Amazing interior, controversial exterior: Ferrari's first electric car

They certainly put in some effort: 6,000 computational fluid dynamics simulations and more than 300 hours of wind tunnel time, including 80 hours with full-size models. At the front, the hood dives down below a wing, funneling airflow up and over the roof to another wing that forms the rear deck. Equally important are the myriad active air vents that feed cooling radiators but also shape the airflow through and under the car’s body, with different configurations of opening and closing depending on whether the driver is going for efficiency or performance. Official range estimates are a ways off, but Ferrari is targeting 330 miles (530 km) for Europe’s WLTP test in the most efficient configuration. That uses the aerodisc wheels, each machined from a single piece of aluminum and designed to minimize range-sapping eddies and wakes by funneling the air like a turbine. The main instrument binnacle is fixed to the steering column and moves with it; it’s made up of two OLED displays sandwiched together, with the second one visible through circular cutouts to create dials. The middle of these is the speedometer, which uses a physical needle rather than one made of pixels. To its left is a power and regeneration meter, and to the right is a multifunction display. The pivoted infotainment screen is also rather impressive. Brushed aluminum rocker switches let you easily control the climate without taking your eyes off the road, and there are physical buttons (made of the same gorilla glass as the rest of the screen) to access settings and media. I can confirm that Apple CarPlay is present and correct—when active, it spans the width of the display and uses maybe half its height. Perhaps the coolest bit is the clock in the top-right corner, which, at the press of a button, cycles into a 60-second stopwatch, and then a compass. People can argue if the look is more Apple Watch or Ikepod; either way, I think it’s fantastic. The two front motors each generate 140 hp (105 kW) and 103 lb-ft (140 Nm) and share a 300 kW inverter. Meanwhile, the rear motors offer 415 hp (310 kW) and 261 lb-ft (355 Nm). The rear axle uses a 600 kW inverter that also handles a DC/DC conversion to power the suspension: some very clever 48 V spool dampers developed with Multimatic (and already used to good effect on Ferraris like the F80 and Purosangue). The suspension should do a decent job of hiding the Luce’s curb weight, which at 4,895 lb (2,260 kg) makes it slightly heavier than Porsche’s stripped-out Taycan Turbo GT but a heavy adult lighter than either the Lucid Air Sapphire or Mercedes-AMG’s new GT. Then again, I think you might be able to buy all three of those for the price of a well-configured Luce; we expect pricing in Europe to start at 550,000 euros ($640,000). That’s if you’re in one of the two modes that use the paddles—you can also just drive the car without bothering with the paddles. In Range mode, the Luce limits itself to just 430 hp (320 kW), rarely uses its front motors, and tops out at 161 mph (260 km/h). Use the e-Manettino—the brushed aluminum dial on the right side of the wheel—to switch into Tour and power up to 577 hp (460 kW). The top speed remains the same, but this mode is permanently in all-wheel drive, and it’s also when you’ll start to hear amplified sounds from the motors and inverters as they deploy and harvest power, giving the driver some familiar audio feedback. Performance mode unlocks full nominal power: 972 hp (725 kW), a top speed of 192 mph (310 km), and the most aggressive control maps. To access the Luce’s peak output, use the launch control dial on the roof; it will send you to 62 mph (100 km/h) from a standstill in 2.5 seconds and 125 mph (200 km/h) in 6.8 seconds. There’s also a full complement of advanced driver assists, like adaptive cruise, automatic emergency braking, and so on. Refreshingly, I’ve heard nothing at all about any future self-driving mode, although I’m now imagining what Ferrari could do with the idea of a “rollercoaster mode,” one of the entries to a design forum held by Audi back in 2014. Thanks to the dubious reliability of transatlantic Internet service, you’re reading this a few hours after the embargo expired, and the online reaction has been predictable. With the exception of the other 200-odd journalists present inside the ribcage-like Vela di Calatrava on Sunday night, none of those critics has actually seen the design in person, and many fewer still are likely to be in the market for an electric car that costs more than much of its competition combined. In person, it’s a less challenging design, and like BMW’s i7 before it, the interior is magical enough to make up for exterior design elements I don’t care for. After all, you can’t see the outside when you’re sitting inside it. But I’m not sure it will matter. Luces will definitely sell to customers who want to make sure they’re in line for the next Ferrari supercar, and I’d imagine more than a few Ferrari owners will buy one as a daily driver, particularly in regions where heavy EV penetration and tech wealth intersect.