In Rome, inside the Vela di Calatrava, Ferrari turned on its first electric without trying to make it look like a city car with a sense of guilt. The Ferrari Luce arrives like this: long, wide, powerful, very expensive, full of glass, aluminium, technology and ambition. A full electric car costing 550,000 euros, four doors, five seats, a 600-litre boot and over 1,000 horsepower put to the ground by four motors, one for each wheel. The first deliveries are expected from the fourth quarter of 2026, with timing that may vary depending on the markets.
The point here is to avoid the usual automatic reflex: electric equals sustainable, supercar equals scandal. The Light is in the midst of a more uncomfortable area. It marks the definitive entry of the Cavallino into the world of battery-powered cars, but it does so with an object weighing over 2.2 tons, a 122 kWh battery, hypercar performance and an apartment-like price in an Italian city that isn’t even too peripheral. It’s an electric car. It’s also a Ferrari. The two things, together, tell a lot about how even luxury is trying to change its skin without giving up its own liturgy.
The first time electric
The Ferrari Luce is the first fully electric model in the history of the Maranello company. The project was developed with the contribution of LoveFrom, the collective founded by Jony Ive and Marc Newson, and this can be seen above all in the choice of a cleaner, more glazed bodywork, less tied to the muscular imagery of traditional Ferraris. The design is already destined to divide, as it tries to shift the brand language without letting it evaporate. More monolithic lines, large surfaces, a large electric grand tourer approach rather than a low and angry sports car.
We are in front of the second four-door Ferrari after the Purosangue and the first with five real seats. This detail matters more than it seems. Ferrari is looking for a different clientele, perhaps younger, more accustomed to technology, closer to the world of electrics and less tied to the absolute cult of the V8 or V12. The Luce is presented as a car for very wealthy families, with comfortable seats, lots of technology and a setting that is more usable in everyday life compared to the classic idea of the extreme supercar.
Inside, Ferrari has avoided the temptation of the button-less digital living room. The dashboard maintains physical controls, traditional materials and a certain tactile idea of the cockpit. Glass, leather and anodized aluminum coexist with displays and digital functions, while the steering wheel retains an almost ritual centrality. This is also a message: the electric can change the mechanics, but Ferrari tries to save the gesture. Touch, select, hear a response. In a market where many cars seem to want to become tablets on wheels, here luxury still comes from a control that offers resistance under the fingers.
Supercar numbers
The technical data sheet is what you expect from a Ferrari that doesn’t want to ask for permission. The Luce features four electric motors, one per wheel, with a total declared power of 772 kW, equal to 1,050 HP. The sprint from 0 to 100 km/h takes place in 2.5 seconds, 0-200 km/h in 6.8 seconds and the maximum speed reaches 310 km/h. These are numbers that place it in the most extreme range of luxury electric cars, where the battery also serves to produce almost physical accelerations, the kind that crush you against the seat before you even have time to think about it.
The battery has a gross capacity of 122 kWh. This is an important correction compared to many hastily written cards: we talk about kWh, i.e. energy capacity, while kW indicates power. Direct current fast charging reaches up to 350 kW, while alternating current charging can reach 22 kW. The declared autonomy is around 530 km, a figure still linked to the WLTP approval in the technical data sheets released at the launch. Translated into real life, independent testing will be needed to understand how much the Light will really consume outside the presentation lights, between highway, lively driving and daily use.
The dimensions confirm the nature of the car: 5,026 meters long, almost two meters wide without mirrors, 1,544 meters high, wheelbase of 2,961 meters and curb weight of 2,260 kg. The boot is close to 600 litres, an unusual figure for a Ferrari and consistent with the idea of a model also designed for long journeys, rather than just for weekend performance exercise. Even the wheels are part of the technical scenography: 23 inches at the front and 24 at the rear, measurements that on a small car would seem like science fiction and here become normality for an electric supercar.
The sound without the engine
The question that accompanies every electric Ferrari was inevitable: what remains of the sound? Maranello chose not to rely on fully synthetic noise. La Luce uses a system that captures and amplifies natural vibrations coming from the electric powertrain, in particular from the axles, modulating them based on the driving modes. Reuters describes this choice as one of the attempts to maintain part of the Ferrari sensorial experience within a mechanism which, by nature, works in a very different way from a combustion engine.
It’s an interesting solution because it avoids the video game effect, that of the electric car pretending to be something it just left behind. Here Ferrari tries to build another type of acoustic presence: less exhaust, more vibration; less traditional rumble, more amplified mechanical signal. Will everyone like it? Difficult. Purists will continue to regret the sound of the cylinders, and they will probably do so with a certain theatricality. But the Light is born right inside that fracture: the desire for the future and the nostalgia of the noise.
Electric, yes. Light, no
From an environmental point of view, the Ferrari Luce requires prudent reading. Electric vehicles eliminate exhaust emissions, and this remains an important step, especially in cities and in contexts where air quality weighs on health. At the same time, an electric supercar with a 122 kWh battery, large dimensions and weighing more than two tons cannot be described as a simple symbol of sustainable mobility. Sustainability does not just depend on the type of engine. It depends on how much energy is needed, how much material is used, how the battery is produced, how the car is recharged, how much it is used and what model of mobility it continues to represent.
Ferrari also emphasizes the use of internally developed components and solutions, with a strong engineering focus. Some technical sources also indicate a widespread use of recycled aluminum for the chassis and bodywork, with the aim of reducing the production impact linked to the materials. It is an interesting fact, because it shows how the environmental issue is also entering very high-end cars, albeit within obvious limits: a 550,000 euro luxury object remains very far from the daily mobility of most people. The Ferrari Luce, then, must be read for what it is: an industrial and symbolic passage.
You might also be interested in:
