Ferrari Could Have Faked A V12. The Luce EV Does Something Stranger

Carmakers are scrambling to make their sporty electric vehicles sound like gas cars, with fake engine noises pumped through the speakers and even simulated gear shifting. That is one approach to get their EVs to stir your emotions, but Ferrari wants nothing to do with this trend.

The new Ferrari Luce plays a crescendo through the speakers as you accelerate, but it isn’t trying to fake a V-8 or a V-12. In keeping with the rest of the package, which seems to be one of the most widely disliked vehicles ever launched, Ferrari did something nobody expected. Instead of faking an engine, it amplifies and synthesizes the sounds the car makes, resulting in a very unique audible signature.

It would have been easier for Ferrari to just pump gas engine noises through the speakers and call it a day. It would probably have done an excellent job of simulating combustion, and it surely would have gone the extra mile, just like Mercedes-AMG has done with the new 4-Door EV, to really make you feel like you’re being propelled by burning gasoline.

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So what exactly has Ferrari done? Well, its own press material says the Luce captures “electro-mechanical vibration in the axles,” which are then “equalized, amplified and delivered alongside visual feedback to inform the driver.” It is tied to Manual and Performance modes, and you can interact with it not only by pressing the accelerator pedal, but also by using the paddles behind the steering wheel, a system which Ferrari calls Torque Shift Engagement.

Ferrari says a precision accelerometer embedded in the axle captures the “dynamic texture and vibration of the rotating components,” then equalizes and amplifies it “in a manner similar to an electric guitar.” The point is not to make the Luce constantly noisy. Ferrari’s system activates to support the Torque Shift and driver involvement under acceleration and deceleration, rather than droning in normal driving.

Basically, the idea is to keep things very quiet under normal driving conditions and provide amplified sound only when you’re driving more spiritedly.

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Torque Shift Engagement is another way Ferrari is doing things differently. There are already several cars that not only fake gas engines but also let you shift pretend gears via steering wheel paddles. The Luce has paddles too, but they do something very different, which still somehow feels familiar.

So the Luce’s paddles don’t shift gears. Every click of the right paddle steps up torque delivery in five stages, while the left paddle increases regenerative braking to mimic the engine braking you feel while downshifting. It’s Ferrari’s attempt to make EV acceleration and deceleration feel more interactive, without trying to fake a manual gearbox.

In Ferrari’s own words, “Sound activates to inform torque shifting in Manual and Performance modes. Manual torque shifting enables the driver to build progression via paddles, sustaining involvement and control across acceleration and deceleration.”

What does this all add up to, and how does it sound? Our colleagues at Motor1 were able to clean up the audio from one of Ferrari’s official presentation videos and extract just the acceleration sound. It’s not particularly evocative, but it’s somehow kind of cool that it’s based on noises that the car itself makes rather than pure fakery that has nothing to do with the electric powertrain.

It was never going to sound as good or be as evocative as a V-8, simulated or real, but it doesn’t sound bad, and knowing how it’s obtained makes me like it more. We’ll be better able to judge just how good it sounds and how this affects the driving experience when we get the chance to try the car out for the first time, but it will be one aspect of the experience we pay special attention to.