It’s not every day that supercar news makes it onto the page of tech-centric websites, but the Ferrari Luce has done just that. The upcoming EV has made huge waves due to its interior design:
Of course, this cockpit is designed by Jony Ive and his collaborators at LoveFrom. Here’s how Ferrari describes it:
Ferrari has always been ready to innovate. The Ferrari Luce project with Jony Ive, Marc Newson and LoveFrom began with a mutual interest in learning, in understanding the future – and a deep understanding of and appreciation for Ferrari heritage. This work is motivated by excellence, and by creating something extraordinary.
And:
The Ferrari Luce’s interface is designed with clear organisational principles. Controls and displays are grouped functionally, with the most essential commands and feedback directly in front of the driver.
That webpage is worth scrolling through. The precision of the components reminds me of something like the iPhone 4. That’s the same product that came to mind for Tim Stevens:
If you’re familiar with the designs that Apple produced under Ive’s tenure, particularly in the era beginning with the iPhone 4, you’ll feel right at home here. The overall aesthetic is one dominated by squircles and circles, all with absolute, minute perfection and symmetry.
At first blush, it’s a bit clinical, but dig deeper, start poking and prodding, and you’ll see there’s a real sense of charm here. Fun little details and genuinely satisfying tactility begin to reveal themselves. The key, for example, has a yellow panel with an E Ink background. Push the key into the magnetized receiver in the center console, and the yellow on the key dims, moving across to glow through the top of the glass shifter. It’s meant to symbolize a sort of transference of life.
The shifter isn’t the only thing that’s glass. There are 40-odd pieces of Corning Gorilla Glass scattered throughout the cockpit, everything from the shifter surround to the slightly convex lenses in the gauge cluster. What isn’t glass is aluminum, much of it anodized in your choice of three colors: gray, dark gray and rose gold.
Yes, all that sure does sound like I’m writing about a new iPhone and not the latest Ferrari. But where Apple has been pruning every physical control it possibly can from its devices lately, LoveFrom will insert some great tactility in the Luce. The shifter moves through its detents satisfyingly, the air vents open and close with a clear snick and the paddles behind the steering wheel pop with a great feel.
I love the pushback against the Tesla-inspired everything-is-on-a-big-display-and-you’ll-like-it design that has taken over the car industry. I suspect more would-be buyers will struggle with the fact that this is Ferrari’s first all-electric car than they will with the interior design.