The Maranello carmaker had the last laugh over critics of the carFerrari's first all-electric car was met with derision, mockery and an 8 per cent fall in the company share price when it was unveiled in May. But that hasn't dampened its sale price.The Luce was described as "an aesthetic and technological insult to anyone who loves Ferrari" by a former company executive, as it was compared to a modest Nissan Leaf.But the Maranello carmaker had the last laugh over the weekend as the first Luce in the run sold for $40m (£30m) making it the most expensive new car ever sold at auction.AdvertisementAdvertisementThe sale astonished the crowd at the Monterey Car Week in California, which had expected the "tailor made" version of the car to go for around £750,000."Tailor made" cars are one-of-a-kind vehicles customised to a buyer's precise specifications. The model, with chassis number 0, was designed with LoveFrom, the studio founded by Jony Ive, Apple's former design chief and a key figure behind the iPhone and iMac.Rumours swirled that the purchaser of the car might have been a billionaire close to the projectThe RM Sotheby's charity auction for the Luce, in mother-of pearl white, saw bids start at $1m and race up, sometimes in increments as big as $5m.It closed at $40m after a brief but intense bidding war in which a young man with a West Coast accent, chewing gum and wearing a black suit, yelled out "thirty," "thirty-five" and then "forty" between hushed conversation with someone on the other end of his iPhone.AdvertisementAdvertisement"Going for the third and final time, here, only as can be done at RM Sotheby's, the car is sold," said Sholto Gilbertson, a British auctioneer, bringing the hammer down on the record-breaking sale.No buyer's name has been disclosed, but rumours swirled on Sunday that the purchaser might have been a Silicon Valley billionaire close to the project, such as Apple's Tim Cook or entrepreneur Laurene Powell Jobs.Proceeds will be donated to "elevating global education initiatives" via the Ferrari Foundation.The backlash began almost immediately."Wow, 40 million for a washing machine with a Ferrari logo. Unbelievable…," commented Fernando Sánchez, a Spanish investor, under the auction house's Instagram reel.AdvertisementAdvertisementRegular versions of the Luce were on sale for £470,000. In May, at the unveiling, Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, the company's former chairman, said the Luce "risks destroying the myth" of Ferrari, and even suggested it should be stripped of the company's prancing horse logo.No buyer name has been disclosed for the buyer of the Ferrari LuceFerrari's marketing chief quit after the reaction to the company's first fully electric vehicle.Enrico Galliera, a 16-year veteran of the supercar maker, has been replaced by Massimiliano Di Silvestre, BMW's former head of Italian operations, after the disastrous launch of the Luce.But Benedetto Vigna, Ferrari's chief executive, has vigorously defended the Luce, saying the company is already receiving orders and deflected any comparison to cheaper electric cars, saying: "You have to see it and drive it to understand that it wasn't copied – not the interiors, not the exterior, not the performance."AdvertisementAdvertisementThe car is a four-door saloon with four electric motors and a 122kWh battery, which provide a top speed of 190mph. It can reach 62mph in just 2.5 seconds and has a range of 329 miles when fully charged.Although a record sale for a new car, it is not the most expensive car ever sold.In 2023 a vintage 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO was bought for £42m, and in January, a "unicorn" one-of-one 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO Bianco Speciale sold for £32,855,797 to a mystery buyer.The most expensive car ever sold at auction was a 1955 Mercedes 300 SLR Coupé modelled on the racecar that Sir Stirling Moss broke the Mille Miglia record in. That was sold for €135m (£115m) in 2022.Try full access to The Telegraph free today. Unlock their award-winning website and essential news app, plus useful tools and expert guides for your money, health and holidays.