Ferrari teases interior and reveals name of new electric car

Ferrari’s first-ever electric car was confirmed as a reality at the back end of last year, and now we have a name for it — the Ferrari Luce.

Not only do we have a name, but we also have a detailed look at its interior, thanks to a series of images released today following a presentation in San Francisco by Ferrari and creative collective LoveFrom. In there is a mix of mechanical buttons, dials, toggles, and switches with multifunctional digital displays as the culmination of a five-year design comes to fruition.

Why Luce?

Heralded as the start of a new chapter in Ferrari’s history, the Luce name — meaning ‘light’ or ‘illumination’ in Italian — signifies the brand’s focus on the future. The Prancing Horse hopes that Luce will define a new era ‘where design, engineering and imagination converge into something that did not exist before’.

Ferrari Luce Interior

LoveFrom

Ferrari says its Luce interior design philosophy shows ‘innovation meeting craftsmanship and cutting-edge design’. LoveFrom, founded by designers Sir Jony Ive and Marc Newson in San Francisco, has been working with the Ferrari Styling Centre, led by Flavio Manzoni, to follow that philosophy, while ensuring they meet functional standards required for a production road car. Ive is best known for his work at Apple, where he was instrumental in designing the iPad, iPhone and MacBook products. Newson is known for his design work in a number of areas, from furniture, products, airline seats and restaurant interiors.

Benedetto Vigna, John Elkann, Flavio Manzoni, Jony Ive and Marc Newson

Steering Wheel

Despite Ferrari looking towards the future in terms of technology, the steering wheel of the Luce pays homage to the brand’s heritage. The iconic three-spoke wheel, seen in the 1950s and 60s in wooden form, has been reinterpreted with a 100% recycled aluminium structure and weighs 400g less than a standard Ferrari steering wheel.

Modern innovation has been embraced, however, and the controls on the steering wheel are organised into two analogue control modules, echoing the layout of a Formula 1 car. The final version was perfected thanks to feedback from more than 20 evaluation tests with Ferrari test drivers.

Key & Key Dock

The Luce comes to life when the Corning Gorilla Glass key is placed into its dock on the central console, with the key’s colour switching from yellow to black as it touches the glass surface.

Displays

The driver binnacle, control panel and rear control panel make up the three displays in the Luce’s interior, with considerable time spent making the user experience ‘intuitive and easy to navigate’. On them is a new custom typeface that pays homage to historic Ferrari type and Italian engineering lettering.

The binnacle moves with the steering wheel, while the instrument cluster mounted on the steering column represents a first for Ferrari and features two overlapping OLED displays. Digital and analogue elements are combined in a self contained united attached to the steering column, moving in sync with the wheel’s rake.

The control panel is fixed to a ball-and-socket joint and can be faced towards the driver or passenger, and has a palm rest to use while operating, while the multigraph integrated into the central display blends watchmaking skill, technology and Ferrari tradition.

Ferrari took inspiration from the Veglia and Jaeger instrument clusters from the 1950s and 1960s, with designers particularly focused on achieving a ‘watch-like’ clarity.

When will we see the Ferrari Luce exterior?

Following a look at the technology underpinning the Luce last October and today’s name announcement and interior details, the third and final phase of the electric Ferrari’s reveal will be unveiled in Italy in May. The final phase may also reveal a price for the Luce, which has so far not been detailed in any of the announcements.

words: Mike Booth
pictures: Ferrari