Ferrari unveils first fully electric car

Ferrari Luce

Italian luxury carmaker Ferrari has unveiled its first fully electric model, the Luce, belatedly joining rivals like Porsche and Lamborghini to offer clean-energy driving thrills.

The Luce -- Italian for “Light” -- has a top speed of over 310 kilometres per hour (190 m.p.h) and a range of over 530 kilometres, the company said in a statement late Monday.

It can accelerate to 100 kph in 2.5 seconds and has a massive 122 kWh battery. Overall the Luce weighs in at 2.26 tonnes, making it the company’s heaviest model ever.

It is also only the second Ferrari model with four doors in the company’s history, and the first five-seater for a brand better known for its sleek two-seaters.

“We are inaugurating a chapter that turns our vision into reality, strengthening Ferrari’s tradition of anticipating and shaping the future,” the company’s president John Elkann said.

The launch comes as other luxury car makers have hit the brakes on electric models, mirroring an industry-wide slowdown in the shift away from combustible engines because of lower than expected demand.

Last year, Ferrari said it expected electric models to account for 20 percent of the company’s offering in 2030, down from its previous target of 40 percent.