Ferrari Luce Reviews Are In And Sorry, But It Actually Seems Pretty Great

Early Ferrari Luce first-drive reviews are in.
The looks may be controversial, but testers say this thing drives amazingly well.
They talked up its ride quality, body control, cornering, and unique paddle setup.

Every company's dream is to break the internet with a product launch—but sometimes that can be a bad thing. When Ferrari revealed its first-ever electric car, the Luce, it was met with more criticism than I've seen from a car reveal in ages. Forget that it was the first electric Ferrari, which some enthusiasts had an issue with on its own. The Ferrari Luce took the most heat for its design, which admittedly doesn't look very Ferrari-like. However, now that the media embargo has lifted on initial test drives of a late-stage prototype, the reviews are in and they're pretty spectacular.

The Luce may not look like a proper Ferrari but it apparently drives like one. Despite the mind-bending performance figures of most modern Ferraris, the brand has almost been more about sensations and thrills than outright performance. Cars from Maranello always have razor-sharp steering, slide-happy handling dynamics, and sonorous soundtracks. The new Luce might be an electric sedan, the furthest thing from a traditional Ferrari, but it still has all of those things. Yes, even the soundtrack.

Photo by: Ferrari

According to MotorTrend's European Editor Angus MacKenzie, "This might be the heaviest and biggest Ferrari ever built, 2.0 inches longer than the Purosangue, but the Luce dances down the road. It feels beguilingly natural in its responses, fluid and concise in its change of direction, and beautifully balanced through all phases of a corner, from hard braking to full acceleration. The steering is light and linear, and the feedback through the lovely thin-rimmed steering wheel is excellent."

High praise, indeed. As MacKenzie states, the Luce is a big car. It even weighs just shy of 5,000 pounds. And yet it seems to handle like a much lighter sports car, largely thanks to its balance, low center of gravity, and very clever suspension. In Top Gear's video review, you can see how easy it is to slide around, and how controllable it is once its rear tires do break traction.

"It slides like a Ferrari," said Top Gear's Jason Barlow. "I'm amazed how good that is."

When you watch TG's on-board video, you can see how quick it is to turn in, how controllable it is, and how easy it is to snap it back into line and get it pointed straight. It looks like any other Ferrari.

Even more importantly, it sounds good. Ferrari made headlines prior to the Luce's launch for using a unique method of adding sound to an otherwise silent EV. Using a high-precision accelerometer attached to the rear motor inverter, Ferrari can pick up all of the sounds and vibrations from the electric motor itself in real time. It then amplifies those noises, while eliminating the annoying ones, into the cabin. So it isn't really fake noise, it's just modified mechanical noise in real time. And it sounds shockingly good. Other car companies have interesting ways of manufacturing EV sounds, but this seems like the best.

Of course, it isn't a beautiful noise and it'll never sound as good as a great combustion engine, but I'd argue it sounds better than most normal engines. And, more importantly, it's real. It's the actual sound of the rear motor, so it isn't just authentic, it's informative. You can hear the motor rev up as you press the accelerator, giving you real-time feedback of what the powertrain is doing, just like on a production car. According to MacKenzie, "Because you’re hearing the actual speed of the e-motor change in response to input and load, you can, for example, hear the instant the rear tires begin to break traction." There's no other EV on the market that can do that for you.

Photo by: Ferrari

Then there are the paddle shifters. The left paddle changes regenerative braking levels, which isn't uncommon in EVs. It's the right paddle that's interesting. The right paddle increases the available torque. So if you're accelerating from a stop, you can keep pulling the right paddle to increase the amount of torque available to your right foot, which feels like an extra boost of power each time, sort of replicating the feeling of shifting gears in a piston-powered car. Of course, you can just keep it in max torque mode and always have full power available, but it's nice to have options. And reviewers really enjoyed that part too, saying it succeeds in making the Luce feel more exciting to drive than your typical super-fast EV.

The Ferrari Luce seems like a damn good driver's car, and one that its many new owners will likely love to use on a regular basis. And there will be plenty of them. Ferrari set itself a goal to sell 500 Luces this year and met that, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday. That might not seem like a lot but with a price tag north of $640,000, it is. And yet, Ferrari seemingly already hit that goal in less than two months. Haters might hate on the design, but it seems like you can't argue with the way it drives.