where did it all go wrong? On paper, this car is a technical masterpiece. From the quad motors and electronically controlled active suspension to the low drag and manual torque shifting, used to provide useful power control, this is a true performance machine.
The biggest criticism is of the exterior design, and a lot of that comes down to the fact that this is a big five-seater car. The staggered 23/24-inch wheels hide its size admirably in pictures and indeed in person, but there’s no escaping that this is not a typical Ferrari sports car. Even with the wedge-like nose and halo taillights, it looks chunkier than your typical Modena creation.
“It must seem, in many ways, like an unusual sort of collaboration, says Newson. “But I think Ferrari wanted some fresh eyes to look at how we could sort of start to solve some of these problems.”
Any traditional auto designer would have likely created a version of an existing Ferrari. Looking at it with fresh eyes, Love From approached it from a new perspective and created a design that was certainly unique.
“Ferrari has a long history of collaboration; this is how Ferrari started,” says Newson. Collaborations with Carrozzeria go back to 1964, while Pininfarina worked on Ferraris from 1951. So, a collaboration wasn’t unusual, even if the choice of firm and the brief was.
Creating something so different – a family, five-seater – required different thinking, and the goal, according to Newson, was always to deliver that. “It wasn't to create something completely new just for the sake of it. I mean, we needed to respond to the brief that we had created – mutually, collaboratively.”
The reasoning
Ferrari was never looking for a sports car design with the Luce. The idea was to create a new sector: a practical family car. It’s something that Porsche has embraced with models like the Macan, Cayenne and Taycan, and Lamborghini with its Urus SUV.
With the Paris Agreement requiring European auto manufacturers to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from vehicles by 90%, Ferrari also desperately needed a fully electric vehicle. For many firms, creating an SUV or a family car gives the volume to keep those niche petrol-powered car production going.
By creating the Luce, Ferrari could potentially carry on its V8’s and V12’s a little longer, which is surely what fans want. At the same time, it could attract a new generation of Ferrari buyers that need a bit more space and want an EV.
I truly believe that the interior of the Luce is one of the best on any car in the market right now – regardless of powertrain. And while I acknowledge that the exterior isn’t your typical Ferrari wall poster, it’s still a good-looking car for its type.
So the Luce isn’t a replacement for any existing Ferrari – even the Purosangue – it was always an addition, a side project. When it comes to performance and road handling, the Luce does open doors to a future Ferrari electric supercar, not just the hybrid power we’ve seen on the LaFerrari and F80. I’m sure when one is released, it will look every bit the Ferrari sports car.
