Ferrari’s Luce interior is a masterclass in HMI

Ferrari has revealed the interior of its forthcoming electric car, the Luce, and the product design influence is palpable. Marc Newson and Jony Ive’s fingerprints are all over the interior and HMI, with key elements presented almost like consumer electronics devices.

In isolation, the Ferrari key could be strapless Apple Watch of sorts, while the framing of the instrument cluster looks like the back case and camera of an iPhone. No coincidence, given that is very much an Ive product. Given their time in Silicon Valley over the years, it is appropriate then that Newson and Ive's collaboration with Ferrari was revealed not in Maranello but San Francisco. 

The tech influence is handled in a different way to what we have seen elsewhere. Less a copy and paste of the tap-and-drag user journey, drop down menus and litany of apps, and more in the treatment of materials, the clarity of visuals and clean, unfussy finishes that complement the wider interior as a whole. It all feels very familiar, very Ferrari, and very carefully considered. Buttons are placed where you would expect – and desire – to see them, and in simple shapes: circles, squares, rectangles. It's easy on the eye and on the mind. 

The central touchscreen can be angled towards the driver and its rounded bezel again feels as though it could be a product in its own right. Underneath is a prominent and defined anchor point to stabilise the hand. 

Delicate metal switches, five of them, sit at the base of the central display, along with a single volume control knob. Fonts are clear and simple, and key instruments are accented by yellow, orange and red and green. Whether the system is responsive and bug-free is another challenge, but we can only go on visuals for now. 

The dials feel retro – far more so than one might expect for a modern electric car in this price bracket – with simple notched indices for speed (up to 320km/h we might add) and rate of battery discharge/recharge to the left. A gyroscope to the right displays G-force, of which we are sure there will be plenty both longitudinally and laterally. 

The steering wheel itself is again conventionally Ferrari, with a three-spoke flat metal structure evocative of the Nardi design, and a selection of controls within thumb reach — including the very clearly displayed indicator buttons at either side. Paddles, presumably for regenerative braking control, sit behind as usual, finished very nicely with a discrete hollowed bow at the core.

Note also the shifter, which comes in the form of an inverted J-gate from days gone by (an f gate?). It means that park mode is a defined, purposeful movement of its own, slotting up and to the right in its own zone. It is not a button hidden within a group of other similarly shaped buttons.

We suspect terms such as ‘tactile’ and ‘intuitive’ were prominent among discussions between Flavio Manzoni and LoveFrom, the creative group that is led by Ive and Newson. Dig into the language of the press release, and the terminology is music to the ears of anyone that has experienced both classic ‘pre-touchscreen’ cars and today’s digital cockpits. 

The Luce’s cabin is described as a “single, clean volume, with forms simplified and rationalised in the service of driving, creating an environment that feels calm, focused and spacious. Hardware and software were developed jointly, not injected at the end, and Ferrari says the result is a harmony between the physical architecture and the digital interface.

The full reveal of the Luce and its complete design, including the exterior, will come in Italy in May 2026. Purists may rightly turn their nose up at the idea of an electric Ferrari, but that is a separate conversation. 

For now, the team behind the cockpit should lap up the praise for what is a wonderfully resolved interior that bridges the gap between analogue and digital better than most other models we have seen recently. 

But when you bring together Ferrari, Ive and Newson, would the result ever have been any different?