Ferrari Unveils Luce, Its First Fully Electric Car
22d 23h ago by lemmy.world/u/zachimusprime44 in cars
Like I like the design but it just doesent look like a Ferrari or even Ferrari inspired. Its as if Fiat/FCA designed a neat car but then stuck a Ferrari badge on it
Bruh. Ferrari is making (electric) crossovers now? We're living in the worst timeline..
I feel like for this to be successful Ferrari would have to do something that showcases craftsmanship and uniqueness in the motors. The engines were a setpiece in many of their cars and that was a big reason you bought one. I cant help but feel EV cars just have motors with different sizes and specs but they are all just some variant of a Samsung/Panasonic/Toshiba design or something thats been scaled up from the motor thats in my washer.
Or they will just not let you buy any other Ferrari until you buy one of these.
I forgot Ferrari does that. That would be hilarious. Eventually Ferrari is going to make you buy a $200,000 matchbox car before you can purchase a normal Ferrari.
I assume that me saying this also bars me from buying a Ferrari (not that I ever could)
The way things are going, that sounds likely. I don’t understand the customers’ mindset when it comes to Ferrari. Even if I had the money the sheer douchebaggery of Ferrari is so repulsive that I’d probably spend it elsewhere.
Especially that other than a 550 maranello there are no Ferraries in my top 100. So many cool and interesting cars are out there…
For their normal models: I think it's the fact that they're pretty much the only supercar manufacturer left that still has SOME emotion put into their cars and that you don't see on every corner.
Lamborghinis are incredibly common among supercars lately (every other generic automotive YouTuber has owned a Gallardo at some point in the last 10 years), Aston Martin just uses Mercedes engines for nearly everything and... I'm sorry, but I still can't stop seeing a Ford Mondeo when I look at one ever since Ford unified their brands' design language when they owned AM. McLaren still makes fun cars, but the 750S is just a facelift of the 2017 720S. I'm a huge fan of Koenigsegg, but they're a purely hypercar manufacturer, they make Ferraris look AFFORDABLE in comparison. Over 30 years since the original prototype, nearly 25 since their first production model, and... They've made under 1000 cars in total. Their 4 seater grand tourer costs 1.9 million dollars, the Jesko starts at 3 before options.
For their high-end models: I think the douchebaggery is probably a plus for some of the buyers. You see an F80 somewhere, you KNOW that person has bought at least 10 other Ferraris since you can't walk into the dealer to buy one, you have to be invited to buy these cars. And it's not like the competition is any different. Go try to buy a Lamborghini Fenomeno or a Bugatti Tourbillon. You need to be approved first to get your allocation.
They are all poorly made shit that devalue like rocks.
I would much rather versions from the 70s.
The ones they make you jump through hoops for don't devalue. Enzos start at 6 mill now and one went on auction for 17. They just keep going up. They started under a million new.
Of course a 250 GTO has appreciated even more, but there's no getting into it on the ground floor anymore sadly.
That said, if I could have any Ferrari without worrying about the costs but also couldn't resell it for a profit, mine would probably be an F40 or F50. Love the F40 design, but it has four cylinders too few and two turbos too many for my ears.
I’d probably spend it elsewhere.
When Enzo Ferrari was alive, he was such an asshole to customers he fed Maserati for two decades. Now the corporate assholes since his death are propping up Lamborghini, who will sell you any car you want in any color.
The 250 GTO is a beauty. It's not that recent though.
It's the car you buy your wife before the divorce.
Well, they surely didn’t stop making ICE engines. I encourage you to look more into the motor tech, to see how varied it is and what the potential of different approaches is. It has nothing to do with how the e-bike industry works.
The point of a Ferrari is to go fast and electric vehicles will at some point be much faster than piston engines (they are already, but thermal management, weight and sheer range are holding EVs back.
I know this of course but Is Ferrari doing anything different to their Electric motors that the other manufacturers dont already do? If not then this may as well be a generic chassis with luxury accoutrements. If I cared more about cars in general Id love to know what actually makes it different, something that Ferrari is not really making an effort to do afaik
I agree that EVs tend to be much simpler than combustion engine cars and thus the differentiation potential is more limited or better said technically involved: you cannot just dumbly count the cylinders and get a feeling of a cars “status” (this stopped to be true decades ago, but car enthusiasts are very nostalgic and - at times - irrationally skeptical towards technical progress).
Plus, EVs mostly cancel out the need for pure performance oriented cars vs practical cars: even SUVs have a low center of gravity, high power with torque for days, efficient packaging ensuring large interior volume and weight distribution.
Battery density and extreme weather performance are not yet where they would need to be for a no compromise sports car that screams Ferrari, so they went with something more disruptive - although GT cruisers are as much a Ferrari DNA as any other sports car type.
Everyone makes SUVs at this point. Porsche, BMW, even Lambo.
Yes. Ferrari already has the puresangria (I know that's not the name) but crossovers? Really? And this one looks so horrifically ugly. The only good thing about it is that it's expensive and not many will be sold..
"hust doesent"
Did you have a mini stroke while typing that?
No, I’m just on mobile and exhausted. Fixed it.
Ah, in their famous color, Ferrari Blue, the color it has been known for and has used on all its famous cars.
They will release Red and Green in later date, then Yellow for good measure. Might get a Gold and Silver if we're lucky.
Why cant we get electric cars that dont look like robot vacuums?
Because robot vacuums are apparently aerodynamic.
It is interesting why home vacuum cleaners have such aerodynamic shapes moving essentially at 2km/h every 3 minutes for 5 seconds
I dread to think how many people at Ferrari saw that, had the ability to say "wtf, no", and didn't
Ferrari sell cars to fund their F1 habit. They don’t really put much effort into their road cars.
Ferrari sell cars to fund their F1 habit.
F1 funds Ferrari. They make money from F1.
Enzo is surely rolling in his grave right now. Him and a lot of the guys that worked for Pininfarina that are now dead.
Not quite as ugly as the Cyber Truck, but holy what an ugly looking Ferarri. I'd probably guess about 5 other car brands before I even thought to guess Ferarri.
It pays homage to the Powell Homer.
Honestly, just make it look like a Testarossa. Why does it have to look like a slip on shoe?
Because it was not designed to sell. It was made for compliance on fleet C02 outputs, so they purposely made it overpriced and ugly so they don't actually have to waste time making them.
122 Kwhr battery. Batteries are now $120/Kwhr. So a battery pack is $15K -where the fuck does the other $600K come from? Free coke and ho's?
Looks like shit
Why do all electric cars look alike?
I ma not a designer but I know I could easily come up with awesome and cool designs for cars, none of those designs would look like the manager and c-suite designed shit that is on the road now
Right? Pull out one of the concept cars that were impossibe to build in the 70s and use that as a base. Build something cool. What is wrong with Ferrari, Porsche etc? They sell their cars on emotion, not practicallity, why do they have the most boring EVs?
Must be the "car must vroom vroom" brain
Do you find the Taycan boring? And based on the reactions, this Luce is everything but 😉
Do you find the Taycan boring?
Most do, which is why they don't sell.
Yes, it's a boring suv for middle aged dentists
The Taycan isn’t a SUV though
Probably to extend range. Electric cars are obese. They weigh a lot more than the same car with an ICE. An ICE car can just add a bigger fuel tank to increase the range by more than what the weight would take away, but electric cars can't do that. Adding a bigger battery would add more weight than the range it would give, ending in a net negative. So aero is one of the bigger factors they can try to make up for it, and that usually means everyone all copying the same peak efficiency shape of the Prius for the least amount of drag.
They don't necessarily weigh more, but they often do simply because they're all giant fucking trucks and SUVs. Look at the small and aerodynamic EVs with ~50kWh battery and you'll see that they weigh about the same as their ICE counterparts.
Constraints are package and cost, you are saying that adding battery cells decreases range, which is mental. EVs can cope very well with weight, but as you say if you want to move through air fast, you need low drag.
Adding battery cells is not as efficient for range as adding gas tank capacity is for range. Just like how old cars had severe parasitic power loss from air conditioning systems, power steering systems, and other belt driven accessories, EVs have the same problem but with weight. Adding battery cells can increase range, to a point, but it needs to be balanced with the weight and surface area that is being added to accomodate it.
Using my own '68 Ford as an example, a full tank of gas adds ~170 lbs of weight, with a 27 gallon tank (a gallon of gas weights ~6.3 lbs. I get ~15 mpg, so that's a range of ~405 miles, if I always drive optimally. My Ford's curb weight is 3,765lbs (that's the weight with all fluids filled but no driver or passengers).
Compare this to a Tesla, as AFAIK they have the best range of EVs currently. The Model S battery weighs ~1,200 lbs, which probably makes it the single heaviest component on the entire car including the chassis. It has pretty efficient electric motors at ~95 kWh, so the official EPA rating puts it at a range of ~395 miles, but it can also get up to ~405 miles with smaller wheels and more favorable driving conditions. The Tesla Model S curb weight is ~4,600lb, give or take ~150lbs depending on model year and trim.
~170 lbs compared to ~1,200 lbs is crazy weight for about the same range. Increasing battery density/size is not going to be nearly as efficient as increasing gas tank capacity. And that doesn't consider where the battery is going to go. Bigger battery means bigger footprint, if the car gets bigger that is more surface area, more drag and more weight, and therefore less range. Aero is a good place for EVs to optimize because of this. ICE cars also benefit, but they can afford less efficient aero in favor of aesthetic styling.
Ok, less efficient for sure, as an EV carries its own energy storage around for its entire life. Gas is pumped out of the earth, refined, carried all over the world, put into the Ford and then farted out in the atmosphere, each engine revolution. With 7 gas fillings you burn the same weight as 1 EV battery, which lasts around half a million miles (give or take…). Sure the weight an EV carries everywhere is as you say a big (big) hurdle, but with low center of gravity, acceptable range and fast charging when needed, I think is a very good tradeoff.
Furthermore, adding cells doesn’t always mean increase frontal surface area: you can make a car longer or stack modules under the back seats like this Ferrari does.
It's the best looking prius yet
I feel this design might age well.
people will all claim they originally liked this design in 15 years
Thanks, I hate it.
It's great that we are getting so many EVs. But why can't people hire qualified designers? There are so many ugly EVs.
The Italian design houses of the 70s-80s are all gone.
Gimme Giorgetto Giugaro back. He designed my current car, and I'm looking to by an 80s car based heavily on his design from the previous generation
Marcello Gandini designed every poster in every kids rooms for 30 years.
But why can't people hire qualified designers?
I've heard a lot of things about Jony Ive, but unqualified is new.
I suspect he (well, his design company) was asked to design something that not only stands out from all existing normal Ferraris, but is still unmistakably a Ferrari. I think this was accomplished here, just look at the rear lights and tell me you don't get an F40 vibe. It also looks pretty small for its dimensions and weight, which I suspect was also intentional. It's actually bigger and heavier than their crossover SUV and I believe the biggest car they've ever made, certainly in modern times. Half a meter longer than the 458. 30 centimeters longer than the 12Cilindri with its ridiculously long hood.
I also love how this is the guy behind the iOS interface (so basically all modern touchscreen interfaces), while it does have a touchscreen, the interior controls are actually mostly physical buttons and knobs, made of machined aluminium and glass. It looks a bit weird at first glance, but IMO it's a pretty interesting combination of modern and retro. A throwback to the Ferraris of old while acknowledging that this is the future.
I'm not sure I'm a fan of a 5 seater Ferrari personally, though. Should be 2, 4 at the most. Wouldn't have to be as tall in the mid-rear section if it was a 2 seater. The proportions remind me of Polestar 2, which is also an EV... I suspect this is all for efficiency, both aerodynamic and fitting a bunch of batteries in there.
If I was a multimillionaire, I think I'd buy one and if they made a proper 2 seat version, I'd upgrade from "I think" to "I'd definitely". The interior alone is a breath of fresh air compared to most modern high-end cars. Put it this way, here's a Porsche Taycan, another high end electric luxury sports sedan:
Here's the Ferrari Luce:
The Luce just went full retro and I love it. I think everyone likes the interior, its just the exterior that is bland and offensive. Take a look at the Rimac to see what a proper electric supercar should look like.
Well the Rimac is a hypercar, whereas this is (de facto, not de jure), a full-size luxury sports sedan, in which case I'm not even mad at the exterior styling, even if it isn't my absolute favourite thing in the world.
The Rimac has 3 fewer seats, one less pillar, and is 30 centimeters shorter. It's meant to be a track weapon, and it's aerodynamics and styling reflect that. It's pretty awesome.
The Luce is longer, taller and has more seats. If anything, the competition is Bentley, not Rimac IMO.
That's all true but its also a $600k Ferrari, and should look the part.
The Luce just went full retro
How the fuck is that retro? It looks like a Silverado.
The steering wheel? And the seats? If you don't know, you should look up some pics of Ferraris from the 80s and 90s.
That's a massive reach on plastic potato.
Which photo are you looking at? The screen on wheels Porsche that I added for contrast, or the Ferrari where nearly every surface is either leather, aluminium, or glass and the display is quite modest sized?
I agree with the points, and also the exterior "offensive" bits (eg front bottom intakes) might get improved with versions of it that will inevitability follow. I don't dislike the general styling, just a few individual bits (that's with evey car).
It is weird that it's a standard saloon like every (non- hyper)EV, but whatever. That's like what evey brand is doing.
But maybe they just can't produce a sports EV for folk that would usually buy Ferraris anyway, so they simply made a long range cruiser (but with a cooled battery that can be depleted in 10 minutes if one so chooses).
However
get an F40 vibe
Yes, love the lights (that were og just cheap), but hate how they are under a (semi-)transparent slab of plastic spanning the entire width of the car. That looks awful (imho), "cheap", & ages even worse. With (uni-)lights or "hyper-screens" or whatever, just don't cover objects with shit instead of framing/designing a frame for them or whatever.
Honda e vibes?
THANK YOU, I am not a car person but you identified the inkling of familiarity I couldn't.
Honda e: 😳
Ferrari electric: 😎
Missed opportunity to call it FerrarEV
Well, the wheels are nice...
Someone was inspired by $1 Matchbox cars.
It looks like a Lucid with Ferrari badging. Also is that a back seat I see? Gross.
GT cars usually have 2+2 seating. I actually prefer the useless back seats. At least you have a place to put a giggling child or some extra luggage. That said, the design itself is horrid.
Edit: just saw a few more photos. It has 4 doors, fuck this lump of shit
It looks nothing like a lucid.
If you say so
So both are blue? does this look like a Lucid?
Yes
I very much like how The Autopian put it: "Magic Mouse, but car"
I like it. Wheels are way too big though.
They need them so big, to balance out the big flat side surfaces. They look almost too small still to me :D
I like the interior, but don't like it's exterior. It should have been a 2 seater and they should have been more imaginative about the drive train and overall layout to achieve something more striking and interesting. It isn't distinct enough from every other ev on the market.
“Luce, you got some ‘splainin to do.”
Definitely ugly AF. Pathetic effort.
I like the design principles, the design in itself works just barely. Ferrari is all form follows function, though, and this has been accomplished. Very bold step and it makes a lot of sense.
It's $550,000 $640,000 and hideous. Please.
I think Ferrari is the type of brand where what you see and feel behind the wheel trumps any other feature, including design: exterior of a car are just like 20% of the story, how it moves and how it feels inside is much more important, and the interior looks like nothing else ever before.
Design wise, I only really have problems with the back half side, with big plain surfaces without bite. The view from above is interesting and all design features serve a purpose. There’s beauty in that (but I agree it doesn’t look that attractive).
Price is crazy but whatever, for the target clientele a high price just means more bragging rights…
Unpopular opinion (IG) - God bless KIA with their designs of EV
I'd be mad if it was called the new Opel Manta, but since this is just some ferrari...