- Ferrari says its first EV is due in October this year
- CEO Benedetto Vigna says it will be “unique”
- Early spy shots hint at crossover body shape
Ferrari boss Benedetto Vigna has announced that the first electric vehicle from the famed sports car manufacturer will be debuted on October 9 this year, going on to state that it will be just one of six new models to arrive in 2025.
However, the pure electric vehicle marks a pivotal moment for the Italian brand, as it attempts to replicate its monumental sales success with a car that doesn’t boast a sonorous V8 or V12 engine.
If Ferrari succeeds, it is highly likely that Lamborghini, Aston Martin and more luxury brands will gain the confidence to push on with their own projects.
Understandably, Ferrari has remained as tight-lipped as a mafioso informant about detailed specifics, with spy shots of development vehicles doing little to answer questions.
Some believe it is likely to come in the form of a sporty SUV or crossover, but test mules (complete with comic ‘stick-on’ exhaust pipes) deliberately used tweaked body parts to throw journalists off the scent.
We do know that Ferrari has built a dedicated EV complex (dubbed the E-Building) at its Maranello factory, which indicates that the Italian marque is designing its EV from the ground up, rather than buying in the majority of components from suppliers.
In addition to this, it has been made public in several news reports and interviews that Apple’s former chief design officer, Sir Jony Ive, has been involved in the Ferrari EV project from the very beginning.
After leaving Apple, Ive set up the creative collective LoveFrom with fellow designer Marc Newson and one of its first clients was the Italian carmaker. Ive, a long-standing classic Ferrari collector, mentioned that LoveFrom worked on a steering wheel and parts of a touchscreen infotainment system during an interview with The New York Times last year.
According to that interview, John Elkann, the chief executive of Exor and a member of the Agnelli family, which owns Ferrari, admired how Ive’s Apple Watch had turned an analog device into a digital product. He wanted the same touch on Ferrari’s first electric vehicle.
Analysis: Ferrari operates outside of the automotive norms
Speaking at Ferrari’s Q4 financial results event, CEO Benedetto Vigna revealed that the company made a staggering €2.56 billion ($2.64 billion) in 2024, increasing the number of cars it sold year-on-year and predicting that 2025 will be even bigger.
The company makes around €111,000 ($115,000) profit per car sold, a figure fellow automakers could only dream of, and enjoys order books that are full until the end of 2026. This fact alone will stand Ferrari in good stead to launch its debut EV.
Not to take anything away from Ferrari’s first stab at an electric sports car – especially as we haven’t even seen it yet – but the Prancing horse badge is among the most coveted in the world, so it likely won’t matter what it is attached to. Ferrari fans will lap it up either way.
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