The Ferrari Luce might be controversial, but its E Ink key is wild—you have to see it in action

The design of Ferrari’s brand-new Luce electric vehicle couldn’t be more controversial. Part of that might be that the storied car company contracted design firm LoveFrom, founded by Jony Ive with Marc Newson, to help craft Ferrari’s first EV.

Ive and Newson, people behind Apple’s products, like the iMac, iPod, and iPhone, took a big swing with the Luce, but not quite hit the mark. The one bright spot, however, is the key fob.

What caught my eye, as a tech-focused writer, was the use of E Ink in the car’s key. It’s easy to misattribute to a digital transition when scrolling through the website. But it might just be the coolest feature of this otherwise very impressive and, presumably, very expensive supercar.

The key is a blend of physical and digital

The Luce’s physical key looks more like a Zippo lighter than it does a traditional key, or even other modern fobs. And it might not be clear from the visuals, but the yellow on the front of the key is color E Ink.

When you put the key into its slot and press it down, the yellow color leaves the key and slides over to the gear knob. It’s subtle, but once you know what is happening, it becomes an impressive feat. As you can see from the animation above, the yellow color enters the knob and lights up the Ferrari logo in yellow, as well as the speedometer.

E Ink only uses power when it’s changing state. So, when you turn a page on an e-reader that uses battery power. But in the case of the Ferrari key, it shouldn’t take any power to keep the yellow constantly on display.

You can see in this live video that the key’s yellow color looks quite bright and vivid. Of course, that unit could be a mockup since the live video cuts away after the key is pressed into the center console, cutting to an animation to show the color draining.

What other tech is in the Ferrari Luce?

The key is my favorite feature of the Luce, because it shows how technology can be used as a flourishing touch—how it can be delightful. Also, it seems like that bit of tech might eventually make its way down to cars I can one day afford.

But the key is far from the only cool piece of tech in the car. The binnacle features “an ultra-light and ultra-thin OLED panel” that needed direct input from Samsung’s display engineers. Some of the strongest Corning Gorilla Glass covers screens, the key, and the shifter to keep all those pieces scratch-free. As you might guess, there’s CarPlay onboard.

There is a purpose behind each detail. From the newly created typography to how the dials and ball bearings are implemented. Whether you’re instantly in love with the look of the car’s interior or not. It’s hard to discount how well thought out it is. Apple probably wouldn’t have spared this kind of expense for the car it was building, but this is probably a peek into some of the details it would have considered if it didn’t end up shutting down its own car project.

While the Luce’s exterior is drawing the bulk of the criticism, I think the interior is worth reevaluating once the backlash has died down. Inside the car might not look like a traditional Ferrari, but I still think it’s quite good—modern and classic.