Ferrari’s first EV will have an interior designed by Jony Ive
Ferrari released the first interior images of the company’s first all-electric supercar, called the Ferrari Luce (“light” in Italian). This is the second time the Italian automaker has teased the Luce (formerly Elettrica) without showing us the actual car, or even a silhouette. But the interior images should suffice given the bold-faced name of the designer: Jony Ive.
Ferrari decided to outsource the work of designing the Luce’s interior to Ive and his partner Marc Newson, who together run the design shop LoveFrom. Ive, obviously, is well known for his work as Apple’s former chief designer, overseeing such iconic products as the iMac, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. Now he’s turning his attention to a vehicle from Ferrari — and perhaps, in the process, giving us an idea of what an Apple car could have looked like, had the tech giant decided to pursue its secretive Project Titan instead of spiking it.
Ferrari and LoveFrom have been quietly collaborating for five years, and the Luce is the first time we’re seeing the results. The tech underpinnings were revealed last year in Italy; the exterior will debut in May 2026.
Ive’s work at Apple focused on sleek minimalism, so it is somewhat surprising to see a bunch of buttons in the Luce’s interior. When I first heard that Ive was handling the design, I expected Ferrari to turn over all of its controls to a touchscreen. So it was encouraging to see a fair amount of physical controls. Of course, the screens all have rounded corners reminiscent of the iPhone or iPad, so Ive’s influence is still front and center.
Ive’s influence is also felt in the materials used in the Luce’s interior, such as anodized aluminum and strengthened glass from specialist firm Corning — two key components of Apple’s products.
The steering features a simplified three-spoke design inspired by classic Ferrari wheels from the 1950s and ’60s. The spokes are made from 100 percent recycled aluminum, CNC-machined from 19 individual parts, and weighs 400 grams less than a standard Ferrari wheel.
The Luce has three main displays: an instrument cluster, a central display, and rear control panel. The gauge cluster actually moves with the steering wheel (a Ferrari first), using overlapping OLED displays that blend digital and analog cues. The ultra-thin OLED displays are made by Samsung with cutouts that reveal a second display underneath, adding literal visual depth.
Ive’s influence is also felt in the materials used in the Luce’s interior, such as anodized aluminum and strengthened glass from specialist firm Corning
The central display sits on a ball-and-socket joint, allowing it to rotate toward either the driver or passenger. It also includes a palm rest so you can interact with controls without looking. And the mechanical multigraph display with three independent motors functions as a clock, chronograph, compass, or launch control indicator.
The key fob features its own E Ink display, which Ferrari claims is an automotive first, that only uses power when it changes color. Insert the key into the central console, and the E Ink screen shifts from yellow to black as the cabin wakes up.
The gear shifter features Gorilla glass; in fact, some 40-odd pieces featuring the durable, scratch-resistant glass are scattered throughout the cabin, some of which feature laser-drilled micro-holes to deposit ink for the graphics.
It makes sense that Ferrari would outsource the work to Ive and his firm. After all, it was the Ferrari FF that was the first production car to feature Apple CarPlay in 2014. Even so, the automaker has yet to say whether it will adopt the more deeply integrated CarPlay Ultra in the future.
Ive was on hand in San Francisco to reveal the new interior, where he told reporters that his firm had been working in secret for five years. The renowned designer said he was unfamiliar with the safety and regulatory requirements of auto design before embarking on this particular project.
“It’s very hard,” Ive told Tim Stevens of Engadget. “I’ve never worked in an area that’s so regulated. Some of it’s great, because you understand why, and people’s safety is certainly important, but some of it drives you nuts.”
