Ferrari’s heir so impressed by the Apple Watch that he got the designer to work on EV
- Ferrari heir John Elkann was impressed by the Apple Watch
- He enlisted the help of two of its designers to work on the upcoming EV
- The team worked on how the steering wheel will work
Published on Sep 30, 2024 at 8:40 AM (UTC+4)
by Claire Reid
Last updated on Sep 30, 2024 at 8:40 AM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Kate Bain
The billionaire heir to Ferrari was so impressed by the Apple Watch that he enlisted the help of its designer for the marque’s upcoming EV.
Ferrari’s first all-electric is set to land next year – having previously appeared to rule out heading down the EV route.
Few details are known about the upcoming car, but we do know things are progressing well.
“Ferrari’s first fully electric model project is going as planned, but for some processes, we are even ahead of schedule,” CEO Benedetto Vigna said back in May.
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Ferrari heir was super impressed by the Apple Watch
We also know that the car will have that beloved Ferrari ‘roar’ with a couple of potential plans on how that might work circulating online.
With all eyes on how Ferrari will handle creating its first-ever EV – the team is making sure every single detail has been carefully considered.
This includes a new reimaging of the Ferrari steering wheel.
And to nail the job, the team has called in design studio LoveFrom.
The studio was founded by Jony Ive, who previously spent almost 30 years at Apple, and fellow former Apple worker Mark Newson.
According to the New York Times, John Elkann – the CEO of Exor and a member of the Agnelli family, that owns Ferrari – reached out to the studio after being left impressed by the Apple Watch.
The article claims that Elkan became an admirer of the design duo after seeing how Apple had managed to successfully turn an analog device into a popular digital one.
The designers shared input for the upcoming EV
Elkann was so impressed he wanted to get the two designers to work similar magic on the steering wheel of the upcoming all-electric.
In a meeting that lasted ‘several hours’ according to the publication, Ive and others from the studio were able to offer advice and insight into how the steering wheel should work.
“Paying attention to the steering wheel in a car that you want to drive and what the physicality of what means is something that Jony was very clear about,” Elkann said.
He went on to say the end result will be ‘something really, really different’.
How this looks in reality, well, we’ll have to wait and see.
Claire Reid
Claire Reid is a journalist who hails from the UK but is now living in New Zealand. She began her career after graduating with a degree in Journalism from Liverpool John Moore’s University and has more than a decade of experience, writing for both local newspapers and national news sites. Across her career she's covered a wide variety of topics, including celebrity, cryptocurrency, politics, true crime and just about everything in between.
