There are some fundemental problem with making an EV look like a “normal car” though.
EVs are more dense than their ICE counterparts. This means that the whole vehicle needs more structure to protect it in a rollover than an ICE of the same size. Thicker frames and pillars in a smaller car end up making it look bulgy and weird.
I think (but not 100% sure) that EVs are required to have extra protection for the battery to prevent them from getting punctured and having a “thermal runaway” event. This makes the cars even more pudgy.
The energy source and propulsion methods have changed, which will affect their design of the cars. Much in the same way early jet airplanes looked like regular airplanes with jets attached, EVs started as regular cars with electric motors. We’re currently in the weird transition phase of EV design. We’re seeing the EV equivalent of the P80 Shooting star, and maybe starting to get into some cars that are akin to the F86 Sabre. We have a long way to go until the design catches up to the propulsion.
I worked at a lithium ion battery company for 11 years. If anything, the switch to EVs gives you even more options for body shape/type. The batteries are located at the bottom of the frame, and the motors are hub motors located at the wheels. It gives the vehicle a lower center of gravity, and gives the body designers artistic freedom to make it look however they like. I don’t accept the argument that it has to look dorky. The original Tesla Roadster was just a modified Lotus Elise, and it looked basically bone stock. There is no need for the front to be loaded up with a huge motor, there is a reason a lot of EVs have a “frunk”…there is just a bunch of extra room. No need for an oil reservoir, or a transmission, or hydraulic brake lines and reservoir, or any other fluids.
That and this isn’t a practical car. I mean 99% of people who even buy this aren’t buying it as a DD. Something like a Porsche Cayenne would be more something that’s more reasonable if you want peoole to buy it and DD.
The normal person priced sedan thing has the same awkward “Look I’n Electric” proportions as that Ferrari. It’s only the stupid priced Tesla’s that looks less stupid.
The big fat ass elevate screen in the middle of the dashboard looks like cheap shit.
The outside looks like a late 1990s European high end car.
It’s high tech made to look cheap using plastic and putting what’s basically a computer monitor as centerpiece rather smoothly intergrating it with the rest, all wrapped in a frame which is an outdated idea of a luxury car.
Even the door handles in the Tesla are a 1990s idea of what high tech looks like.
It’s like those cars were designed by an aged geek with no sophistication in taste rather than by a designer.
(And I am myself an aged geek, but, shit, I like to think I actually got a little bit more subtle and demanding with age in my appreciation of the beauty in things).
Is it possible to make an EV that doesn’t look like a dorks version of a futuristic car? Just make it look normal and people will buy it.
Renault 5
There are some fundemental problem with making an EV look like a “normal car” though.
EVs are more dense than their ICE counterparts. This means that the whole vehicle needs more structure to protect it in a rollover than an ICE of the same size. Thicker frames and pillars in a smaller car end up making it look bulgy and weird.
I think (but not 100% sure) that EVs are required to have extra protection for the battery to prevent them from getting punctured and having a “thermal runaway” event. This makes the cars even more pudgy.
The energy source and propulsion methods have changed, which will affect their design of the cars. Much in the same way early jet airplanes looked like regular airplanes with jets attached, EVs started as regular cars with electric motors. We’re currently in the weird transition phase of EV design. We’re seeing the EV equivalent of the P80 Shooting star, and maybe starting to get into some cars that are akin to the F86 Sabre. We have a long way to go until the design catches up to the propulsion.
I worked at a lithium ion battery company for 11 years. If anything, the switch to EVs gives you even more options for body shape/type. The batteries are located at the bottom of the frame, and the motors are hub motors located at the wheels. It gives the vehicle a lower center of gravity, and gives the body designers artistic freedom to make it look however they like. I don’t accept the argument that it has to look dorky. The original Tesla Roadster was just a modified Lotus Elise, and it looked basically bone stock. There is no need for the front to be loaded up with a huge motor, there is a reason a lot of EVs have a “frunk”…there is just a bunch of extra room. No need for an oil reservoir, or a transmission, or hydraulic brake lines and reservoir, or any other fluids.
Teslas look pretty normal
Just in case someone here isn’t familiar, it’s not that ICE. It’s “Internal Combustion Engine” aka most cars when people think of cars
Thanks for the context.
I am pretty certain this is a hybrid.
You are 100% correct. My bad.
This is the internet, double down and call them a slur.
That and this isn’t a practical car. I mean 99% of people who even buy this aren’t buying it as a DD. Something like a Porsche Cayenne would be more something that’s more reasonable if you want peoole to buy it and DD.
You mean like regular EV’s? Because there is a whole bunch of them that look perfectly normal.
As for sports EV’s: I am quite liking the Audi GT.
Yeah, I’ve been wanting one of those since they were announced. Such a good looking car.
If I could have any EV, it would probably be the Audi.
Ferrari execs, probably: “No, we have to make clear that we’re modern™ and there’s more to our cars than toxic masculinity!!!”
… which might even be a good selling point for a lot of people, except for the kind of people who buy a Ferrari.
Yeah. Tesla looks pretty decent… Except its designed to trap you inside, and prevent outside help as you burn alive.
The normal person priced sedan thing has the same awkward “Look I’n Electric” proportions as that Ferrari. It’s only the stupid priced Tesla’s that looks less stupid.
See also: cyber truck.
Yeah it’s ugly as fuck. But other models look quite good.
The big fat ass elevate screen in the middle of the dashboard looks like cheap shit.
The outside looks like a late 1990s European high end car.
It’s high tech made to look cheap using plastic and putting what’s basically a computer monitor as centerpiece rather smoothly intergrating it with the rest, all wrapped in a frame which is an outdated idea of a luxury car.
(IMHO, or course)
I meant outside. Inside 90s style knobs and buttons always ruled and noone is ever going to make me think otherwise
I like European high end cars
Even the door handles in the Tesla are a 1990s idea of what high tech looks like.
It’s like those cars were designed by an aged geek with no sophistication in taste rather than by a designer.
(And I am myself an aged geek, but, shit, I like to think I actually got a little bit more subtle and demanding with age in my appreciation of the beauty in things).
In the 90s it was perfectly possible to build these handles but noone was dumb enough to actually implement it outside of concept cars.
Actually most tesla models were designed by an actual designer named Franz von Holzhausen. Musk didn’t sit at the drawing board with a pancil.
My best guess would be that Musk demanded all the stupid concept car shit from the team resulting in stupid LCD screen and those cursed door handles.