A New Supercar For A New Era: The Superb Ferrari Luce EV
When it comes to supercars, Italian prestige sports car manufacturer Ferrari always seems deliver the goods. They have also demonstrated that sport utility vehicles (SUV) are well within their remit but now the Marenello Masters have excelled themselves with the new Ferrari Luce; an all-electric (EV) masterpiece. It is almost unnecessary to write anything at all; our images tell the story. Car design is always a matter of personal choice but isn’t this just the most beautiful thing on four wheels?
The Ferrari Luce marks the culmination of the premium Italian brand’s multi-energy strategy, of which electrification is just one of the means available to Ferrari to expand its design potential in product architecture, performance, design, and driving experience, without necessarily replacing existing engines, fortunately.
From a technical perspective, the Ferrari Luce is based on a bespoke platform with a dedicated chassis and engineering innovations in every single component. Technologies derived from Ferrari’s unrivalled experience in the world of motor racing made it possible to save weight, helping deliver best‑in‑class performance of almost 193MPH (310KPH) and a range in excess of 329 miles (530 km).
The car is powered by no less than four electric engines, one per wheel, delivering an astonishing 772kW (1035BHP / 1050PS) and is equipped with a high‑capacity 122 kWh battery, an active suspension system derived from the F80 model and an independently steering rear axle. Within this framework of technological innovation, two concepts best encapsulate the Ferrari Luce’s ambitious entry into the world of high‑performance electric sports cars: the control of each wheel’s motion in every direction and in any dynamic condition and an authentic approach to sound, always welcome in an electric vehicle.
Prestige Design
The electric power source enables a radical new design that generously accommodates four doors and five seats. This is the second four-door Ferrari (the brilliant, screaming V12 Purosangue is of course still available for those who like a four-seater). See this page for details of available Ferrari products from MHH International, but the Luce is the first with five seats. A defining visual characteristic of the Ferrari Luce is the unprecedented purity of the cabin. This shell-like form extends below the belt line to the extremes of the car. The front and rear aerodynamic wings, floating above and around the silhouette of the passenger compartment, enable this design. A preoccupation with aerodynamics shaped the entire car. Surfaces have been refined to be smooth, continuous and uninterrupted.
Opening all four doors reveals a symmetrical and waisted contour of the silhouette. The generous apertures reveal the airy and spacious interior, about which see below. The front and rear light panels are transparent and part of the primary surfaces. The lights gently recede when switched off, preserving the purity of the form.
The extreme innovation of the Ferrari Luce is manifest in the custom wheel design. The car has the largest staggered wheel diameters on a series-production Ferrari road car: 23 inch in the front and 24 inch at the rear. There are two designs: a forged, open five-spoke design and an aerodynamically optimised turbine design.
The Ferrari Luce’s 800v battery pack, chassis and body form an integrated system capable of optimising both performance and efficiency. The chassis combines hollow castings, extrusions and aluminium, while the body utilises extrusions and aluminium sheet metal. The architecture maximises interior space, eliminating the central tunnel and integrating the battery beneath the floor and rear seats.
The control panel is a self-contained articulating panel that augments the driving experience, combining mechanical controls with a digital touchscreen. The control panel can be pivoted by the driver or front seat passenger using the handle and palm rest. Three physical buttons control climate, car settings and media. There are dedicated climate controls for cabin temperature, fan speed, seat heating and ventilation which are all physical controls that can be accessed quickly and intuitively while driving. The touch screen is used for deeper climate settings, media and navigation.
The overhead control panel houses a physical pull that initiates Launch Mode. Additional controls include exterior lights, defrosters and the SOS emergency system. Launch Mode initiates a flawless performance start by adjusting torque and stability systems and allocating extra power.
The centre console is again a stand-alone module integrating the key, shifter, armrests, storage, and controls for the rear cabin. The key represents the driver’s personal connection to their Ferrari Luce. When the key docks, the historic Ferrari yellow surges from the key across the interface. Docking the key starts the car and unlocks the shifter – ready to drive. In the back the rear control panel shares real-time drive information.
Seats are beautifully refined and simple forms that are functional, supportive, comfortable and luxurious. There are two choices of pattern, four fabric options, and multiple colourways among many options for this vehicle. Seats are all independently power adjustable using a refreshingly simple and intuitive control, they say. Front seats are heated, with an optional massage function. Every detail has clearly been carefully considered and engineered, right down to the seat rail covers.
For your further pleasure, the Ferrari Luce introduces a high-end, state-of-the-art audio system featuring twenty-one speakers engineered and integrated for maximum acoustic performance and a 3D sound experience.
Efficient Aero
Developing an extremely high‑performance yet highly user-friendly EV posed a new challenge for the Italian company, we learn, which set about developing a series of very ambitious, interlinked objectives. Among these are a new standard of ergonomics and passenger comfort for a Ferrari, the fastest possible battery charging speed (a major challenge from a cooling standpoint) and a long driving range, a key parameter for such a car. To maximise range, it was necessary to reduce the drag coefficient to a minimum, setting a new benchmark for aero-efficiency.
The premium all-wheel-drive, all-wheel-steering Ferrari Luce succeeds in its ambitious goal of achieving by far the lowest drag coefficient in the history of Maranello’s road cars, paired with an unrivalled interior space. An extreme care for aerodynamics shaped the fundamental architecture of the entire car. Surfaces have been refined to be smooth, continuous and uninterrupted to maximise airflow and wake management.
Active aerodynamic grilles are another first for Ferrari, regulating the airflow through the heat exchangers and always ensuring the correct balance between cooling requirements and aerodynamic drag. Active ride height can lower the front by 10mm at speed to maximise efficiency without compromising comfort or performance. The cooling system is part of an integrated software that optimises range by balancing power consumption and intelligent warm-up, fast-charging management, and battery and cabin preconditioning functions, operable remotely.
MHH International With Ferrari
Is the world ready for a prestige full-electric Ferrari? It would seem so, as much in-house development has gone into this car. Those who love a howling V8 or V12 need not worry though: Ferrari have sensibly made clear that they will continue to offer clients a choice across internal combustion, hybrid and electric power-trains, so the vehicle portfolio is not so much changing as expanding.
MHH International offer new and used Ferrari vehicles for export from the UK to Kenya, New Zealand and other destinations world wide. It doesn’t stop with Ferrari though: A wide range of vehicles from many premium car makers are available through our comprehensive, tried and tested export service. Our new, easy to use website has full details or get in touch to find out more.
