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Here's Jony Ive's Ferrari Luce EV Interior and Interface Design
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carrrrrlos
macrumors 65816
jlgolson
Contributing Editor
diamond.g
macrumors G5
Ferrari and Lamborghini were the first to have buttons for the turn signal (at least compared to Tesla).
urnotl33t
macrumors 6502a
Clearly well thought out for both beauty and practicality. Questions came to mind, tho:
* what’s the repairability on this? (Zero?)
* is this controlled by a massive BCM/PCM/ECM (DME, for European) interface?
* how many 10a fuses have to fail for this to become a brick on the side of the road? 😆
My 20yr old Saturn ION 3 still runs today thanks to its low amount of eye candy tech. I gotta admit… as much as I love CarPlay, sensor packages, and rear cameras when I rent a car or drive someone else’s, I also kinda like not worrying that some massive tech system is gonna fail rendering it inert.
Of course, I know the answer here: “if you can afford this car, then you clearly can afford to pay for any inconveniences incurred by the above items”.
* what’s the repairability on this? (Zero?)
* is this controlled by a massive BCM/PCM/ECM (DME, for European) interface?
* how many 10a fuses have to fail for this to become a brick on the side of the road? 😆
My 20yr old Saturn ION 3 still runs today thanks to its low amount of eye candy tech. I gotta admit… as much as I love CarPlay, sensor packages, and rear cameras when I rent a car or drive someone else’s, I also kinda like not worrying that some massive tech system is gonna fail rendering it inert.
Of course, I know the answer here: “if you can afford this car, then you clearly can afford to pay for any inconveniences incurred by the above items”.
diamond.g
macrumors G5
Not sure how you know for certain the Ive "hasn't done anything meaningful in the last decade." Do you have access to his daily work product?
d-klumpp
macrumors regular
Our new Q7 is not as bad as the next-gen, but it still requires too much attention to work the climate display. Seeing the newest Audi interface had us immediately opt out of that video surfboard across the dash and replace our vehicle sooner -- before that next-gen interface hits the Q7. Unfortunately, the Q7 is designed for hauling kids in the back, not taller drivers. I am disappointed that it sits smaller than my 2018 Q5, so at 6'4" the seat doesn't go back far enough for leg comfort on a long drive (not something I noticed on the test drive), and I cannot lower the seat enough or put it far enough back to quite see the top line of the otherwise-great head up display. Yes, I can comfortably sit in the huge back seat behind my own driving position, but the drivers position is for shorter drivers. But for those shorter drivers, it's an awesome vehicle, very comfortable and great to drive, particularly with the all-wheel steering.
jlgolson
Contributing Editor
Ferrari has an entire division called Classiche that maintains and repairs every car they've ever built. They are explicitly working to make this thing repairable long into the future, far more than any other carmaker is.
It's actually fascinating how they work, and I'm very curious what that looks like for an EV. I've asked to do a deeper story, but trust me, they're well aware of it.
That's only for the real fancy limited editions.
d-klumpp
macrumors regular
In the Midwest, set-and-forgetting is inadequate. Even with an excellent climate control and a top trim level in a lux vehicle, you'll fiddle throughout a long drive because of shifting temps, sun, and precipitation. Yes, I can separately adjust temps and air flow to the footwell, chest, and face, but those needs all change when you get into a car at –20°F and then drive an hour.
groove-agent
macrumors 68020
Ive might be great at UI design, but what is with the company name "LoveFrom"? I'm trying to figure out the significance of it.
jlgolson
Contributing Editor
It's meant to be a reference to what you might write at the end of a letter.
Love from,
Jordan
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turbineseaplane
macrumors Penryn
Yr Blues
macrumors 68040
Don't mess up with physical buttons. Nobody wants to keep pressing a large screen to get functions that used to be very easy and are now very complicated to access.
uhaas
macrumors 6502a
So you have to take a hand off the steering wheel to work the controls? Why not have a wheel you can rotate with your thumb? A physical thing ... maybe for the Icy/Wet/Dry/Sport one with more friction to turn, but yikes.
Why remove a hand on a sports car? One I'm driving at high speeds on tight curves?
Why remove a hand on a sports car? One I'm driving at high speeds on tight curves?
It looks to me like the turn signals copied teslas poor choice. Looks like they move with the steering wheel. This is a bad choice since if you ever need to signal and the wheel is not at its home position you need to look at the wheel to find the button. If “everything” was meticulously thought through that is a little disappointing, but hey maybe he figures no one uses their turn signals anyway.
Mac Fly (film)
macrumors 68040
Like tactical buttons for this use case. Love dials though. My wish for car basics such as HVAC are dual zone multi-dials you physically press in to about the depth of a chiclet keyboard to switch functions, and then physically dial the metal and glass dampened dial to adjust that thing, with a circular OLED display covering much of the dials showing the current function and setting. Two simple dials; several key functions.
Redundant information on a higher up display enables the user to switch functions and adjust settings without ever looking at the dials. This puts four different functions in there, or more, as the user could add to and remove from the list of available functions via a settings menu somewhere (check the boxes and drag to reorder).
In normal use should you want to copy a setting from one dial over the the other side of the cabin you just hold your dial in for half a second, enabling the driver to set the passenger side without the need to use the passenger dial, and vice versa.
This to me would be a nice balance of tactile hardware and software for daily user car functions retaining a level of customisation and minimalism.
That said, there is much to like about the direction Ive and his team went in. It's certainly better than many makers and suits the market segment of car.
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routine_analyst
macrumors 65816
The Apple Zealots are all chiming in on how 'goregous' the interior of this vehicle is. They'd be happy if the entire interior was loaded with iPhone looking panels. This looks like a joke. Nothing about the interior looks like a $500,000 vehicle. Minimalism and whatever this is are not mutually exclusive ideas. You can be minimal and still offer lines/textures/materials that don't look like the interior of a VW bus.
In 2021, Ferrari and its parent company Exor announced a multi-year creative partnership with LoveFrom, the design firm co-founded by Apple's former design chief Jony Ive and fellow designer Marc Newson. Now, in an event held at the Transamerica Pyramid, not far from LoveFrom's studio in San Francisco, Ferrari has shared the first results of that collab by unveiling the interior and interface of its first fully electric car, named "Luce" (Italian for "light").
In a writeup over at PRNDL, automotive journalist and MacRumors alum Jordan Golson describes how the Luce is designed around the premise that a car's interface should be operable largely by feel, with minimal visual distraction. Ive argues that touchscreens made sense for the iPhone because it solved a general-purpose problem, but it's not for driving: "To use touch in a car is something I would never dream of doing, because it requires that you look at what you're doing."
Following from that premise, the steering wheel and binnacle form a clear driving zone, where physical inputs are separated from visual outputs. Core functions such as climate, seat heating, and drive modes use dedicated mechanical switches and dials.
Physical controls trigger contextual responses on the displays, and the instrument binnacle combines layered OLED screens with physical depth and a real mechanical needle moving between them. The steering wheel itself is an exposed aluminum structure, where the glass-and-metal buttons are differentiated by touch, and the paddle shifters control EV functions like regenerative braking and torque delivery.
One of the standout features of the Luce is its glass key with an E Ink display. In your pocket it appears Ferrari yellow, and because E Ink is bistable, it consumes no power when static. When the driver enters the car, a magnet in the center console guides the key into a dedicated dock. Press it down, and the yellow fades to black as the key integrates with the glass surface of the console. Ive calls this "theater," re-imagining the ritual of starting up an electric car.
Head over to Golson's website for his full coverage, and watch his exclusive video above.
Ferrari has been unveiling its first fully electric car in three stages. The first reveal, held in Maranello last October, focused on the underlying technology, including the battery, motors, and platform. This second phase centers on the interior and interface. The exterior will be revealed in Italy in May.
Article Link: Here's Jony Ive's Ferrari Luce EV Interior and Interface Design
I7guy
macrumors Westmere
Love the idea of a software defined vehicle, and very rarely need to touch the touch screen whilst driving. As I said the biggest use case is music selection.
In addition one of the things that is very difficult to not use the touchscreen is to add a waypoint. Maybe Ferrari EV drivers won’t have that issue…..
Mac Fly (film)
macrumors 68040
Sorry, what are you saying exactly? Apple do many things wrong. And Jony is one of the most criticised people on the internet, especially among Apple diehards. He also hasn't worked for Apple for years.