Electric engines have a surprisingly long history, dating back to the early 1800s. The first electric coaches were developed in the later half of the century, giving them a longer tenure than gas-powered cars. However, the expensive cost of batteries and the discovery of large amounts of crude oil in Texas led to electric cars taking the back seat until the late 20th century.
In 1973, a mass oil crisis occurred. With this, the interest in hybrid and electric vehicles began to grow, along with many manufacturers creating new alternatives to gas-powered vehicles. Yet again, the interest in these alternatives faded away in the late 70s due to the limited range and performance of new electric cars at the time.
The 90s brought new government incentives that renewed interest in EV and hybrid cars; this is when many manufacturers produced hybrid and electric models of their existing popular models. From then on, the electric car craze increased drastically, from the popular Toyota Prius in the late 90s to the emergence of Silicon Valley startup Tesla Motors.
With this rich history, electric cars have made a great deal of progress in a short amount of time. Now, they’ve caught up with gas-powered cars, especially because the US has a constantly developing nationwide charging infrastructure. So, many electric car models lack appeal, and there’s not an obvious explanation for this anomaly.
While, obviously, the people that buy them find them good-looking, there’s just something off about almost every model. When looking at the gas cars from a few decades ago, even basic models in the 90s looked good and were tailored to the drivers. The newest models of electric cars look as if they’re trying too hard to be something from the future, this minimalist abomination from the next century. They only look out of place compared to the average early 2000s-2010s car.
There is no apparent reason why cars such as the 2014 Nissan Leaf or the Tesla Cybertruck—which is another conversation on its own—have to look abnormal. The batteries of electric cars are typically in the floor, and the motors are in the wheels, so one would assume that designers would have more liberty to design cars that look good. Yet, manufacturers have made cars like the Renault Twizy or the G-Wiz.
Ugly electric cars aren’t limited to smaller manufacturers either; Mercedes-Benz owns the micro EV company Smart, which makes cars that don’t even try to resemble their luxury counterparts.
On the topic of luxury manufacturers, Jaguar, known for making the beautiful classic E-type as well as the iconic XJ220, recently rebranded and released an image of their new concept car: the Jaguar 01. This car abandons everything Jaguar has built and completely changes what the people know about Jaguar. It is smoothed out on nearly every edge, has a slatted rear, and no rear window. The 01 has been constantly criticized online for its bad looks, showing how much the new Jaguar was botched.
Coming back to one cause of the explosion of EV cars on the road in the late 2000s, in 2008, Tesla launched the concept for the Tesla Roadster. This event, in turn, galvanized the electric car market, as it introduced an EV vehicle that could go longer distances than ever before, and it did it in style.
The only reason this car was genuinely stylish was because Tesla didn’t design it. The car made use of a Lotus Elise chassis and body, and they were built in an English Lotus factory. Arguably, every later model of Tesla is starkly worse looking than what is essentially an electrically converted Lotus Elise.
Contrary to what many believe, Tesla wasn’t founded by tech bro billionaire Elon Musk. Before him, Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning, two American entrepreneurs from California, launched Tesla Motors in 2003. Musk came to Tesla early on with large investments. In 2008, with the company on the brink of collapse, he decided a change was needed. He came to the conclusion that 24% of the 387 employees, including the struggling CEO Eberhard, needed to be cut from the company. Eberhard’s partner, Tarpenning, stepped down not long after him, essentially handing the company to Musk.
Tesla’s latest venture, the Cybertruck, began production in late 2023 and has to be one of the most unique-looking cars on the road today. Being one of the very few squarish stainless steel cars produced, it was highly anticipated after its reveal in 2021, although it wasn’t well received online. If choosing between the only two stainless steel body cars on the market, it’d be a better choice to buy the classic and cheaper DMC DeLorean, despite its own flaws.
Online, Cybertruck owners have been mass reporting issues with it, almost all about the poor design elements and bad manufacturing practices. These include exaggerated off-roading limits, large blind spots, rust and corrosion, and many other fatal mechanical and electrical issues. Not only is the Cybertruck ugly, but it performs terribly in the real world.
Making EV consumer cars look the same as gas ones hasn’t been a challenge for a couple of car brands; some look extremely normal and unrecognizable. Cars like the Honda Prologue, Hyundai Ioniq 5, and the Polestar Two all have a type of retro styling that makes them look better than the other EVs.
If designers are able to make cars such as the Ford GT, then why are those same designers creating the Mustang Mach-E, which is an abomination to the Mustang’s heritage? The bottom line is that larger car manufacturers can make mid-range electric cars without making them look ugly or overly futuristic.
While the importance of how cars look has decreased from 2010 to 2022, there is still a significant number of people that do care about what their car looks like, meaning it shouldn’t be on the back pedal when manufacturers create new models. With fuel efficiency being the top factor in both of these studies, electric cars should be much more desired, as they don’t use gasoline and are seen as better for the environment.
There isn’t a reason to try to make super futuristic cars that only appeal to a niche market. If people feel like electric cars are the option for them, there should be a bigger market of normal-looking cars, so the average person can feel comfortable instead of sticking out like a sore thumb.
