Ferrari’s first electric car sells for record US$40m

The five-seat Ferrari Luce, created with former Apple designer Sir Jony Ive, fetched more than 35 times its usual price just months after its controversial launch

Ferrari’s first fully electric car has sold for US$40m (£29.5m) at a charity auction, setting a record for the highest price paid for a new vehicle under the hammer.

The specially built Ferrari Luce “Chassis 0”, the first production chassis of the Italian marque’s new electric model, was sold by RM Sotheby’s in Monterey, California.

The extraordinary price was more than 35 times the usual cost of the car and smashed the previous auction record for a new Ferrari.

All US$40m will go to educational initiatives run through The Ferrari Foundation after the auction house waived its buyer’s premium.

The sale comes just three months after Ferrari unveiled the Luce in one of the most radical departures in its history.

The battery-powered, five-seat car is Ferrari’s first entry into the fully electric market and was developed with Sir Jony Ive, the British designer best known for creating some of Apple’s most famous products, including the iPhone.

Its launch in May divided Ferrari enthusiasts, with critics objecting to everything from its electric powertrain to its five-seat layout and departure from the company’s traditional designs.

Former Ferrari chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo was among its most prominent critics, telling the BBC at the time that the company was “risking the destruction of a legend”.

The auctioned car is a unique version of the Luce created through Ferrari’s Tailor Made programme and finished in a specially developed pearlescent white paint.

Its Madreperla Semi-Gloss bodywork produces reflections that shift from green to violet depending on the light, while the interior uses metallic pearl-coloured leather made from selected Swiss hides.

It also gets bespoke wheels and brake calipers, an optical-white Ferrari badge and a plaque identifying it as “Chassis 0”.

The buyer has not been named – and will have to wait before driving their US$40m purchase.The car is returning to Ferrari’s factory in Maranello following the auction and is not scheduled for delivery until the first quarter of 2027.

READ MORE: Ferrari leads record €88m Monaco car auction. RM Sotheby’s staged the highest-grossing multi-car collector auction ever held in Europe, with a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider selling for €16.7m as the Monaco sale reached almost €88m.

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_{Main image: The Ferrari Luce ‘Chassis 0’, the first production chassis of the Luce programme, sold for US$40 million at RM Sotheby’s Monterey auction. Credit: RM Sotheby’s}