Jony Ive defends $790,000 Ferrari Luce design panned by critics

TURIN, Italy – Jony Ive defended the widely panned design of Ferrari’s first electric car, saying people respond differently to the vehicle when they see it in person rather than in photographs.

“You can make something new and different that’s rubbish. That’s very easy,” said Ive at the Wave by Vento event in Turin on Oct 7. His LoveFrom studio worked with Ferrari to design the Luce electric vehicle (EV).

“It’s very hard to make something that is new and different, and its newness is a consequence of it being better, and that’s what we’ve tried to do,” he added.

Ive, the former Apple design chief, spoke onstage alongside Ferrari chairman John Elkann, the technology event’s sponsor.

His comments are a rare response to disappointing reviews of the €550,000 (S$790,000) Luce. The EV, unveiled in May, drew criticism from analysts and social media commenters who compared its appearance to that of mass-market electric cars.

The industrial lines, larger proportions and simpler cabin of the four-door, five-seat Luce mark a departure from Ferrari’s heritage of combustion-engine sports cars. Ive said Luce’s unfamiliar appearance will be justified by drivers’ experience.

He described an unusually large difference between reactions to photos and reactions to seeing the car in person, while acknowledging that designers cannot control whether customers like the finished product.

Teams from LoveFrom and Ferrari spent the preceding five years working on the car, he said.

Luce’s physical controls allow drivers to operate them without looking and receive immediate feedback, he added.

The teams also explored ways to make starting the electric car more engaging, including a key that changes colour when placed in the vehicle. “It’s not the future, but it’s a part of the future of Ferrari,” Ive said. BLOOMBERG