Electric vehicles aren’t just here, they’re everywhere. And as they gain momentum, they offer a great opportunity for automakers to reinvent themselves and their cars. Ford completely reinvented the Mustang with the Mach-E, while Kia seems to be going through a complete renaissance, with electric models like the EV6 leading the way.
But at a higher level, some automakers seem to be going through some growing pains. Some of the most famous brands make some of the ugliest new electric vehicles, but they’re luxurious on the inside like their gas-powered counterparts never were. What’s happening?
New room to ruin
Companies like BMW and Mercedes-Benz have spent decades honing their brand image and decades building a loyal following who wouldn’t buy anything else. Their cars also follow a similar design language. BMW is known for its kidney-shaped grille, which is why fans were upset when the company widened the grille on its latest cars.
So what happens when you seize the opportunity to reinvent yourself with the advent of an electrified driving experience? You find yourself with legs reclining. The Mercedes EQS bears little resemblance to the S-Class before it, and the BMW iX is quite different from the midsize SUVs it’s been churning out for years. To be honest, both the electric vehicles from Mercedes and BMW look pretty out of place.
Stephen Edelstein/Digital Trends
The Mercedes EQS is perhaps the worst offender. The car has problems similar to those that plagued Tesla in its early days. Electric vehicles don’t need airflow in the front grille, which opens up a lot of space that car designers never got to play with. The EQS makes up for it with a cheap-looking fake grille, complete with a Mercedes logo. The front end of the car usually looks lumpy, overextended and just plain stupid.
The BMW iX is less rowdy, but it still takes some getting used to. Gone are the larger, slanted headlamps on offerings like the X5, in favor of much slimmer, smaller headlamps. Of course, they surround another faux grill, one that mimics the big new kidney grill found on some other BMW cars.
look from inside
Step into either of these two cars, however, and you’ll instantly forget about the exterior, which you may or may not like.
The EQS interior screams luxury, with modern lighting, sumptuous seats, and that hyperscreen that stretches across the front of the dash. Like the exterior, the interior is unlike anything else in the Mercedes fleet, or at least it was until newer models offered similar features. While the exterior could be described as “very different”, the interior is anything but.
Stephen Edelstein/Digital Trends
The iX doesn’t change much inside BMW cars, but that’s not a bad thing. You still get premium leather seats and a crystal-clear looking software controller, and it looks and feels great.
It is clear that the car designers at these companies know how to work with the benefits of electric vehicles. So why do they have to make the outside so hideous?
it is in the air
At least part of the look could be attributed to aerodynamics. This is especially true of the EQS, which according to Mercedes is the most aerodynamic production car in the world, with a coefficient of drag of 0.20.
Aerodynamics should not be neglected either. While gasoline-powered cars offer a long range on a full tank and are very easy to fill up when they run out, electric vehicles are only now reaching ranges that most drivers find acceptable. Engineers must get the most out of every kilowatt to ensure drivers don’t suffer from range anxiety.
But that’s not the end of the story. The Mercedes EQS is the most aerodynamic production car in the world, but the same company has made an EV that is even more aerodynamic, the EQXX, a car that looks really cool.
Mercedes Benz
Maybe that’s not the fairest comparison. The EQXX is designed to be sportier and much smaller than the EQS, which is designed to be a full-size sedan. But if nothing else, the EQXX proves that you don’t need to put something that looks like a grille on the front of a car to look good, and in fact, the switch to electrification is a great time to completely rethink the front of the car.
hope for the future
Growing pains are to be expected given how seismic the transition to electric cars is. But there is hope.
Do you remember the first generations of the Tesla Model S? He suffered similar problems trying to imitate a grill with a front end that just looked funny. The current Model S may look like it’s getting a little older in terms of design, but at least it looks a lot sleeker than before, and there’s nothing quite like a big front grill.
I suspect other automakers will follow a similar trajectory. Everyone (except maybe Tesla) is still at the beginning of their EV journey. Electric cars will evolve and automakers will adapt to their new design constraints, or to not have the same old design constraints.
And there are already many reasons for hope. While they certainly aren’t luxury cars, both the Kia EV6 and Hyundai Ioniq look great. And at the higher end, new players in the game like Rivian are paving the way for what could be a modern electric car. Let’s just hope the traditional luxury carmakers can do enough to compete.
editor’s recommendations
Categories: GAMING
Source: tiengtrunghaato.edu.vn