Ferrari Luce – Brand’s First EV Name & Interior Unveiled Ahead of Debut

Ferrari’s first EV will be known as the Luce, featuring a button-laden interior penned by a former Apple designer.

It is no secret that Ferrari is in the midst of launching their first-ever all-electric model, and the Italian automaker revealed that it will be simply known as Ferrari Luce. Unveiled alongside its nameplate is a radical new interior design created by former Apple design boss John Ive.

Simply referred to as the Elettrica during its early production phase, the Luce name is derived from the Italian word for a light source, as well as being a colloquial term for electricity. Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna described the ‘Luce’ name as a reflection of how the car is “lighting the future of the company.”

While Ferrari only showcased the innards for now, both the interior and exterior design of the Luce are being developed by design firm LoveFrom, which was part-founded by Ive. During his tenure at Apple, Ive oversaw the styling of popular Apple products such as the iPhone, iPad, MacBook, and Apple Watch, as well as the Apple iOS.

As a result, we can clearly see the Apple influence all around the Luce’s interior, with the most prominent being the movable 10-inch central infotainment screen that looks like an iPad. The same can be said for the metre cluster dash, although the metre themselves are round in shape with a physical needle.

Another centrepiece for the Luce cabin is the steering wheel that features three slim spokes with exposed aluminium and tons of physical controls, with its overall layout and large paddle shifters being inspired by classic Ferrari Formula One (F1) cars. Thanks to its bare-bones design, this aluminium wheel is lighter than a typical Ferrari steering wheel found in other models.

Last but not least, the glass central console of the Luce houses many of the car’s essential controls, including the toggle-like gear selector, powered window switches, and buttons to unlock both the doors and tailgate. There’s also a special dock for you to place the key fob in order to start up the car, which is a more dramatic and interesting way than just simply pushing a button.

In case you didn’t notice until now, Ferrari has put a lot of emphasis on retaining as many physical controls and switches as possible for the Luce’s interior, which is quite a contrary thing to see coming from an ex-mobile phone designer. Ive himself even insisted that the cabin has to be functional, interactive, and alive, thus explaining the extensive use of physical controls.

Ive also put a lot of emphasis on material selection, with the cabin featuring an extensive use of special strengthened glass and anodised aluminium—the former sourced from glass specialist firm Corning. While this has resulted in an increase of 10 kg in weight over plastics, Ive said the materials were particularly selected because they are both stronger and give the cabin a more luxurious feel.

We can expect to learn more about the new Ferrari Luce this May, where its exterior design, as well as both the powertrain and chassis setups for this EV, will be unveiled. Until then, what do you make of Ferrari’s new and radical interior design?