People are angry about the Ferrari Luce’s interior, but that’s a good thing

As designers Sir Jony Ive and Marc Newson talked me through the Ferrari Luce’s bold interior design, it took me a moment to digest what I was seeing. My first impressions were via a video played on a display, and it wasn’t until I laid eyes on the hardware with my own eyes that I fully appreciated exactly what Ferrari was going for. The internet, however, hasn’t had that opportunity yet, and the reaction makes that clear.

There are more positive responses to the Luce’s interior than I’d envisioned, but it’s hard to ignore those who are less than impressed. Such a disruptive design is bound to cause a stir, but applying it to a Ferrari is sacrilegious to some and, according to many of those people, the beginning of its downfall. There are a number of reasons why I believe that’s not the case, and in fact, perhaps the opposite.

> The Ferrari Luce has an interior designed by Apple’s Jony Ive – we take a look

Designs that are immediately and unanimously accepted are all well and good, but they’re often also the designs that fade into obscurity sooner than we realise. These are the sort that decline in appeal with age, and LoveFrom purposefully designed the Luce’s interior to do the opposite. Of course, slews of negative feedback aren’t always a sign of good design, but in this instance, I feel this response proves Ferrari has succeeded in making it the disruptor it hoped it would be, avoiding the dangerous path of following trends and remaining idle in design direction. 

Many have criticised this design for its simple forms and apparent lack of styling, but that is very much on purpose. At the launch event, Ive said: '...everything is founded on being functional. It's not styled. It's not garnish because that's a distraction and I think doesn't last well. What we really hope is that over time your affection and respect actually grows.' 

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As Ferrari made clear last year, longevity is a key focus with the Luce. Its powertrain has been designed with serviceability in mind, ensuring owners can keep this car for just as long as any conventional combustion-powered Ferrari. Over 90 per cent of Ferraris ever built are still on the road, and it hopes to at least maintain that figure even in an electrified future.

Jony Ive said that he hopes people focus on the thinking behind the interior rather than the styling. He and his team at LoveFrom worked with Ferrari to create a cabin that returns to true functionality, with tactility, ultra-high tolerances and no-expenses spared materials to set it apart from every other car on the market. If you were a fan of Ferrari reintroducing a physical start/stop button, the Luce’s interior takes things to a whole new level.

It’s this that I believe will make this design so successful, as while many aren’t keen on the prospect of an electric car, the approach to this interior will draw buyers to the Luce regardless – you can’t get it anywhere else, combustion-powered or not. This meticulous attention to finish, feel and feedback is something that virtually no other manufacturer, bar perhaps Bugatti, has been brave enough to attempt in decades.

Britain’s EV infrastructure makes an electric car of any kind a hard sell, but in other markets, this might finally be a fast EV that sells long after the initial buzz has faded away.