Ferrari’s first EV is ruthlessly mocked, described as ‘straight to the junkyard trash’ and even condemned by former boss – as share price slumps

Ferrari’s first EV is being mocked mercilessly online, with the luxury sports car maker’s former boss even publicly condemning the new vehicle.

The new Ferrari Luce, worth £474,320, is also the Italian brand’s first five-seater designed in collaboration with the LoveFrom agency, founded by former Apple design chief Sir Jony Ive.

A far cry from the flashy, classic Ferrari known among motoring and Formula 1 racing fans, the Luce’s sedan-like design immediately proved divisive.

Luca di Montezemolo, Ferrari’s chairman from 1991 to 2014, coldly told the Italian media: ‘If I had to say what I really think, I would be doing Ferrari a disservice. This is definitely a car that at least the Chinese can’t copy from us.’

Reaction to the launch on social media was also brutal, as the company’s shares fell more than eight percent on the Milan stock exchange and five percent in New York on Tuesday.

‘Ferrari killed its brand just like Jaguar did. This is going straight to the junkyard dump,” read one of the comments.

Digitally altered images of the new car circulated on X; Some depicted the EV as a vacuum cleaner, while others posted photos of the crashed tin vehicles with the caption: ‘Look at that, I see that brand new Ferrari Luce right here, nearby!’

Others referred to the design as one that Homer poorly drew in the American sitcom The Simpsons, and another AI-generated image showed the car crashing into the ground in front of Italy’s famous Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Digitally altered images of the new car circulated on X; some images depicted it as an EV vacuum cleaner

An AI image shows the new car crashing into the ground in front of the Leaning Tower of Pisa

Another referenced the comedy TV series The Simpsons, which featured an episode showing the design of a poorly made car.

Far different from the flashy, classic Ferrari known among motoring and Formula 1 racing fans, the Luce’s sedan-like design immediately proved divisive.

Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna said in Rome that Luce, which means ‘light’ in Italian, took half a decade to develop, even as supercar rivals such as Lamborghini and Porsche scaled back their EV plans due to low demand and competition from China.

He said: ‘We believe that a company demonstrates leadership when it has the courage and daring to meet the challenges of new technologies. ‘The Ferrari Luce was born precisely from this challenge and delivers our vision of unprecedented electrification.’

John Elkann, president of the iconic brand, also introduced the new model to Pope Leo on Tuesday at the pope’s summer home in Castel Gandolfo.

‘Is this the first four-door Ferrari?’ Leo asked Elkann. “The first five-seater,” Elkann replied.

The Pope was in Luce’s driver’s seat; Ferrari test driver Raffaele De Simone was kneeling next to him and explaining the steering wheel controls in English.

“We are not just introducing a new car, we are opening a chapter that brings our vision to reality, strengthening Ferrari’s tradition of anticipating and shaping the future,” Elkann said in a statement.

The Luce offers 1,000 horsepower, can reach 60 mph in 2.5 seconds, and has a range of more than 329 miles. It also has four electric motors, one for each wheel.

Ferrari also said that all components were produced in-house, so the car could be repaired by the company in the future, preserving the Luce’s resale value.

The company, which also sells hybrid electric vehicles, has invested billions of euros in electrification, but has reduced its target of 40 percent of its product range to be fully electric by 2030 to 20 percent.

Internet commenters and auto critics responded negatively, saying Luce deviated from the brand’s usual aesthetic.

As automakers try to appeal to mainstream buyers with cheaper electric vehicles, another luxury offering looks particularly challenging.

‘The internet has made up its mind, hasn’t it, if you’ve seen any of the comments. “And from the outside it’s universally disliked,” said Matt Prior, general editor of UK-based car review site Autocar.

Prior said the Luce’s interior was well done, but the car didn’t scream ‘Ferrari’.

“The big thing here is that it’s not clear where the engine is going to go because there’s no such place, the battery goes under the floor, which naturally makes the car higher, and a lot of manufacturers have had to compromise on how to do that,” Prior said.

‘It makes them look taller. “This makes the look less stylish,” he added. ‘For a company whose entire history is built on producing dynamic-looking, flashy cars, Ferrari is perhaps harder to get around than other manufacturers.’

The Luce looks like “a cross between a Honda Accord EV and a Tesla 3,” AIR Capital head of research Pierre-Olivier Essig wrote in a note to clients reported by Bloomberg.

‘We got lost in translation with Ferrari’s new strategy’.

But not all reviewers reacted negatively to the new car, with one post saying: ‘Absolute masterclass in design. Ferrari has just unveiled the breathtaking LUCE concept and it’s a complete game changer.’

Ferrari’s chief design officer, Flavio Manzoni, said in an interview with YouTuber Cleo Abram that critics are part of the innovation process.

He admitted the newly designed electric Ferrari concept was ‘polarizing’ but believes people will appreciate it in the coming months.

One commenter on the Drive’s launch this week described it as ‘different but striking’, while another said it was ‘pretty cool’ and described the button-heavy interior, also designed with Ive and Newson’s design firm LoveFrom, as ‘outstanding’.

“Love this: a bold move for Ferrari, but as modern and stylish as any four-door, five-seat EV can be,” another user said.

Ferrari is launching the EV amid a volatile and uncertain global market for powertrains.

Despite policies encouraging the adoption of electric vehicles around the world, including the European Union mandating that tailpipe emissions be reduced by 90 percent by 2035, many global automakers have rolled back electrification plans, and many have lost billions of dollars on the technology.

According to the International Energy Agency, electric car sales reached 20 million globally last year; This means that one in four new cars sold worldwide is electric.

The IEA says sales in Europe will increase by more than 30 percent by 2025.

But the European car market is becoming increasingly competitive as Chinese car brands enter the market and attract high-tech consumers with lower prices.

Electric vehicle adoption remains uncertain, especially in the US, where the current administration’s policy changes have impacted the market.

Interest in Electric Vehicles has increased since the beginning of the US-Iran war, but experts say interest does not always translate into actual sales.

‘The entire electric car market is not where it should be,’ Prior said. ‘And much of this is regulatory rather than natural demand-based.’