THE HORSE WHISPERER

Ferrari's first EV, designed by Sir Jony Ive, has landed... and you're in for a shock

- WORDS JASON BARLOW

Jony Ive and Marc Newson are walking TG round the Ferrari Luce when we pause to ponder the words we'd ban during dissection of a car’s design.

The whole caboodle surely needs to be rethought. Which is what Ferrari and LoveFrom have done with this, the Italian legend's first fully electric car. (Legend, another word worn wafer-thin with overuse.) Ive, a thinker of fathomless depths, has naturally given this some thought. “A lot of that started in Silicon Valley... move fast, break things, disrupt. I see zero virtue in any of that unless you're making something substantially better. We could do three cars this afternoon that would be different and disruptive for the sake of it, but they wouldn't be very good.”

Still, the Luce is that rare thing, a genuine ‘wow’ moment. A jolt to the system. Yes, the prospect of an electric Ferrari is in itself historic — some observers have used uglier descriptors — but the result is further out than anyone would have predicted. A genuine surprise in 2026. How’s that for disruptive?

Previous supercar EVs have stuck to the established mid-engined typology, searching for high end buyers who want something new/not-new. Ferrari, though, has gone a different way. Firstly, by engaging design agency LoveFrom to handle the exterior and interior execution and, secondly, by focusing on versatility and useability. Never mind the means of propulsion, the Luce has room for five and a hatchback. It resembles no other Ferrari in history, though there are some detail familiarities. (Check out the round rear LEDs, for example.)