Ferrari has also gone electric. The Italian supercar maker has announced its latest project, named the Ferrari Luce and it will be the first EV from the Maranello-based brand. For the project, Ferrari has partnered with former Apple design chief Jony Ive to design the interiors of the Ferrari Luce. This itself makes the Ferrari Luce an interesting project not only for the car enthusiasts, but also the tech and design geeks out there.
Now, there is so much to talk about here. The teams at both Ferrari and Jony Ive’s design studio LoveForm have clearly thought of things nobody else has been able to do in the car world before them. The interiors are designed with impeccable attention to detail and materials that not only make the Ferrari Luce one of the most design-intensive projects, but also one of the most functional and unique modern day car interiors. Let us take a look at everything we know about the Ferrari Luce and its interiors.
So to start with, Ferrari has in many ways, redefined the interiors and the definition of user interface in cars. Of course, when minds behind the greatest tech innovations team up with the greatest automotive minds, something revolutionary is bound to happen.
The Ferrari Luce dashboard isn’t loud but has many elements and materials, all working together very well into an interior that is modern but not loud. Ferrari Luce has been given a three-spoke steering wheel, which looks kind of retro if you ask me. We also get a infotainment display that looks slightly tilted towards the driver (more on this later), and a center console with a magnetic slot for the key (more on this also later). There is a aluminium slate behind the dashboard that also holds the vents for air conditioning.
Behind the three-spoke aluminium steering wheel that has knobs for drive modes, wipers, suspension setting, assists, speed limiter, and battery mode, there is an instrument cluster. Here also, we see things that only a design maestro like Jony Ive would have thought of. Of course, with the help of some of the best automotive engineers in the world. The instrument cluster is a 12.86-inch unit which has been sculpted in aluminium and glass. The dials on the instrument cluster are inspired by avionics, and old helicopter parts. There are three dials, where the central one delivers the key information like speed and range. Here, Ferrari and LoveFrom have used Samsung OLED which has individual pixels that can turn on or off based on the content on screen. So you get a perfectly black areas and an infinite contrast ratio. The needle on the speed-o-meter is made of anodised aluminium and is backlit by 15 LEDs.
Then we come to the central 10.2-inch infotainment display in the Ferrari Luce. This is also something very “Apple-like” in Ferrari. Here, the central screen is mounted on a ball and socket joint, meaning that it can pivot round for both the driver and the passenger. In the era where many screens are slightly tilted towards the driver, one has to wonder how no one else thought of this before. There is also a handlebar-like palm rest that Ive says doesn’t only look cool, it makes using the infotainment display much more comfortable. The infotainment display also has a multigraph on the top right corner. This can be switched between four functions – a clock, chronograph, compass, and launch control information.
Now we come to the center console where Ferrari has the drive selector, window buttons, lock/ unlock button, and the button for the blinkers. Here also everything is glass and aluminium. Here, the coolest thing is not on the materials or the way lasers were used to sink 13,000 tiny holes into the glass panel. It is the slot for the key and the key for the Ferrari Luce itself. Now, it looks like a normal Ferrari key with the rectangular yellow prancing horse branding. But the center console has a magnetic slot for the key. Once you put the key in the slot and the car detects it, the yellow on the key is transferred to the top of the gear selector and the key becomes grey. This technology is called e-Ink and this whole movement also lights up the control panel and the main instrument cluster. Damn cool!
Now, we don’t know much about the Ferrari Luce except for the fact that it will be the first EV from the Italian supercar maker with over 1,000 bhp of power. Ferrari has taken up a three-stage launch strategy with the Ferrari Luce where the interior reveal was the second stage for the same. The next unveil will be in May when we will get to see how the Ferrari Luce will look from the outside and possibly get a hint of the price of the first fully electric car from Ferrari.
