Ferrari has announced that its first EV will be known as the ‘Luce’ (pronounced Lu-chey which means Light in Italian). It also revealed its retro-themed interior that majors on physical buttons and knobs. LoveFrom, a design firm in which former Apple design chief Jony Ive is one of the founders, collaborated with Ferrari to design the interior (and exterior) of the Luce. The Apple-inspired aesthetics are not too difficult to spot on the inside. Originally referred to as the Elettrica in the development phase, the Ferrari Luce will be revealed in full in May 2026.
- Ferrari Luce interior has been designed by former Apple design chief
- Tactile knobs, buttons and dials brought back for all key functions
- Also gets 10-inch infotainment and 12.5-inch OLED screen for instrumentation
Ferrari has notably gone retro and analogue for what will arguably be quite a technologically advanced car. Ive’s influence on the cabin is immediately obvious, particularly through the use of anodised aluminium and strengthened glass from specialist firm Corning – two key components of Apple’s products. Ferrari design chief Flavio Manzoni described the cabin as “unique” and “disruptive” to the industry.
“This idea that because the power source is electric the interface should be digital is nonsense,” Ive said to our sister publication Autocar UK. “That makes no sense to me at all."
“One of the things that we felt very strongly about was that we wanted to explore an interface that was physical and engaging – to take the most powerful parts of analogue displays and combine them with digital displays.”
Key elements of Ferrari Luce’s interior.
For instance, the three-spoke steering wheel is inspired by the wooden thin-grip steering wheels from Ferraris of the 1950-'60s. It features two control pods with several physical buttons for operating the indicators, wipers, cruise control and bumpy road setting, apart from the usual Manettino switch finished in red. There’s also a knob to control the powertrain setting, which can toggle between Range, Tour and Performance modes.
Obviously, no modern car interior is complete without a touchscreen, but Ferrari hasn’t gone all out with a dashboard-encompassing unit. Instead, there’s a reasonably sized, iPad-like 10-inch unit that's movable via a chunky grab handle at the front. It is also designed to act like a palm rest when using the screen. At the bottom, there are toggle switches to control media and climate, while at the top sits a clock with physical dials and a digital face that can also become a compass or a lap timer. Ferrari claims this was the piece of the cabin that took the most time to develop. Each hand is independently operated by its own gear.
Then there’s the 12.5-inch instrument cluster, which appears like three analogue dials enclosed in a black casing. However, the entire binnacle is actually an OLED screen made up of eight different layers. The first two layers are separate (and bespoke) Samsung OLED screens that make up the three-dial view – the middle one shows speed with a physical needle, while the other two are customisable based on the powertrain settings selected. The black plastic-like surround, meanwhile, displays warning lights, turn-by-turn navigation and the shifting aid that is normally found at the top of modern Ferrari steering wheels.
Lastly, there’s a floating design for the centre console which is made up of a mix of leather and glass, and houses a small knob for the drive selector, which is also made of glass. However, the real highlight of the centre console is a dedicated recess for the key, which needs to be pushed into place for the car to start. Once it clicks into its place, the key’s yellow colour changes to black and the yellow is transferred to the drive selector. Ferrari describes this as a way of “transferring the power from the key to the car”, and Ive said this alone took nearly a year to perfect.
Meanwhile, the launch control system is activated by pulling down on a grip that's located above the driver's head, “like in a helicopter”. It's flanked by switches that control exterior lighting settings. To aid practicality, the centre console also houses two separate cubbies, two cup holders, physical buttons for the boot operation and central locking, and switches for all four windows. Meanwhile, rear passengers will also have a touchscreen showing speed, lap times, telemetry, and more.
Despite nods to Ferrari's heritage throughout the cabin – most notably the three-spoke, thin-rimmed steering wheel – Ive said he was “not trying to be nostalgic”, but wanted to create something that had “some gravitas and weight for the future”.
Uday Singh
Lenny D'sa
Dipan Sur
Glenn Noronha
