Ferrari Luce Charity Record Isolates Philanthropic Bidding From Commercial EV Demand

Ferrari's first ever electric car has fetched $40m (£29.5m) in a charity sale, setting a record for a new vehicle sold at auction. The sale of the Ferrari Luce - brainchild of the British iPhone designer Sir Jony Ive - raised more than 35 times the usual price of the car at the event at RM Sotheby's in California. The Luce faced a backlash when it was launched in May. Some commentators said it strayed from the marque's traditional designs and lost part of the brand's identity by being battery-powered and having five seats. Sotheby's said all proceeds of the sale will be donated to the Ferrari Foundation's educational programmes. Sotheby's did not name the buyer of the custom Luce which features a unique finish and bespoke parts. The BBC has contacted the auction house and Ferrari for comment. The unveiling of the Luce was seen as one of the biggest launches of a new car in recent years. It marked the prancing horse's first entry into the electric vehicle (EV) market - a sector dominated by Elon Musk's Tesla and China's carmakers . Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Pope Leo were invited to view the luxury brand's new vehicle. But Ferrari's share price dropped the day after the Luce's launch, following backlash over the car. Among those criticising the car were Italy's deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini and former Ferrari chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, who said the

Matt Oliver is The Telegraph's Industry Editor, covering manufacturing, energy policy, car making and the defence industry. He was previously a special correspondent and has reported on business for the Daily Mail and local government for the Oxford Mail. He can be reached at: matt.oliver@telegraph.co.uk or on X @mattotele An American billionaire and inventor will become the first owner of Ferrari’s new electric supercar after bidding $40m (£29.5m) in a charity auction. Dr Herbert “Herbie” Wertheim, an optometrist who founded Brain Power Inc, bought the tailor-made Ferrari Luce at Monterey Car Week in California. The 87-year-old’s winning bid – which was initially kept anonymous by auctioneer Sotheby’s – was 36 times the original auction estimate for the car, and set a record for a new vehicle sold under the hammer. Ferrari’s new EV was designed by Sir Jony Ive, the former Apple creative guru, and Marc Newson, his business partner. It is billed as having “uncompromising performance, engagement and spaciousness”. It was met with derision and a drop in the company’s share price when it was unveiled in May, with one former company executive branding it “an aesthetic and technological insult”. But Dr Wertheim’s bid suggests there may still be a promising market for the new model, which is expected to sell for €550,000 (£470,000) commercially. The self-made billionaire philanthropis

A bespoke model of Ferrari’s first-ever fully electric car, the Luce , has sold for $40 million, breaking the record for the most expensive new car ever sold at auction. The high bid for the tailor-made Ferrari Luce “Chassis 0” comes just months after the Italian luxury sports car maker’s share price fell by more than 8% on the Milan stock exchange following the unveiling of the Luce in May. The EV, which sports a bubble-like design that radically differs from Ferrari’s typical angular car features, received unflattering reviews from some Ferrari fans at the time. Yet, in a charity auction during Monterey Car Week in California on Saturday, the Luce sold for 36 times its original estimate of $1.1 million, according to the collector car auction company RM Sotheby’s. “The bids kept climbing. Then, history was made,” Ferrari USA wrote in an Instagram post on Sunday, adding that the sale set “a new record for the highest-priced new car ever sold at auction.” All the proceeds from the sale will go to The Ferrari Foundation to support educational initiatives, the car maker said. CNN has contacted Ferrari for further comment. While the Luce (Italian for “Light”), which has an electric engine on each of its four wheels, has polarized fans, Ferrari said earlier this year that the car “really is a different sort of Ferrari for a different sort of Ferrari client.” The “Chassis 0” has an e