The electric Ferrari Luce is a big departure for the brand. Not only is the four-door its first all-electric model, but it was designed by a new partner.
Ferrari contracted design firm LoveFrom to create the body and interior, so it could focus on the 1,035 hp four-motor electric drivetrain. The company is led by former Apple head designer Jony Ive and industrial designer Marc Newson.
Ive’s input is very evident in the Luce’s interior, which uses tablets for the instrument cluster and infotainment system touchscreen that look like thick iPads. Interestingly, both incorporate mechanical dials within OLED screens for the gauges and clock to add an analogue feel.
The contemporary modernist exterior has Newson’s fingerprints all over it. In fact, it brings to mind another car he designed .. 27 years ago.
The 1999 021C concept was a collaboration between Ford of Europe and Newson to create an entry level urban car. While that’s the polar opposite of a $640,000 luxury performance car, the 021C shares a few things with the Luce.
First, there’s the overall vibe. Both feature simple surfaces without much detail and floating rooflines rendered in a different color from the body along with front ends dominated by rounded rectangle shapes. The style is more consumer product than traditional automobile.
The two cars also have opposing coach doors, although the Luce has a B-pillar between the first and second rows, while the 021C’s space entryway is entirely open to show off the interior. That’s fine on a concept car, since it doesn’t need to be as structurally sound.
The Luce’s interior is trimmed in high-end materials, but has a relatively minimalist aesthetic, as does the 021C’s. The Ford also uses analogue dials and a rectilinear interface for the entertainment system, although it comes in the form of a single-DIN Blaupunkt audio system head unit.
The biggest departure may be the car’s trunks. While Luce has a conventional liftback, the 021Cs cargo area slid out like a drawer. The 021C was also envisioned to be efficient, but powered by a 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine, not electric drive.
One feature that didn’t make the jump to the Luce is the 021C’s swiveling front seats, which could be turned 90 degrees toward the door for easy entry and dramatic exits.
Unfortunately for hip, young, turn-of-the-millennium urbanites, nothing like the 021C ever made it to production and the Luce is out of reach for most zillennials at a starting price of $640,000.
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