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I wonder if anybody close to the auto industry could shed some light as to whether there are engineering reasons behind what appears to be a deliberate effort t

I wonder if anybody close to the auto industry could shed some light as to whether there are engineering reasons behind what appears to be a deliberate effort to make their EVs look as ugly as possible.

maxerickson 10y ago
I imagine much of it is that cargo space still helps sell small cars.
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chiph 10y ago
Aerodynamics. Mercedes had a concept car in 2005 that was modeled after a fish Ostracion cubicus, which supposedly has the lowest coefficient of drag found in nature. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_Bionic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_Bionic
- aembleton 10y ago
  That looks very much like the original Honda Insight https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/HondaInsight.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/HondaIns...
XJOKOLAT 10y ago
Agreed, I just spent 5 minutes perusing the threads here ... talking about range and charges and base price ... I support electric, and my next car -will- be electric .. but at the end of the day. this car is as ugly as hell. I'll support it only to the support the industry and more entrants.
csours 10y ago
There is one front end shape that supports both aerodynamic constraints and safety considerations; that is why the front of pretty much every vehicle looks the same. Only trucks look really different, and that is because most truck buyers would eviscerate any truck that looks like a car. For the back end of this car, it is good to know that the battery pack looks something like this ____==== . It is slimmer in the front, and taller in the back. The rear must be taller to allow any room for rear passengers and cargo. Additionally, the whole industry is moving from sedans to crossover/SUVs, and the Bolt EV is indicative of that As for the styling cues, there are a lot a people who still want to remind people that they own and drive an environmentally friendly car. I don't know if I just got used to it, or if they changed it extensively, but the styling of the production vehicles seems muted compared to the pre-prod vehicles. Can you point to any particular styling cues or reason you think the vehicle is ugly? (I work for GM, but not on this program)
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maxerickson 10y ago

I imagine much of it is that cargo space still helps sell small cars.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

chiph 10y ago

Aerodynamics. Mercedes had a concept car in 2005 that was modeled after a fish Ostracion cubicus, which supposedly has the lowest coefficient of drag found in nature. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_Bionic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_Bionic

aembleton 10y ago
That looks very much like the original Honda Insight https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/HondaInsight.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/HondaIns...

XJOKOLAT 10y ago

Agreed, I just spent 5 minutes perusing the threads here ... talking about range and charges and base price ... I support electric, and my next car -will- be electric .. but at the end of the day. this car is as ugly as hell. I'll support it only to the support the industry and more entrants.

csours 10y ago

There is one front end shape that supports both aerodynamic constraints and safety considerations; that is why the front of pretty much every vehicle looks the same. Only trucks look really different, and that is because most truck buyers would eviscerate any truck that looks like a car. For the back end of this car, it is good to know that the battery pack looks something like this ____==== . It is slimmer in the front, and taller in the back. The rear must be taller to allow any room for rear passengers and cargo. Additionally, the whole industry is moving from sedans to crossover/SUVs, and the Bolt EV is indicative of that As for the styling cues, there are a lot a people who still want to remind people that they own and drive an environmentally friendly car. I don't know if I just got used to it, or if they changed it extensively, but the styling of the production vehicles seems muted compared to the pre-prod vehicles. Can you point to any particular styling cues or reason you think the vehicle is ugly? (I work for GM, but not on this program)

deleted 10y ago

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