Ferrari's first electric vehicle met with market skepticism
Ferrari on Tuesday presented its first-ever fully electric car to Italy’s President and Pope Leo XIV. Yet it's still waiting for the ultimate approval from someone less high-profile: the consumer.
The Italian automaker unveiled the all-new Luce EV on Monday — even as other luxury competitors dial back ambitious electrification plans amid waning demand in some markets around the world. The rollout has been met with skepticism by the markets and auto critics.
John Elkann, president of the iconic brand, showed off the new model to Leo at the pope’s summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, just south of Rome.
“Is this the first four-door Ferrari?” Leo asked Elkann.
“The first five-seater,” Elkann replied.
The Pope sat in the driver’s seat of the Luce, which means “light” in Italian, with Ferrari test driver Raffaele De Simone kneeling beside him and explaining the steering wheel’s controls in English. Elkann sat in the passenger seat.
The Luce offers 1,000 horsepower, can hit 100 kilometers per hour (60 miles per hour) in 2.5 seconds and has a range of more than 530 kilometers (329 miles). It also has four electric motors — one for each wheel.
Media reports put the Luce's sticker price in Italy at a whopping 500,000 euros. U.S. pricing has not been announced.
“We are not simply unveiling a new car, we are inaugurating a chapter that turns our vision into reality, strengthening Ferrari’s tradition of anticipating and shaping the future,” Elkann said in a statement.
The company, which also sells hybrid electric vehicles, has invested billions of euros in electrification, but dropped its goal for 40% of its lineup to be fully electric by 2030 down to 20%.
But despite Europe's most valuable automaker's high hopes for its inaugural electric product, markets did not respond well to the vehicle.
Ferrari stock plunged 8.4% on Tuesday in Milan trading. U.S.-listed shares fell 5.3%.
Internet commenters and auto critics responded negatively, saying the Luce strays from the brand's usual aesthetic. And as automakers look to appeal to mainstream buyers with less expensive EVs, another luxury offering seems particularly challenging.
“The internet has made up its mind, hasn’t it, if you’ve seen any of the comments on it. And it’s not universally loved from the outside," said Matt Prior, editor-at-large of United Kingdom-based auto review site Autocar.
Prior said the Luce's interior is well done, but that the vehicle doesn't “shout Ferrari.”
“The big thing here is there is no obvious place where the engine goes because there isn’t one, the battery goes under the floor which makes the car higher naturally and loads of manufacturers have got to come to terms with how they do that,” Prior said.
“That makes them look taller. That makes the look less sleek,” he added. "For a company whose entire history is based on making dynamic-looking sleek cars, it’s maybe harder for Ferrari to get around than it is for other manufacturers.”
Robby DeGraff, manager of product and consumer insights at firm AutoPacific, called the Luce “perhaps the most controversial model to bear the stallion on its fenders” and questioned whether the brand needs a vehicle so pricey. But he added that Ferrari may want to remain competitive in markets with strict emissions requirements.
The company is launching the EV amid a volatile and uncertain global market for the powertrain.
Even with policies around the world encouraging EV adoption — including in the European Union, which mandates 90% tailpipe emissions reduction by 2035 — several global automakers have dialed back their plans to electrify and many have lost billions on the technology.
Electric car sales hit 20 million globally last year — marking one in four new cars sold worldwide as electric, according to the International Energy Agency.
Sales increased by more than 30% in Europe in 2025, the IEA says. But the European car market is becoming increasingly competitive due to an influx of Chinese auto brands, which are attracting consumers with their advanced technology at lower prices.
EV adoption remains uncertain particularly in the U.S., where policy changes by the current administration have impacted the market.
EV interest has increased since the onset of the U.S.-Iran war, but experts say that interest doesn't always translate to actual sales.
“The whole electric car market is not really where it could be,” Prior said. “And so much of it is legislation driven rather than natural demand driven.”
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St. John reported from Detroit. Associated Press journalists Cassandra Allwood in London and Colleen Barry in Milan contributed to this report.
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Alexa St. John is an Associated Press climate reporter. Follow her on X: @alexa_stjohn. Reach her at ast.john@ap.org.
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