Thunderdome: I'm Out Here Getting LUCE

All readers welcome

“it is giving birth to a smaller, more surprised-looking car”

Alright, you ruffians. You want to talk about the Luce so much that you keep wandering into other topics to post about it? Let’s have the talk here. These are my thoughts, in no particular order:

• A “city car” is the right move for a Ferrari EV. I think we’ve all seen by now that the “EV hypercar wedge” idea as illustrated by Rimac and the Lotus Evija and NIO et al is a complete loser. Nobody wants one. The “look at me” Cars-and-Coffee demographic wants to rev the engine in front of people. Not only does an EV hypercar damage every brand that tries it, the non-EV products that vaguely resemble it suffer by association. If Ferrari had made a pure EV take on the new Testarossa, prices of the Testarossa would drop because of the concern that you, the new Testarossa owner, would be mistaken for an EV owner. Therefore, Ferrari was right to make their compliance car an urban shopping trolley.

• …but it shouldn’t look like this. Just like the new AMG GT makes the Taycan look good, this Luce makes the Purosangue look good. Which shouldn’t be possible, but here we are. Really, this car is just awful from each and every angle. It does retroactive harm to the reputation of everything Jony Ive has ever done, and it further burnishes the reputation of Raymond Loewy because how could you not take an Avanti and a punch from Mike Tyson over this Luce?

• Ferrari will sell every Luce they make, but they will cut production down to the bare minimum. It seems safe to say that almost no one will buy a Luce on its own merits. Instead, this little golf cart will sell based on the perception that it is a “relationship piece” or “gateway piece” to a Ferrari that you would actually want. If there are two loyal Ferrari buyers with identical resumes but only one of them steps up for a Luce, presumably that’s the differentiator for access to the exclusive Icona or XX pieces. Or so the dealers will heavily imply, anyway.

• When it comes to high-end EVs, the party is over. Ferrari’s noted conservativism should have given them a chance to either cancel the Luce or adjust it more strongly to actual customer demand. They did not. Which is bad news for the Luce, but even worse news to anyone who still has an expensive EV in the pipeline. If you want to know how bad it could get, look at this list of Americans trying to get out of their Rolls Spectres.

Alright, that’s what I have to say about it — your turn!