5 ms·

Why does it have to look so boring and so much like a Tesla? Car design has become a soft gelatinous blob of marketing dictated homogeneity.

by mieses 6y ago

rsj_hn 6y ago
Yeah, I miss the quirky cars of the past, especially 1940s-1960s. Even cars for the common man like the Fiat 1100 were more interesting (in terms of body design) than the luxury cars of today. https://myntransportblog.wordpress.com/page/9/?iframe=true&preview=true%2Fosd.xml https://myntransportblog.wordpress.com/page/9/?iframe=true&p...
- etcet 6y ago
  Cars these days are shaped more by a wind tunnel than a designer. This is especially true for EVs where range is an important number.
- hn_throwaway_99 6y ago
  The cars of today are much more constrained in terms of aerodynamics (fuel economy) and safety than the cars of yesteryear. There were cars in the 50s that had better aerodynamics backwards than forwards, and just watch one of those videos of an old car in a crash test collapse on itself before they figured out safety cages. There are essentially a very few optimal designs for safety and economy, so these days everything is essentially tweaks off that.
- csours 6y ago
  Maybe we can have fun designs like this if there are ever city cars with low speed focus and regulations. I can only imagine how much fuel those cars in your link would use at 70 mph (if they ever got up to that speed)
  - rsj_hn 6y ago
    Engine technology has improved substantially, so I don't think you need to adopt 1960s horsepower in order to get 1960s quality body design. Aerodynamics takes a hit, so maybe that powerful engine wont hit 140mph, but it will have plenty of power and acceleration with a modern engine. And even for non-boxy cars, look at some of these streamline designs: https://1u4we0207ruc34o1s412c2ca-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/2-dores.jpg https://1u4we0207ruc34o1s412c2ca-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-...
bradlys 6y ago
Blame consumers. That's what they want and that's also what is aerodynamic while maintaining what consumers like. Things like the Prius, Bolt, Volt, etc. are not popular car designs. Electric car makers know that - so they don't do weird shit like those are. America really loves its basic sedan shape. If you constrict yourself to sedan mentality then you eventually get cars that all look pretty similar because they need to be very aero and practical... while also being safe.
- rsj_hn 6y ago
  Kia Soul is boxy and doing quite well. People love Jeeps, they love the old Toyota FJ Cruiser so much that resale values are insane. Landshark is hottest SUV right now, is totally sold out, and has a boxy look. A boxy electric hummer is coming out.
  - bradlys 6y ago
    All of those are SUVs. You can escape the trend when it comes to SUVs/trucks because you've basically given up on the idea of efficiency but when it comes to regular cars - you can't escape the shape...
    - rsj_hn 6y ago
      That's a good point. I can't think of an interesting (modern) car design that isn't an SUV. Perhaps the Fiat.
      - nikanj 6y ago
        Environmental and emission norms don't apply to SUVs due to lawyer magic, so they just take 5000 pounds of steel and drop in a ginormous engine to make it go.
        rsj_hn 6y ago
        > Environmental and emission norms don't apply to SUVs due to lawyer magic This is false. SUVs need to meet emissions rules. Mileage rules are applied to automakers for the average of what they sell, allowing them to sell high and low mileage models as long as they meet the average. For federal EPA standards, SUVs and sedans both need to meet the same tier 2 requirements, and of course California applies stricter rules to both. Perhaps you were thinking of the old tier 1 requirements, which had different rules for SUVs? That's two decades out of date. Since 2007, when the transition period ended, the much stricter tier 2 EPA requirements apply equally and make no distinction between SUVs and sedans provided the car weighs less than 8500 pounds. The largest SUV on the market, the Mercedes G Class, weighs 6800 pounds. The average SUV weighs about 5000 pounds, so no, they aren't dropping 5000 pound engines in them.
ISL 6y ago
There are substantial constraints imposed by crash-safety/roadworthiness laws and aerodynamics; I believe those are the largest reasons that most cars look quite similar these days.
justapassenger 6y ago
Non soft looking EVs have bad range. Batteries have very little energy stored compared to gasoline, and you have to fight to get usable range. Skinny tires and aerodynamics are big in EV world.
csours 6y ago
Does it look like a Tesla? Which part? I don't think anyone would ever confuse it for a Tesla, unless you zoomed in to only show a door handle.
jansan 6y ago
You can always buy a Porsche Taycan or Audi e-tron GT. There are already Tesla competitors that make beautiful cars.

Why does it have to look so boring and so much like a Tesla? Car design has become a soft gelatinous blob of marketing dictated homogeneity.

by mieses 6y ago

Why does it have to look so boring and so much like a Tesla? Car design has become a soft gelatinous blob of marketing dictated homogeneity.

rsj_hn 6y ago

Yeah, I miss the quirky cars of the past, especially 1940s-1960s. Even cars for the common man like the Fiat 1100 were more interesting (in terms of body design) than the luxury cars of today. https://myntransportblog.wordpress.com/page/9/?iframe=true&preview=true%2Fosd.xml https://myntransportblog.wordpress.com/page/9/?iframe=true&p...

etcet 6y ago
Cars these days are shaped more by a wind tunnel than a designer. This is especially true for EVs where range is an important number.
hn_throwaway_99 6y ago
The cars of today are much more constrained in terms of aerodynamics (fuel economy) and safety than the cars of yesteryear. There were cars in the 50s that had better aerodynamics backwards than forwards, and just watch one of those videos of an old car in a crash test collapse on itself before they figured out safety cages. There are essentially a very few optimal designs for safety and economy, so these days everything is essentially tweaks off that.
csours 6y ago
Maybe we can have fun designs like this if there are ever city cars with low speed focus and regulations. I can only imagine how much fuel those cars in your link would use at 70 mph (if they ever got up to that speed)
- rsj_hn 6y ago
  Engine technology has improved substantially, so I don't think you need to adopt 1960s horsepower in order to get 1960s quality body design. Aerodynamics takes a hit, so maybe that powerful engine wont hit 140mph, but it will have plenty of power and acceleration with a modern engine. And even for non-boxy cars, look at some of these streamline designs: https://1u4we0207ruc34o1s412c2ca-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/2-dores.jpg https://1u4we0207ruc34o1s412c2ca-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-...

bradlys 6y ago

Blame consumers. That's what they want and that's also what is aerodynamic while maintaining what consumers like. Things like the Prius, Bolt, Volt, etc. are not popular car designs. Electric car makers know that - so they don't do weird shit like those are. America really loves its basic sedan shape. If you constrict yourself to sedan mentality then you eventually get cars that all look pretty similar because they need to be very aero and practical... while also being safe.

rsj_hn 6y ago
Kia Soul is boxy and doing quite well. People love Jeeps, they love the old Toyota FJ Cruiser so much that resale values are insane. Landshark is hottest SUV right now, is totally sold out, and has a boxy look. A boxy electric hummer is coming out.
- bradlys 6y ago
  All of those are SUVs. You can escape the trend when it comes to SUVs/trucks because you've basically given up on the idea of efficiency but when it comes to regular cars - you can't escape the shape...
  - rsj_hn 6y ago
    That's a good point. I can't think of an interesting (modern) car design that isn't an SUV. Perhaps the Fiat.
    - nikanj 6y ago
      Environmental and emission norms don't apply to SUVs due to lawyer magic, so they just take 5000 pounds of steel and drop in a ginormous engine to make it go.
      - rsj_hn 6y ago
        > Environmental and emission norms don't apply to SUVs due to lawyer magic This is false. SUVs need to meet emissions rules. Mileage rules are applied to automakers for the average of what they sell, allowing them to sell high and low mileage models as long as they meet the average. For federal EPA standards, SUVs and sedans both need to meet the same tier 2 requirements, and of course California applies stricter rules to both. Perhaps you were thinking of the old tier 1 requirements, which had different rules for SUVs? That's two decades out of date. Since 2007, when the transition period ended, the much stricter tier 2 EPA requirements apply equally and make no distinction between SUVs and sedans provided the car weighs less than 8500 pounds. The largest SUV on the market, the Mercedes G Class, weighs 6800 pounds. The average SUV weighs about 5000 pounds, so no, they aren't dropping 5000 pound engines in them.

ISL 6y ago

There are substantial constraints imposed by crash-safety/roadworthiness laws and aerodynamics; I believe those are the largest reasons that most cars look quite similar these days.

justapassenger 6y ago

Non soft looking EVs have bad range. Batteries have very little energy stored compared to gasoline, and you have to fight to get usable range. Skinny tires and aerodynamics are big in EV world.

csours 6y ago

Does it look like a Tesla? Which part? I don't think anyone would ever confuse it for a Tesla, unless you zoomed in to only show a door handle.

jansan 6y ago

You can always buy a Porsche Taycan or Audi e-tron GT. There are already Tesla competitors that make beautiful cars.