May 25 was not a random date: exactly 79 years earlier, a Ferrari 125 S took the marque’s first official victory on the streets of Caracalla in Rome. Last night, under the futuristic vaults of Santiago Calatrava’s Vela in Rome’s Tor Vergata district, Maranello staged another premiere destined for the history books of both motorsport and the global luxury industry. The Ferrari Luce, the first fully electric vehicle in the more than eighty-year history of the Prancing Horse, is finally real.
The event brought together eight hundred hand-picked clients and more than two hundred journalists from around the world, with five Luce units arrayed in a light show that showcased the new color palette, from the traditional Rosso Corsa to white and pale celestial blue. An aesthetic break that telegraphs a far deeper strategic break.
A radically new object in the Ferrari universe
On the technical side, the Luce presents itself as something genuinely new in Ferrari’s world. Five seats, four doors with rear-hinged “suicide” opening, a clamshell silhouette stretching over five meters (roughly 16.4 feet) — numbers and shapes that would have made any old-guard Ferrarista flinch. In place of a combustion roar sits a high-capacity 122 kWh battery integrated into the floor, with four electric motors, one per wheel, producing a combined 1,050 horsepower. Zero to 100 km/h (0–62 mph) takes 2.5 seconds, top speed is 310 km/h (193 mph), and stated range exceeds 530 kilometers (about 330 miles).
The project required five years of work and generated sixty patents. Among the most significant engineering firsts are electric all-wheel drive — a Ferrari first, achieved through independent control of each wheel — and a system that amplifies the powertrain’s natural vibrations to preserve the visceral, sensory feedback that has always defined a car from Maranello. The dedicated platform runs at 880 volts.
A €550,000 bet on an untouched segment
It is the strategic and financial dimension that makes the Luce a case study. With a starting price of €550,000 (about $594,000 at current rates), Ferrari is not trying to democratize electric mobility. It is trying to colonize an untapped premium segment: large electric sports sedans capable of meeting the daily needs of a wealthy family without giving up supercar-grade performance. A 580-liter (20.5 cubic-foot) trunk and five real seats certify that ambition.
The operation looks all the bolder against the competitive backdrop. While Porsche and Lamborghini have publicly slowed their own electric transitions, citing demand softer than expected, Ferrari has chosen to accelerate. The implicit message to analysts and investors is unmistakable: the brand is strong enough to create demand, not merely follow it. Commercial and marketing director Enrico Galliera called the Luce «the most versatile Ferrari in history», anticipating the arrival of «conquest customers» drawn in by the singularity of the proposition.
Jony Ive’s fingerprint — and what it signals
On the design front, the collaboration with LoveFrom — the creative studio founded by former Apple chief design officer Sir Jony Ive and industrial designer Marc Newson — adds non-trivial symbolic value. Associating the name behind the iPhone and the iMac with the cabin of the first electric Ferrari positions the product at the intersection of premium consumer technology and elite automotive craftsmanship — a territory where perceived value systematically exceeds production cost, and where margins stay structurally elevated.
First deliveries are expected by the end of the fourth quarter of 2026.
Editor’s note
This article was originally published in Italian on money.it by Donato De Angelis on May 26, 2026 as «5 posti, 4 motori, 0 emissioni. Con Luce, Ferrari entra nell’era elettrica (ma ora viene la parte difficile)». It has been translated and adapted for an international audience by the Money.it International desk.
