Ferrari is no stranger to controversy, and it rarely shies away from it either. Its upcoming all-electric Luce could turn out to be the most polarizing project yet. The man behind the design, Jony Ive, Apple’s former design chief who shaped the iPhone and several other era-defining products, admits he is feeling the pressure.

That seems like a perfectly reasonable response with a historic unveiling just two months away, especially when you are tasked with redefining what a Ferrari is supposed to be in the modern era.

More: Ferrari’s Luce EV Has A Glass Key And Buttons That Click Like A Rifle Bolt

This isn’t just another EV launch after all. It is Ferrari, a brand built on racing at the highest levels and on exciting V12 supercars, sometimes only obtainable through wild buying rituals, and now venturing into the silent world of EVs.

A Defining Electric Debut

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Calling it a big deal would be a massive understatement, which is probably why Ferrari hired Ive and fellow designer Marc Newson for the task of shaping the Luce.

The exterior, in fact, has been penned by LoveFrom, the design house founded by Ive and Australian designer Newson, which makes this less a routine Ferrari project and more a collision between Maranello and Silicon Valley minimalism.

Speaking to Autocar, Ive openly admitted that he’s “anxious” about revealing the car to the world. It’s not concern over the design itself that sparks that feeling, but instead the gravity of just how big this moment is for Ferrari. He called it “still clearly a Ferrari,” but went on to say that “It’s a different manifestation based on some of the beliefs around simplicity and the inherent beauty of something.”

On the flip side, his co-designer, Newson, highlighted the freedom offered with such a project. “One of the great and serendipitous sort of things is that this is an electric vehicle, the first electric Ferrari, right? So that afforded us a degree of freedom that perhaps we would otherwise have not had: literal physical freedom or creative freedom… on many levels here,” he said.

Inside The Luce Philosophy

At this stage, we’ve already seen official bits of the interior. The brand unveiled the dash earlier this month. It’s quite the departure from other modern Ferraris. That’s key because Ive and Newson say that the entire car has a “consistency and a singularity” about it.

Ive has also stressed that there is “no disconnection” between the exterior and interior, noting that both were designed simultaneously rather than by separate departments. In his view, that approach results in a complete package that feels cohesive rather than pieced together.

What we also know so far is that the Luce will be a four-door, four-seat GT with a ride height similar to the Purosangue, and that it will feature a 1000hp four-motor powertrain. Ive has hinted that the car will be “big” in its proportions and just as radical on the outside as it is within.

Will The Luce Use Rear-Hinged Doors?

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To that end, we wonder if the exterior will be far more retro-futurist than previously expected. While Ive was talking about the new Luce, our spies caught another heavily disguised prototype undergoing testing in northern Sweden this week.

Like earlier Luce testers, this one was wrapped in makeshift panels from top to bottom, making it extremely difficult to interpret what is happening underneath beyond a general sense of its proportions and size.

One detail our photographers did catch appears to be a set of door handles, circled in red, positioned just under the B-column in the middle section. According to our photographer, the Luce may be using suicide-style rear doors that open toward the front of the vehicle, similar to the Purosangue. This has not been officially confirmed, and it could just as easily be Ferrari engaging in a bit of cheeky misdirection.

We will know for certain in May, when Ferrari finally unveils its first EV.

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Could the second-generation Tesla Roadster finally be on the verge of actually hitting the market? Well, if history is any guide, don’t hold your breath. It’s been more than eight years since it first showed up as a concept, but two recent trademark applications suggest things might actually be moving, and that the car could, just maybe, be inching closer to something.

Earlier this week, Tesla submitted two trademark filings with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, as first spotted by Business Insider. The first features three sharp lines that outline the sleek silhouette of the two-door, all-electric supercar. It could be used in marketing or possibly even serve as the foundation for a new badge.

Read: Tesla Chief Swears We’ll See A Demo Of The Roadster This Year

The second application depicts the ‘Roadster’ name in all-caps. It uses a custom font that’s slanted and has a sci-fi vibe, perfect for a vehicle like this.

Since its initial reveal in November 2017, details on the production Roadster have been scarce. Tesla originally promised a massive 200 kWh battery pack, claiming over 620 miles (1,000 km) of range per charge. Performance targets were just as ambitious, including a 0–60 mph (96 km/h) time of 1.9 seconds and a top speed north of 250 mph (402 km/h).

The electric car industry has advanced significantly since the Roadster was first previewed, so we expect it to reach the market with different performance and range figures. A 200 kWh pack, which would be extraordinarily heavy, seems unlikely, particularly given how much more energy-dense and efficient battery packs are now.

Last October, Tesla chief designer Franz von Holzhausen said Tesla would demo the new car before the end of 2025. That deadline came and went without anyone outside of the company seeing the new car in the flesh. He also said production would start within two years, but as with every promise made about the Roadster over the past decade, we’re taking that with a grain of salt.

For a hypercar famous for hopping over potholes like a caffeinated kangaroo, the Yangwang U9 just had a very grounded moment. The Chinese electric hypercar was involved in a multi vehicle crash in Zhejiang, and this time its trick suspension could not spring it out of trouble.

According to reports shared on Chinese social media, the incident happened near an intersection while a Zeekr 009 electric MPV was stopped at a red light. The U9 reportedly struck the Zeekr at speed, then continued on to meet some roadside greenery and an advertising sign on the median.

More: BYD Drops Giant Palm Tree On $150K YangWang And It Drives Off Like Nothing Happened

A BYD Seagull also got caught up in the chain of impacts, according to Car News China, making this one unfortunate EV love-in. Thankfully, early accounts say no one in any of the vehicles suffered serious injuries, and there were no fatalities.

Images from the scene show heavy front-end damage to the U9, while the Zeekr 009 appears to have taken a serious hit as well, as one of its front wheels was reportedly detached.

One thing observers were quick to note was what did not happen. Despite the severity of the crash sequence, there were no reports of battery fires in any of the cars, including the U9. In a high-performance EV with a massive battery pack, that’s something to be thankful for.

Pointless Tricks

The Yangwang U9 made headlines this time last year when the BYD-owned brand released a video showing it leaping over small obstacles in the road. Using its trick Disus X suspension, the quad motor hypercar can clear potholes and spikes, dance, and drive on three wheels. But as this accident proves, some laws of physics can’t be cheated.

The regular U9 packs a 1,287-hp (1,305 PS / 960 kW) quad-motor powertrain, but last fall an appropriately-named limited edition U9 Extreme with an outrageous 2,978 hp (3,019 PS / 2,220 kW) achieved 308.4 mph (496.22 km/h).

Images BYD fans

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