Phil Royle – Aug. 19, 2026
When Ferrari unveiled its first fully electric car, the Luce, the world’s reaction was underwhelming. Panned by most, including me, the Luce prompted the obvious question: Who was actually going to buy one of these oddly shaped $640,000 electric Ferraris? Then Monterey Car Week happened in August 2026, and Ferrari sold its very first Luce for $40 million. $40 million! Suddenly, the story of the Luce seemed to change.
Except it really didn’t.
A $40 million sale is spectacular. It’s also almost completely meaningless when it comes to determining whether the Luce is the best EV Ferrari could have made, whether Ferrari customers actually want it, or whether Ferrari’s first electric vehicle will succeed.
Looking at the buyer tells us why.
The very first Luce was purchased by 87-year-old Florida billionaire Dr. Herbert “Herbie” Wertheim. Wertheim has been an Apple investor (and presumed fan) since the very early days of that trillion-dollar company. Now remember that the Luce was designed by Jony Ive’s design firm, Ive being the one who created Apple’s modern design signature and likely helped Herbie’s net worth rocket into the seven-plus-figure range. Yes, Wertheim is a verifiable Ferrari collector, having spent $26 million at the 2025 Car Week auctions on a one-of-one Ferrari Daytona SP3 Tailor Made, but all things combined, this makes the $40 million purchase look less like a Ferrari transaction and more like the ultimate collector’s prize for someone who loves Ferrari, Apple, and Ive.
Wertheim didn’t necessarily spend $40 million because the Luce is a $40 million Ferrari. He may have spent it because this is a unique combination of things he adores, and this is the first one ever. The car represents the Jony Ive connection, Apple’s legacy, and Ferrari’s brand, all rolled into one. Had Apple actually built a car, someone like Wertheim (or Wertheim himself) might have paid a fortune for the first one of that, too. That makes this a non-repeatable novelty purchase, even for Ferrari.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the globe, sits China. The Luce quickly sold out in China, with China’s allocation being 88 units. While that’s a drop in the bucket for the global automotive industry, keep in mind that we’re talking about a company that intentionally deals in small numbers.
That’s where this whole argument gets complicated.
Ferrari doesn’t need Toyota-sized sales to make a car commercially meaningful. Ferrari’s business is built around scarcity, exclusivity, and customers willing to pay extraordinary amounts of money for items that have value in the purchaser’s exclusive eyes. Ferrari doesn’t need thousands of buyers to make the program work. Perhaps selling seven dozen Luces in China really is enough for the supercar maker’s first EV.
In other words, maybe all of this is moot.
Still, the $40 million sale still doesn’t prove the Luce is the EV Ferrari should have built; it proves that at least one exceptionally wealthy Ferrari and Apple enthusiast wanted the first one badly enough to spend an absurd amount of money on it. That’s fascinating, but it’s not evidence that the average Ferrari customer is suddenly clamoring for this electric Ferrari.
The Luce will ultimately have to succeed on its own terms. Ferrari will have to sell enough of them, to enough customers, to justify building them. One $40 million collector car does not make Ferrari’s EV an unequivocal success.
So, Ferrari, enjoy the headline. Forty million dollars for a Luce is an incredible number. Just don’t mistake it for proof that Ferrari has solved the electric-car equation. It likely only proves that billionaires will pay ungodly amount of money for something that scratches their itch.
(Image courtesy Ferrari)
