Ferrari was set Monday to unveil the Luce, its first fully electric vehicle, a four-door EV that marks the company’s most visible step yet into a future it has spent years preparing for. The name means “light” in Italian, but the car arrives with a price tag that puts it far beyond the reach of almost everyone: more than $586,000.
The Luce tops out at 193 mph and is intended for global sale, though Ferrari has not said when it will reach the United States. Its debut comes after years of work on electrification, including a new e-building facility at Ferrari’s headquarters in Maranello, Italy, where the company has been reshaping its production line for a quieter age.
What has made the Luce especially unusual is how much of it leaked before Ferrari had a chance to show it. Spy shots posted to social media in recent weeks showed camouflaged test vehicles on roads near Maranello, and the images sparked a wave of speculation among Ferrari fans. One widely shared Instagram post from a supercars account called it Ferrari’s “final prototype” and claimed the car would make 1,000 horsepower and sprint from 0-100 kilometers per hour in 2.5 seconds, figures Ferrari has not publicly confirmed.
Those leaks also suggested a sharp break from the brand’s familiar low-slung, two-seat formula. People familiar with the project have described the Luce as a large, highly distinctive vehicle unlike anything else in Ferrari’s current lineup, and it was developed with input from Jony Ive’s LoveFrom studio, according to a report. Ferrari engineers also built a custom sound system designed to amplify vibrations from the powertrain and create a distinct electric Ferrari soundtrack rather than simply piping fake engine noise through speakers.
That effort sits at the center of Ferrari’s challenge. The company is trying to preserve its mystique while moving away from combustion engines, and luxury automakers across the industry are asking whether wealthy buyers actually want electric supercars. Electric vehicles can deliver instant acceleration, but batteries add weight and they do not produce the sound that has long defined the appeal of a Ferrari.
The timing also matters because the broader market has not given a clear answer. Ferrari quietly delayed plans for a second EV model until at least 2028 because demand is weak, while Italian rival Lamborghini has abandoned a project to roll out a fully electric model in 2030. Against that backdrop, the Luce is less a clean handoff to the future than a test of whether Ferrari can sell silence, speed and exclusivity in the same package.
For now, the answer is that Ferrari is moving ahead carefully, but not blindly. The Luce shows the company believes the electric supercar market exists, even if it remains uncertain how large it is or how fast it will grow. The real measure will come after the reveal, when Ferrari finds out whether the world’s richest buyers are ready to call an electric machine a true Ferrari.
