[cbdevidal]

What prevents car manufacturers from taking a normal-looking body style and electrifying it? Seems popular with the aftermarket mods. Every hybrid and EV I can think of looks like a suppository.

Edit: I asked AI the same question and it reminded me that BMW’s i4, Camry Hybrid, Porsche Taycan, Ferrari 296 GTB (hybrid), Corvette E-Ray, F150 Lightning, and Genesis Electrified G80 all look fairly similar to standard ICE vehicles.

[plqbfbv]

> What prevents car manufacturers from taking a normal-looking body style and electrifying it? Seems popular with the aftermarket mods. Every hybrid and EV I can think of looks like a suppository.

The fact that even though an ICE engine is only 35% efficient, the energy density of fuel is still much higher than gas. Gasoline is 50x more energy-dense than an average EV lithium battery (taking a Tesla Model 3 as example). That's why you can fuel 9L of gasoline or charge and carry around ~500kg of batteries for the same range.

So in order to make the car efficient and travel 500km you have to bend the shape to be as aerodynamic as possible. That's where retractile/flush handles also come from, it wasn't just a gimmick or wow-factor on the Model S when it launched. It's still like that years later on all models because it still makes the car more efficient.

The research and push for higher densities is finally starting to pay off, so in time less efficient but more appealing/classic designs may start to emerge again, because you're less constrained by how much energy you can carry per same weight/volume.

[jjtheblunt]

> What prevents car manufacturers from taking a normal-looking body style and electrifying it?

Audi and BMW have been doing this for years at this point.

BMW i4 is a 4 series grand coupe (i.e., hatchback sedan in this case).

Audi ev suvs are super close to the gas versions. Both are shifting overlapped designs around though, perhaps specializing.

[xeeeeeeeeeeenu]

Also, it seems Mercedes will discontinue the EQS and EQE lines and replace them with electric S- and E-Class: https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/electric-mercede...

[jjtheblunt]

yeah that's interesting though it seems unclear if that's a north american market thing.

https://www.mercedes-benz.de/passengercars/models/electric.h...

[mysterydip]

Ironically, I think your question is the reason it’s not done more often, or at least some brands make “very obvious” EV’s: because for some customers, they want people to know they’re different (and memorable) from the ICE vehicles.

[jerlam]

For the same reason, the Toyota Prius was uniquely styled and ugly - until all the early adopters moved to EVs and sales fell. The most recent model is intended for a mainstream audience and is conventionally styled like a hot hatch.

[davey48016]

I wonder if that was mostly true of early adopters, and more mainstream consumers would prefer more conventional designs.

[UebVar]

I think this is a meme in marketing departments, but not actually true.

For the longest time ICE car makers build cars that screamed "electric". They mostly where behind expectations. At that time the by far most successful EV brand was Tesla with the USP that their cars looked like cars, while the EV from the competition looked like video game asserts; the BMW EVs from that time where among the most ugly cars i have ever seen.

Now this has reversed. The current EVs from VW, Mercedes and BMW, Renault, Dacia, Fiat all look normal. The ordinary-looking BMW iX3 has a long waiting list since launch, VWs boring ID-cars are doing better than ever. Tesla has released the cybertruck that screams "electric" and is a sales disaster.

My personal conspiracy theory is that the ICE divisions wanted to prevent EVs cannibalizing their market and they pushed for ugliness or "differentiation".

People want cars to look like cars. This is tautologically true, but manufactures needed quite some time to figure that out.

[SideburnsOfDoom]

> Tesla has released the cybertruck that screams "electric" and is a sales disaster.

I agree that the cybertruck screams, but not that it has generic EV stylings.

[DangitBobby]

My cynical take for US auto manufacturers is they don't really want these cars to be successful.

[perilunar]

> What prevents car manufacturers from taking a normal-looking body style and electrifying it?

Nothing. That's exactly what early car makers did — they took a carriage and removed the horse. Electric cars with big hoods and radiator grills is the same thing.

[SideburnsOfDoom]

> What prevents car manufacturers from taking a normal-looking body style and electrifying it?

That has been done. But it's never optimal, as it's not just a case of "pull out the ice engine, put in the electric motor". Different constraints leads to a different design.

e.g. The electric motors are better mounted near the drive wheels, no "transmission tunnel". The heavy batteries are ideally mounted across the bottom of the vehicle like a skateboard, they do not replace a gas tank.

[Klonoar]

Amusingly, the eGolf that VW had to build as a compliance car is one of the better choices for “just give me a fucking car that’s an EV”.

It’s literally the MK7 Golf R, but with AWD removed and a battery instead of an engine. Physical interior throughout with CarPlay/AA, all aftermarket parts for the MK7 work with it. Drives like a go-kart on the streets.

Super fun as a second or third grocery getter if you can find one in good condition and with the right option sets.

[jerlam]

$30k (new in 2019) for an EV with a 125 mile range and 134 hp doesn't sound remotely competitive.

[Klonoar]

In case it wasn't clear from my comment, I don't really care about the EV part: I view them as secondary cars for around town. They do not need ~300 miles of range or whatever.

Nobody needs more than 134hp on the street with instant torque, and nobody needs more than 125 miles of range around town. The driving dynamic of the car is better than any modern EV. That's the entire point.

[tencentshill]

It's in the same class as the Mini Cooper EV. Good car with a battery, not a good EV though.

[Klonoar]

In case it wasn't clear from my comment, I don't really care about the EV part: I view them as secondary cars for around town. They do not need ~300 miles of range or whatever.

[ge96]

I used to want an electic aventador but now I'm just going for a lotus exige s 240 in chrome orange it's a sub $100K car attainable for me

[dmoy]

> What prevents car manufacturers from taking a normal-looking body style and electrifying it?

Isn't that literally what the first Tesla was? An existing Lotus chassis with electric guts?

I do think it's kinda weird that Ferrari didn't do something similar, or at least closer to that, compared to... this thing.

[porphyra]

And the original Model S proved that you can have a nice electric car that looks nice and "normal" as opposed to weird blobs of the time.

[seanmcdirmid]

I have an i4 and its definitely a "conventional car body retrofitted with a battery" design. You can tell by how much leg space rear passengers have. It isn't bad though.

I definitely don't mind the new i3 (or even the old one), which are pure electric designs.

[NDizzle]

While there are some interesting design choices for things like the lights and wheels (across all Hyundai models, IMHO) the Hyundai EV9 is a pretty normal looking SUV.

[seydor]

especially with older cars . would love to revive cars from 60s-80s

[dylan604]

I love the look of old cars, but there's a lot of modern safety advances sacrificed with driving around in a classic. Obvious would be modern seat belts and air bags. Less obvious are crumple zones. There's plenty of other things I'm sure that have been added in modern cars. A modern EV with the body of a 1969 Corvette Stingray or 1969 Camaro would be amazing. I'm talking modern interior materials for sound dampening and comfort like updated ACs not modern touch screen nonsense.

[cbdevidal]

I agree. Love older cars in the way they look, but I consider them only a little safer than a motorcycle.

And plenty of people drive motorcycles and old cars every day without incident. Just from a percentage basis it’s not as safe.

[dylan604]

The safety features of modern cars are more like an insurance policy where you don't think about it until you actually need it. I replaced a 2007 Corolla with a 2015 one where after just a few months of owning the car I was in a t-bone accident on the driver side. The 2015 had side impact curtains that really saved me that I cannot imagine what would have happened in the 2007 model. I walked away from that with just a couple of scrapes.

The plenty of people comment also reminds me of the sayings about airliners. It's not that there's a lot of accidents, but when they do happen, there tends to be higher percentage of fatalities.

[jjtheblunt]

These guys do just that. used to live walking distance, awesome stuff.

https://evwest.com