For decades, the very mention of a Ferrari conjured images of shrieking V12 engines, impossibly low-slung silhouettes and wealthy middle-aged men rediscovering adolescence at 180mph on the autostrada.
Now, however, the Italian marque has unveiled something rather different: a fully electric, five-seat family grand tourer called the Luce, and not everyone is thrilled.
The new model, launched in Rome by Ferrari chief executive Benedetto Vigna, represents the company’s most radical departure in its 79-year history. Priced at an eye-watering $640,000 (£474,320), the Luce — Italian for “light” — is Ferrari’s first fully electric vehicle and the first ever Ferrari designed with five seats.
It is also, perhaps inevitably, the latest battleground in the increasingly bitter war between traditional motoring purists and the electric future being imposed upon the automotive world.
The unveiling immediately ignited a storm online. Some praised the car’s futuristic appearance as visionary; others reacted with the sort of horror normally reserved for the desecration of a national monument.
“Ferrari just killed their brand just like Jaguar did,” wrote one furious critic on X. “Straight to the junkyard trash.”
Another lamented: “What is going on with European luxury car manufacturers? First Jaguar and now Ferrari.”
Yet amid the outrage there was admiration too. One enthusiast hailed the Luce as “an absolute masterclass in design”, declaring the car “a total game changer”.
Such polarisation may, in truth, be exactly what Ferrari expected.
The Luce has been developed over five years in collaboration with LoveFrom, the design agency founded by Sir Jony Ive, the former Apple design chief whose fingerprints are all over products from the iPhone to the Apple Watch. The influence is unmistakable. The Luce is sleek, minimalist and almost eerily clean in its execution — less mechanical beast than rolling luxury device.
Traditionalists, unsurprisingly, have struggled with that idea.
Ferrari’s chief design officer Flavio Manzoni appeared untroubled by the backlash. Speaking after the launch, he argued that controversy is often the price of innovation.
He acknowledged that an electric Ferrari with an entirely new design language would inevitably prove “polarising”, but insisted public opinion would soften over time.
History suggests he may have a point. Ferrari devotees once recoiled at the introduction of turbocharging, hybrid systems and even automatic gearboxes. Today, many of those same technologies are accepted as essential components of modern supercars.
Still, the Luce arrives at an awkward moment for the global electric vehicle industry.
Across Europe and the United States, enthusiasm for EVs has cooled noticeably. Carmakers that once trumpeted all-electric futures have begun rowing back their ambitions amid slowing demand, high production costs and mounting competition from aggressively priced Chinese manufacturers.
Even companies that appeared fully committed to electrification are now hedging their bets. Ford and Volkswagen have doubled down on petrol-powered models in key markets, particularly in America, where President Donald Trump’s administration has scaled back incentives designed to encourage EV adoption.
Luxury brands, meanwhile, have discovered that wealthy buyers are often the most resistant to abandoning combustion engines.
Ferrari’s fiercest rivals have already blinked. Lamborghini has delayed aspects of its electric strategy, while Porsche has been forced to reassess ambitious EV sales targets after disappointing demand for some battery-powered models.
Jaguar’s recent attempt at radical reinvention offered a cautionary tale. Its electric concept vehicle, praised in some design circles, was savaged by loyal customers who accused the British marque of abandoning its heritage in pursuit of fashionable minimalism.
Ferrari now finds itself facing much the same accusation.
Yet unlike many rivals, Ferrari is attempting to reassure nervous customers that the old world is not disappearing entirely. The company insists petrol and hybrid models will remain central to its line-up for years to come.
Mr Vigna has also emphasised that every component of the Luce — including the electric motors mounted on each wheel — has been developed in-house. That, Ferrari says, will ensure long-term serviceability and help preserve resale values, a critical concern in the ultra-luxury market.
Performance, at least on paper, remains suitably dramatic. The Luce can reportedly accelerate from 0-60mph in roughly 2.5 seconds, placing it firmly within supercar territory despite its larger proportions and battery weight.
What it cannot replicate, critics point out, is the operatic soundtrack that has long defined the Ferrari experience. For many enthusiasts, silence is not sophistication; it is sacrilege.
That existential tension lies at the heart of the Luce debate.
Ferrari has built its identity not merely around speed but around emotion: noise, theatre, mechanical violence and a sense of irrationality bordering on madness. Electric vehicles, however capable, tend to prioritise smoothness, efficiency and restraint — virtues that sit uneasily beside Ferrari’s traditional mystique.
And yet the company clearly believes the future customer may think differently.
There is, after all, a new generation of wealthy buyers raised not on Formula One engines but on iPhones, Teslas and digital luxury. To them, a whisper-quiet electric Ferrari designed with Silicon Valley aesthetics may feel entirely natural.
Whether that customer base is large enough to justify reinventing one of the world’s most iconic automotive brands remains another question entirely.
For now, the Luce stands as one of the boldest — and riskiest — gambles in Ferrari’s history.
