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by rayiner 280 days ago
My wife thinks they all look like jellybeans. Tesla makes them like that to maximize efficiency, and they’re still #1 on that metric, but people don’t care about that.
6 comments

All cars made in the last 20 years look like that. It’s wind tunnel design, there’s only one optimal overall shape that a car can have.
I have seen this described as “looksmaxxing for cars” and I can’t unsee it now.
it's effiencymaxxing. automotive looksmaxxing peaked in the 80s, the decade when new car designs looked the best
Citroen DS, Jaguar e-type, Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale, MB Gullwing, BMW 507 and a whole raft of other 50's, 60's and 70's cars look much better than anything that I even remember designed in the 80's. Of course that's just my opinion, but those cars are so iconic, do you have any particular cars in mind for that period which you really liked?
The new Prius has a similar coefficient of drag as a Tesla Model 3 but the Prius manages to look a LOT better.
The 2024 Prius has a drag coefficient of 0.27 (slightly worse than the previous generation's 0.26), which compares poorly with the Model 3's 0.22.
My understanding is that the Lucid Air Pure is more efficient than Tesla’s offerings, but yes, Teslas have tended to be more efficient than compliance BEVs and a lot of other efforts from legacy automakers.
With a coefficient of 0.219, they're not even in the top 10 on that metric. China seems to be making the most aerodynamic cars now:

0.191 Dongfeng Xinghai S7

0.194 XPeng Mona M03

0.195 Xiaomi SU7 Pro

0.197 Lucid Air Pure

I'm looking forward to the Mona coming to Europe next year https://cnevpost.com/2025/09/09/xpeng-launch-mona-series-eur...

I don't know the model y is the best selling car in the world so it seems like it worked pretty well
Is it? I thought it was overtaken by the RAV4 a while back.
And if we're including the RAV4, then you probably also need to include Chevy and Ford's pickup offerings, which would also be far ahead of any Tesla.

(And yes, a quick google confirms[0] the RAV4 is ahead of any Tesla offering this year.)

[0]: https://www.caranddriver.com/news/g64457986/bestselling-cars...

edit: see replies, this is US-only.

Looking at your link, it seems to be US only stats?

Best selling in 2024 world wide was Model Y even including trucks? https://www.visualcapitalist.com/ranked-the-worlds-best-sell...

The RAV4 outsold it in 2024: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/felipe-munoz-carindustryanaly...

The more interesting stat is that Toyota has 5 of the top 10 best selling cars.

Interesting. I can't see the source for the data in your link (it cites Statista, but that's just a graph and requires a subscription to see the source data.)

Not saying it's wrong (I have no idea, that's why I googled), but would be interesting to know.

edit: but also, you're right that I inadvertently looked at US-only data. I did say it was a quick Google. :) Edited my original comment.

Toyota has done quite well by maximizing efficiency.
I think the target audience for a Toyota or Honda (boring but reliable car) isn't very interested in the kind of quality control Tesla has. They're supposed to make up for that in other features and the unique style of the truck is part of that, in theory.
I think the current Prius PHEV looks much better than any Tesla right now. (It’s a plugin hybrid not a pure EV, of course.)
The current Prius is legitimately cool looking. Hard to believe it’s the same family that had been lampooned for its design for most of its existence.
IMHO, Toyota did an awesome job of taking the 2004 Prius funny wedge compact eco-nerd-mobile look (which might have been exactly what it needed at the time), and making it look sleek and modern and powerful.

I'm imagining a designer looking at the earlier windshield slant, and knowing they could work with that, and retain references to the iconic earlier design.

Industrial designers are like stage magicians.
Putting up with PHEV + ancient Toyota tech vs the looks takes a special person.
Toyota sold the most cars of any auto group in 2024.

They seem to understand the car market.

They also spent billions trying to destroy EVs. Don't underestimate power of oil and legacy auto's marketing and political influence.
The people I see with Model 3 and Y are the ones who came from Camrys and Rav4.

Tesla EVs have the most data to support their reliability (at least the 3/Y), and they are clearly very reliable. Plus it costs just as much as a Rav 4, but has tons more torque. And the software is much better even though it lacks Carplay.

If Elon’s antics didn’t already turn me off as a Tesla customer, lack of CarPlay support slammed the coffin shut completely.
I thought that too, and then Toyota wanted $15 per month for remote start and made it seem like they were doing me a favor when I went to buy a car, so I ended up with a Tesla. Ended up not missing Carplay, and it cost $20k less for a car that seats 5 adults and 2 kids.