During an interview with Edmunds, Emanuele Carando explained how Ferrari viewed the criticism surrounding the Luce. “We expected a strong and highly polarized reaction, but not on this scale,” admitted Ferrari’s global head of marketing. However, the company does not see the attention purely as a problem. “As head of marketing, I was very pleased,” he added, because such widespread interest proves that Maranello’s first electric car has not gone unnoticed.
Ferrari welcomes Luce criticism as proof of the brand’s popularity
Ferrari experienced a similar reaction with the Purosangue. Some enthusiasts initially criticized it for moving away from the brand’s traditional sports cars, but customers later embraced it. Ferrari believes the Luce will also need time to win people over, especially because its proportions do not try to imitate those of a combustion-powered model.
The electric architecture directly shapes the extremely short hood, one of the car’s most controversial features. Ferrari could have taken the Purosangue, removed its V12, and adapted the body to accommodate batteries and electric motors, but Carando believes that approach would have produced the wrong result.
“We created something that would not have been possible without this technology,” he said. The Luce offers a spacious cabin and places the driver close to the front axle, a position that should improve cornering precision. Ferrari also worked with LoveFrom, the studio founded by Jony Ive and Marc Newson, to avoid reproducing the proportions of earlier models.
The interview also covered reports that Ferrari had pushed some customers to buy the Luce to improve their chances of accessing more exclusive models in the future. Enrico Galliera rejected those claims and said that “the car will not be forced on anyone.” Ferrari will allocate it only to customers who genuinely want to buy it.
Public relations director Alessandro Vaccari added that Ferrari never ties the purchase of one model to another. The company does, however, evaluate each customer’s long-term relationship with the brand by considering previous purchases and participation in Ferrari events.
The Luce will still need to prove its abilities on the road. Its four electric motors produce a combined 1,050 hp and take the car from 0 to 62 mph in 2.5 seconds. It reaches 124 mph in 6.8 seconds, while Ferrari claims a top speed of 193 mph. These figures place the company’s first electric model among the world’s highest-performance sports cars.
A 122-kWh battery provides more than 329 miles of claimed range and works with an 800-volt electrical system. DC fast charging reaches up to 350 kW, while a dedicated thermal management system controls battery and motor temperatures during both driving and charging.
The debate sparked by the first images will probably continue, but road tests and customer demand will ultimately determine whether Ferrari can overcome the initial skepticism. In the meantime, the first Ferrari Luce will head to auction in Monterey, where it should sell for more than $1 million.
