Ferrari is no longer a safe choice. They're betting on being right.
In Rome, Ferrari unveiled the Luce — its first fully electric vehicle — marking a quiet but seismic shift in a brand whose identity has long been inseparable from the sound and fury of combustion. Designed in collaboration with Jony Ive's studio and priced at $640,000, the five-seater represents a wager that exclusivity can survive transformation. At a moment when rivals are retreating from electrification and luxury demand is softening globally, Ferrari has chosen not to wait for certainty, but to define it.
- A $640,000 electric Ferrari designed by the mind behind the iPhone has split the internet between reverence and ridicule, with some calling it a masterpiece and others comparing it to Jaguar's rebranding collapse.
- Ferrari is swimming against a powerful tide — Lamborghini and Porsche have both pulled back from EV ambitions, citing weak demand and the relentless pressure of cheaper Chinese competitors flooding the market.
- The Luce is engineered to silence doubters on the road: four individual in-house motors, one per wheel, launch it from zero to 60mph in 2.5 seconds, while full vertical manufacturing protects long-term resale value.
- Ferrari is hedging rather than betting everything — petrol and hybrid models remain in production, and the company's design chief is publicly framing the backlash as a temporary phase in the arc of innovation.
- Ferrari's stock has shed more than 25 percent over the past year, a signal that even the most insulated luxury brands are feeling the gravitational pull of inflation, shifting tastes, and a world in rapid transition.
Ferrari has unveiled its first fully electric car, and the world is struggling to agree on what to make of it. The Luce — Italian for light — costs $640,000, seats five, and looks nothing like a traditional Ferrari. Designed by LoveFrom, the studio founded by Jony Ive after leaving Apple, it was announced in Rome by CEO Benedetto Vigna after five years of development.
The social media response has been sharply divided. Critics invoked Jaguar's troubled rebranding as a cautionary parallel, while defenders called the Luce a design masterclass and a genuine game changer. For a brand unaccustomed to being mocked by its own admirers, the polarization carries real weight.
Technically, the car is formidable. Each wheel is driven by a Ferrari-built electric motor, enabling a zero-to-60 time of roughly 2.5 seconds. Every component is made in-house — a deliberate choice to ensure the car can be serviced and maintained for decades, preserving the resale value that matters enormously to buyers at this price point.
The launch comes as the broader EV landscape shifts beneath Ferrari's feet. Lamborghini has abandoned fully electric plans in favor of hybrids, Porsche has scaled back its ambitions, and in the United States, the rollback of EV incentives under the Trump administration has pushed Ford and Volkswagen back toward combustion engines. Chinese manufacturers, meanwhile, continue to undercut the market from below.
Ferrari's design chief acknowledged the backlash openly, calling it an expected part of any genuinely polarizing innovation and expressing confidence that opinion will shift within months. The company is not abandoning petrol or hybrid vehicles — the Luce is an addition, not a replacement.
Still, the pressures are real. Ferrari's stock has fallen more than 25 percent over the past year, reflecting a wider contraction in luxury demand as inflation squeezes even the highest end of the market. The Luce is Ferrari's answer to an accelerating world — but whether it is the right answer will only become clear with time.
Ferrari has built its first fully electric car, and the internet cannot decide whether the company has just pioneered the future or driven itself off a cliff. The Luce—Italian for light—costs $640,000 and seats five people, a radical departure for a brand built on exclusivity and the roar of combustion engines. The design came from LoveFrom, the agency founded by Jony Ive after he left Apple, and it shows: the car looks nothing like a traditional Ferrari. The unveiling in Rome, announced by chief executive Benedetto Vigna, marks the end of five years of development.
The reaction on social media has been unforgiving for some, celebratory for others. One account on X compared the move to Jaguar's recent rebranding disaster, calling the Luce "straight to the junkyard trash." Another user posted: "What is going on with European Luxury car manufacturers? First Jaguar and now Ferrari." But defenders emerged just as quickly. One commenter called it an "absolute masterclass in design" and a "total game changer." The polarization is real, and it matters because Ferrari is not a brand accustomed to being mocked by its own audience.
The car itself is engineered to perform. Each wheel has its own Ferrari-made electric motor, allowing the Luce to accelerate from zero to 60 miles per hour in approximately 2.5 seconds. Every component is manufactured in-house, a deliberate choice that Ferrari says will allow the company to repair and maintain the vehicle for decades, protecting its resale value—a critical concern for buyers spending nearly three-quarters of a million dollars. This vertical integration is a statement: Ferrari is not outsourcing its electric future to suppliers or partners.
Yet Ferrari is moving against the current. Lamborghini has abandoned its plans to build fully electric vehicles, pivoting instead to hybrid models after concluding that demand for high-end luxury EVs simply does not exist. Porsche has similarly scaled back its EV ambitions. The pressure comes from two directions: Chinese electric vehicle makers are flooding the market with cheaper alternatives, and in the United States, the Trump administration has cut incentives for EV buyers and signaled a return to petrol-powered vehicles. Ford and Volkswagen have both doubled down on traditional engines in response.
Ferrari's chief design officer, Flavio Manzoni, acknowledged the backlash in an interview with YouTuber Cleo Abram, framing criticism as part of the innovation process. He called the concept of an electric Ferrari with a radically new design "polarising" but expressed confidence that skeptics will come around within months. The company has also hedged its bets: it will continue selling petrol and hybrid vehicles alongside the Luce, refusing to go all-in on electrification the way some competitors have attempted.
The broader context is one of strain. Ferrari is Europe's most valuable carmaker, a position built on selling cars so exclusive that few people will ever own one. That strategy has historically insulated the company from the pressures that crush mass-market manufacturers. But Ferrari's stock has fallen more than 25 percent over the past year, a decline that mirrors a wider collapse in luxury goods demand as inflation has eroded appetite for ultra-premium purchases worldwide. The Luce is Ferrari's answer to a world that is changing faster than anyone expected, and the market's judgment on whether that answer is correct will take years to render.
Notable Quotes
Critics are part of the innovation process. The concept of an electric Ferrari with a new design is polarizing, but people will appreciate it in months to come.— Flavio Manzoni, Ferrari's chief design officer
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does Ferrari need to make an electric car at all? They've always been about the engine sound, the visceral experience.
Because the world is moving that way whether they like it or not. But you're right—it's a genuine tension. They're trying to stay relevant without abandoning what made them Ferrari.
So why did they partner with Jony Ive? That seems like a very Apple move.
It signals that they're thinking about design as a complete system, not just bolting electric motors onto an old formula. Ive's work at Apple was about simplification and integration. That's what the Luce is trying to do—make an electric car that doesn't apologize for being electric.
The social media response sounds brutal. Are people actually angry, or is it just the usual internet noise?
Both. There's real anxiety among Ferrari loyalists about losing the brand's identity. But there's also genuine appreciation for the design risk. The polarization itself tells you something: Ferrari is no longer a safe choice. They're betting on being right about the future instead of being comfortable about the past.
Why did Lamborghini and Porsche back away from electric cars?
They looked at the numbers and saw no market. High-end EV demand is weak, Chinese competitors are undercutting them, and in America the political winds shifted against EVs. Ferrari is essentially calling their bluff—saying we're going to do this anyway.
And if they're wrong?
Then that 25 percent stock decline becomes a much bigger problem. But if they're right, they've positioned themselves as the luxury brand that understood the transition before anyone else did.