Here’s Why the New Ferrari And Mercedes-AMG Electric Sedans Are So Controversial

Key Takeaways

• The Ferrari Luce is the first-ever all-electric Ferrari and its second-ever four-door model.
• Its debut comes a week after the similarly controversial all-electric 2027 Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door.
• Both are controversial for similar yet distinct reasons.

Wow! What a week for controversial electric vehicles, huh? First up was the all-new, all-electric 2027 Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door dropping cover at a highly publicized, celeb-studded Los Angeles debut, a hyper-sedan with more than 1,100 hp, cutting-edge tech, and 0-60 mph acceleration besting a Bugatti Chiron. As it replaced the last-gen GT 4-Door and its available twin-turbo V-8, the internet erupted in fury over its zappy powertrain and distinctly EV-forward styling alike. Then Ferrari unveiled the Luce, its first-ever all-electric car. Oh boy. Oh boy.

Related: The All-New, All-Electric 2027 Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Is a 1,153-HP Hyper-Sedan: Up Close

If the AMG GT 4-Door landed like a dropped North American Charging Standard charger in a puddle of rotten oatmeal, reactions to the Luce were on par to someone marionetting Enzo Ferrari’s corpse on the hood of a Lamborghini Urus. The collective comment section of the internet wasn’t so much furious as it was nauseated — and it’s not entirely due to the Luce’s electric drivetrain.

Much of the strong reactions center on the Luce’s generic, blobular exterior styling, a blend of incongruously tall roofline with a slab-sided profile that is roundly the most controversial and dramatic stylistic departure in the marque’s 79-year production history. That it’s a four-door electric sedan isn’t really the issue here, as the addition of a V-8 or V-12 would only modestly tamp outrage. Its biggest crime is anonymity; nothing about the Luce’s exterior appearance meaningfully channels “Ferrari.”

The First Sedan in Ferrari’s History Is Also Its Most Anonymous

Taken in a vacuum, it’s not even that stylistically strange or offensive. Ferrari historically does “weird” quite well; few mark the FF and GTC4 Lusso shooting brakes as their favorite Ferraris, but they’re cohesive designs immediately identifiable as a Maranello product with or without the enamel Prancing Horse. Stripped of badging, some cheeky renderings posted to Instagram reveal the Luce lends itself disappointingly well to a Waymo or taxi livery. Frustratingly, it visually presents as significantly more mass-market and commercial than its $640,000 starting price in its home market of Italy should suggest.

Many fingers point toward the deliberately outsized influence of former Apple tech designers Jony Ive and Marc Newson. Independently considered preeminent industrial designers of this era, both were instrumental in establishing Apple’s signature visual language in the late 1990s through the early 2020s. Ferrari contracted Ive and Newson’s LoveFrom design consultancy for the new Luce, smartly recognizing the need to separate the traditional Ferrari formula from the EV.

Four Doors, Five Seats From the Get-Go

The Luce is the first Ferrari in history with seating for five. Speaking on record at the Luce debut, Newson mentioned the duo worked within the parameters set by Ferrari itself, noting the configuration was pinned from the start as a four-door, five-seat EV. He outlined how the Luce intentionally appears as a fascia of bodywork framed over a much svelter profile — think a typical Ferrari coupe wearing a boxy costume.

It’s a strange sensation finally laying eyes on Ferrari’s first EV. Until Ferrari revealed plans for a 2+2 configuration, I smugly operated as if I’d already driven the first electric Ferrari, in a sense; back in late 2021, I was one of the fortunate few to clock seat time in the Pininfarina Battista, essentially an Italian reskin of the mighty Rimac Nevera. Quad electric motors scorched my senses with close to 1,900 hp, complete with a distinctly mid-engine profile, elegant and refined interior, and the general sense that this was a peek at what was to come in our ever-electrifying future.

“The fine folk at Automobili Pininfarina have created the equivalent of a rolling carbon-fiber crystal ball,” I noted in my review. “If you duct-taped the badges and told us to guess what we’re driving, we’d probably peg it as some range-topping electric Ferrari or Lamborghini circa 2026. That’s not an insult to Pininfarina — what, you don’t think there are other quad-motor electric hypercars on the horizon?”

Turns out there wasn’t. Plans for nearly every top-level EV hypercar from Lotus, Porsche, Lamborghini and countless others we never heard about are kaput because while Bugatti and Koenigsegg can’t keep up with demand, the megamillions EVs simply don’t sell. Repackaging them into hyper-sedans and SUVs returns only modest sales improvement, with even the significantly more affordable $100,000-$225,000 bracket struggling to reach a respectable percentage of any gas counterpart.

Performance Is Never the Issue With All-Electric Powertrains

Where the Ferrari pulled conventionality from the unconventional, Mercedes-Benz played to the crowd. The outcry surrounding this GT 4-Door might make it seem like it’s some sort of weird, contrarian freak, but the new bolty Benz is simply AMG’s slightly cartoonish foil to the Porsche Taycan in both design and performance. Much like the Ferrari, the pushback is entirely focused on both design and optics within the context of the brand and what came before.

It’s certainly not about the performance. In its juiciest GT63 grade, the AMG’s triple-axial-flux motors obliterate tires with 1,153 hp and a monstrous 1,475 pounds-feet of combined torque, returning a 0-60 mph flyby in 2.3 seconds and 0-124 mph in a belly-rippling 6.8 seconds. Strangely, the 1,035-hp Ferrari is less powerful not only than the AMG, but also other electro-sleds like the Porsche Taycan Turbo GT (1,092 hp with overboost) and Lucid Air Sapphire (1,234 hp). A relatively low curb weight of just under 5,000 pounds keeps the Luce wheel-to-wheel with the GT63 at 2.5 seconds from 0-62 mph and 0-124 mph in a twin 6.8 seconds.

No matter. No current production Ferrari is the quickest, fastest or holds any major official track record at the moment, and it’s been that way for the past 30 years. Ever since the McLaren F1 nuked the F50 from orbit in the mid-1990s, Ferraris have been more about the experience and emotion than chasing records. Sure, 1,035 hp is enough, but we’ve yet to see if the Luce’s chassis and dynamics recipe is enough to offset the natural impersonality of the EV.

In that arena, the Luce rips around on an adaptive suspension yoinked from the F80 and Purosangue with electronic backing from Ferrari’s advanced Side Slip Control X suite managing both traction and stability control. Rear steering is standard, as are carbon-ceramic brakes and active torque vectoring.

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Similar Performance, Vastly Different Ethos

The GT63 standardizes all of the above, only parsed for AMG branding and approach, yet I reckon these two will drive as different as a Mercedes-AMG GLE 63 S and the Purosangue — two different approaches with two very different footprints. The Luce is wider and taller than the rakish AMG, but the Merc outstretches the Ferrari in overall length and wheelbase. The Luce is down a shocking 441 pounds, likely making up most of the straightline performance similarity.

Interestingly, as broadly similar products from two top-tier Formula One teams, it’s Mercedes that takes a more vocal stance on its F1-derived tech. The AMG GT’s battery is comprehensively developed from its F1 development team, with its physical orientation, chemistry, oil cooling and incredible 600-kilowatt charging power all gleaned from time on the track. Ferrari, meanwhile, gives a throwaway mention to the configuration and wiring of the electric motors as sourced from motorsports — apt when considering the differences in ethos.

Universal EV similarities aside, the Luce should offer high-speed grand touring that is finespun, curated and leather-wrapped against the AMG’s brute force, carbon-fiber detonation. Not that the AMG isn’t luxurious, but the GT 4-Door courts the same crowd that enjoys the two-door AMG GTs, Porsche 911s and special BMWs, where the Luce is tuned not dissimilar to the lovely 2+2 Ferraris of yore. Think of the buyer who seeks the finery of a Bentley or Maybach but finds both too soft and Aston Martin too small-time.

Simulated Shifting: A Synthetic AMG V-8 Vs. Italian Sound

The Ferrari Luce uses a system to amplify the organic sounds of components like the motors, axles and wheels, and projects them into the cabin. The AMG, however, sounds like a bruiser — or at least makes an attempt at it. This is the first Mercedes with the controversial simulated-shift tech, in this case calibrated to thunder and roar with the same tonality and rev character as the past Mercedes-AMG GT R, only through speakers and a rumble pack in the seats. Hyundai was the first to debut this with its N e-Shift suite, with Honda following in early 2026 with S+ Shift in the new Prelude (both of which I aggressively dislike despite excellent execution).

When it comes to gimmicks and gee-whizz features, look to Porsche and Ferrari to gauge staying power. Porsche eschews any aural simulation outside of some space-age twang, while Ferrari refreshingly rejects an ersatz engine outright, choosing instead to amplify the actual sounds created while in motion.

“[Our] approach to sound stems from a clear choice: In an electric Ferrari, sound can exist only if it is authentic and functional, meaning it must be rooted in the mechanics and truly at the service of the driving experience, never the result of an artificial construct,” Ferrari explained in the Luce’s release. Bravo!

Instead of the synthetic shifting or a simple powertrain hum, a sensor projects the “living textures” of the motors, any gears, axles, and wheels into the cabin in a manner similar to “how an electric guitar’s amplifier works.” I’ll reserve judgment until I (hopefully) get a crack at it myself, but I know that I already prefer it over the alternative.

Actually, aside from styling and headline figures, I’m reserving true judgement for either car until I’ve had some serious seat time. For now, remember this moment, as it will genuinely go down in automotive history as a blip on the timeline: two electric hyper-sedans, bound by timing and controversy for similar yet distinct reasons. Don’t expect them to be the last, either.

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