Ferrari’s first EV sells for £29mn

• Legendary carmaker sees first EV production model go for record amount
• Ferrari Luce received huge backlash on its release in May
• However, sales have reportedly hit targets

The first production model of the Ferrari Luce has become the most expensive electric vehicle (EV) to ever be sold at auction after selling for £29.5mn.

The final sum was 36 times the pre-auction estimate, having been reserved for £806,261 at RM Sotheby’s in California. The proceeds have been donated to the Ferrari Foundation, the company’s educational charity foundation. The name of the successful bidder has not been made public.

The auction beats the £19mn raised at auction for the Ferrari Daytona SP3 supercar in 2025, which was a record for a new car.

But it isn’t close to the all-time record for a car sold at auction. That title belongs to the 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé, which was sold for £104mn in 2022.

The Ferrari Luce was unveiled in May this year and was the legendary car manufacturer’s first foray into electrification. It was designed to rival other major brands that already have large shares of the EV market, such as Tesla and China’s BYD.

Described at the time as a “different sort of Ferrari for a different sort of Ferrari client,” it’s also brand’s first ever four-door, five-seater car, and has a hatchback marketed for family use. The release was such a high profile that even the Pope and the Italian President were invited to attend.

The EV is powered by an electric engine in each wheel and uses a 122 kilowatt-hour (kWh) battery. It can go from 0-100 km/h in 2.5 seconds, has a top speed of 310 km/h, and has a range of 530km. The car weighs 2,260kg.

However, upon release it also received intense backlash from critics, with the overall feeling being that Ferrari was abandoning its traditions by going electric and releasing a car with five seats.

The reaction was so bad that Ferrari’s share price fell by 8%, wiping a huge £4bn off the company’s value.

Despite the bad press Ferrari has reportedly hit it’s first year sales targets (believed to be 500 units) which has been driven mainly by demand in China. The EV is available to order in the UK, costing between £400,000-£500,000.

Written By

Maximilian Schwerdtfeger Deputy editor

Max joined The Eco Experts as content manager in February 2024 and became deputy editor in 2025. He has written about sustainability issues across numerous industries, including maritime, supply chain, finance, mining, and retail. He has also written extensively for consumer titles like City AM, The Morning Star, and The Daily Express.

He has represented The Eco Experts on national television several times, including the BBC’s Sunday Morning Live and ITV Tonight .

In 2020, he covered in detail the International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) legislation on sulphur emissions and its effects on the global container shipping market as online editor of Port Technology International.

He also explored the initiatives major container ports and terminals have launched in order to ship vital goods across the world without polluting the environment.

Since then, he has reported heavily on the impact made by environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices on the supply chain of minerals, with a particular focus on rare earth mining in Africa.

As part of this, in 2022 Max visited mines and ports in Angola to hone in on the challenges being faced by one of the world’s biggest producers of rare earth minerals.

His most recent sustainability-related work came much closer to home, as he investigated the eco-challenges faced by independent retailers in the UK, specifically looking at how they can cut emissions and continue to thrive.

Max lives in South London and is an avid reader of books on modern history. He has also recently learned to play the game Mahjong and takes every opportunity to do so. He is also yet to find a sport he doesn’t enjoy watching.

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