Ferrari’s first fully electric car has arrived, and the reaction has been anything but quiet.
The Italian sports car maker unveiled the Luce, a roughly $640,000 electric model whose name means “light” in Italian. It is a major departure for Ferrari: a five-seat, all-electric vehicle developed with input from LoveFrom, the design agency founded by former Apple design chief Sir Jony Ive.
The launch was followed by a sharp move in Ferrari’s shares. The company’s stock fell more than 8% in Milan and more than 5% in New York on Tuesday, reflecting investor unease over how far the brand can stretch into battery-powered luxury without weakening the qualities that made it valuable in the first place.
A Different Kind of Ferrari
The Luce is not a quiet update to an existing Ferrari formula. It is being presented as the company’s first fully electric model and its first five-seater, giving it a different profile from the low, two-seat performance cars most buyers associate with Maranello.
Ferrari chief executive Benedetto Vigna said in Rome that the car took about five years to develop. He also showed the vehicle to Pope Leo, who sat inside the car and was presented with its steering wheel.
Under the bodywork, the Luce uses a Ferrari-made electric motor at each wheel. Ferrari says that setup helps the car reach 60mph in about 2.5 seconds. The company has also emphasized that the vehicle’s key components are made in-house, a point meant to support long-term serviceability and protect resale value for buyers spending at the very top of the market.
That resale argument matters. For a Ferrari buyer, the decision is rarely just about transport. It can also involve collectability, brand heritage, maintenance access and confidence that the car will remain desirable years after delivery.
Design Reaction Splits Fans
The Luce’s design has drawn a strong response online. Some commenters criticized the car for moving too far away from Ferrari’s traditional look, while others praised it as a bold step for a company that cannot rely only on its past.
Ferrari’s chief design officer Flavio Manzoni, speaking in an interview with YouTuber Cleo Abram, acknowledged that an electric Ferrari with a new design language would be polarising. His view was that criticism is part of the innovation process and that opinions may shift after people spend more time with the car.
That is the central risk of the Luce. Ferrari is trying to make an EV that still feels rare, emotional and distinctly Ferrari, even though electric power changes some of the cues buyers have long prized, including engine sound, mechanical character and the drama of a combustion powertrain.
Why Investors Are Watching Closely
The Luce arrives as the wider EV market has become more complicated. Several large carmakers have slowed or adjusted electric vehicle plans as demand, pricing pressure and regulation have shifted. Those pressures are especially sensitive in luxury and performance segments, where buyers often expect a car to deliver more than efficiency or straight-line speed.
Some rivals have also taken a more cautious approach to high-end EVs. Lamborghini has leaned more heavily into hybrids rather than moving quickly to all-electric models, while Porsche has moderated parts of its EV strategy as demand has proved uneven in key markets.
Ferrari has said it will continue to sell petrol and hybrid cars alongside the Luce. That mixed approach gives the company room to test demand for an electric flagship without forcing every customer into the same future.
For now, the Luce is a test of how much change Ferrari’s customers and investors are willing to accept. The car offers extreme performance, a high price and a new design direction. What it still has to prove is whether an electric Ferrari can carry the same emotional weight as the company’s combustion-engine icons.
Ferrari remains Europe’s most valuable carmaker, supported by scarcity, pricing power and a customer base that has historically been more resilient than the mass market. Even so, its shares have fallen sharply over the past year, alongside broader pressure on luxury names as inflation and weaker high-end demand have weighed on sentiment.
The Luce does not end Ferrari’s combustion story. It opens a new chapter beside it, and the first market reaction shows how carefully that chapter will be judged.
