May 26, 2026
Ferrari is breaking a lot of new ground with the Luce. It’s the luxury automaker’s first car with five seats, its first partnership with Apple’s former chief designer Jony Ive — who designed the iPhone, among other products — and the luxury automaker’s first electric vehicle.
But Ferrari is taking a risk releasing the Luce when the market for luxury EVs is questionable.
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Porsche, for instance, is considering scrapping the 718 Boxster and Cayman EVs, citing rising expenses and development delays. Bentley delayed its electric-only goal from 2030 to 2035 — and then scrapped that entirely.
Mercedes Benz EVs quietly disappeared from U.S. dealers last year due to decreased demand (though they’re returning now). General Motors has indefinitely suspended work on the Hummer EV (along with the Silverado and Sierra EVs) and slowed production of electric Cadillacs.
Still, Ferrari is betting on the power of its name and the passion of its customer base to succeed where competitors have failed to break through.
That’s despite the Luce’s price tag. In development since 2021, the new EV retails for $640,000, making it one of the most expensive Ferraris that weren’t a limited production.
Here’s what you get for that price, and whether Ferrari’s gamble will pay off.
A different type of Ferrari
The Luce (pronounced-loo-chay, Italian for ‘light’) looks considerably different than a typical Ferrari. Its upper half is made of glass, as are many fittings, filling it with light.
It has an aluminum body and sits lower to the ground than the Purosangue, Ferrari’s first four-door vehicle, released two-years ago. Its wheels are the largest ever on a Ferrari and the doors are center opening. Taillights glow through a black panel on the back of the car.
The Luce can go from 0 to 60 in under 2.5 seconds and reaches a top speed of 190 mph. Top Gear’s Jason Barlow reviewed the car, noting that Ferrari had originally considered building on its F80 hybrid and developing a “supercar”, but decided against it.
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“Let's face it, if you want a supercar, you probably wanted to have a combustion engine,” he said, adding that the design team decided to build a bigger car instead, with space for more people.
Drivers will still hear the Ferrari roar, but it won’t come from the engine. Instead, it’s sourced to what the company calls an “external amplification system,” which it compares to an electric guitar.
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Ferrari gambles on what customers and markets want
But Ferrari’s competitors Lamborghini and McLaren have decided that a real engine roar and the vibration that goes with it — and the emotional reaction that comes with that — is exactly what customers want.
That’s why both manufacturers have shelved plans for their own high-end EVs.
“You don’t buy a Lamborghini because you need one, but because you want to have a childhood dream fulfilled,” Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann told Fortune.
Still Ferrari is betting on the Luce as more than a one-off, investing $230 million in a new factory in Italy to produce EVs alongside gas-engine vehicles. The factory opened in 2024.
Ferrari stands apart in that it has a cash reserve and a share price its competitors don’t, which gives it more of a runway to take a chance.
Investors, though, don’t seem impressed with the Luce. Ferrari’s stock was down almost 5% in mid-morning trading Tuesday.
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Chris Morris is a veteran journalist with more than 35 years of experience at many of the internet's biggest news outlets. In addition to his activities as a writer, reporter and editor, Chris is also a frequent panel moderator and speaker at major conferences, including CES and South by Southwest.
