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First of all, I would wonder what you consider a "normal car"? The older Citroën cars shown in the article were all "normal". But indeed ahead of their time. Th
by _ph_ 4y ago
First of all, I would wonder what you consider a "normal car"? The older Citroën cars shown in the article were all "normal". But indeed ahead of their time.
The shape of "normal" cars, which I assume are ICE cars for you has very much varied over the decades. In the late 80ies and early 90ies there were quite a few models designed strictly for good aerodynamics, later on the aerodynamic efficiency unfortunately dropped quite a bit. Recent years car designs are not very good in my eyes.
To answer the question: a lot of the traditional car design comes from designing around combustion engines. They need cooling and more space than an electric motor. See for example the return to rear wheel drive, as this makes most sense with a tiny electric engine. The huge front space is basically only needed for crash safety. At least some cars offer a good frunk. Of course the shift to electric cars will lead to different designs. Aerodynamic becomes much more important, no big engine, but instead a large battery, but at differen places in the car.
And of course a good bit of marketing. Beyond the technical needs, you want a new generation of cars also to look "new". Good design though combines new looks with the new technological requirements.
- lloeki 4y ago> I would wonder what you consider a "normal car" I think GP means that many EVs are visually designed to explicitly advertise they're EVs in extremely obvious, sometimes tacky ways by overusing some pop sci fi tropes (electricity is blue, polygons are futuristic...) Goes to the sound too, Renault Zoe emits a retrofuturistic drone that evokes all kinds of Star Wars hoverbikes and crafts. Some may look nice right now, challenging current mainstream design trends, some may not but turn out to look nice someday. Others are just annoying because they scream "look look I'm an EV" either for status symbol or brand recognition, which feels very artificial/superficial.
- gambiting 4y ago>>Goes to the sound too, Renault Zoe emits a retrofuturistic drone that evokes all kinds of Star Wars hoverbikes and crafts. I mean, that comes from a simple design question - how do you warn pedestrians in an audible way that one of these is nearby? My Volvo XC60 PHEV doesn't make any sound when being driven in EV mode, and people just don't hear it coming. You can pull up right behind someone(pedestrian) in a parking lot and they are completely oblivious there is a car behind them. Of course sound isn't the only thing pedestrians should rely on, but it is an actual problem - electric cars are just completely silent. My Volkswagen e-Up has a sound generator and it emits sound like a small ICE, but not quite - it's like uncanny valley of sound. Is that better than ZOE's futurisic sounds? I really don't know. But I do believe they should emit something.
- Gare 4y agoIt's now mandatory in most developed markets: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_vehicle_warning_sounds https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_vehicle_warning_sound...