I like how Tesla has provided the design language that enables car startups to provide more cost-effective mobility solutions.
The customizability of this thing is what I love the most. They threw aerodynamics out of the flat window but with a max range of 230mph it is not meant to drive on the highway, so that makes sense. Viscerally I like it, the old one feels a bit too 90s French design house but the color options do make it come alive well.
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Meanwhile, in China you’re on the road for $5000:
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Nothing says “Industry Leader” more than lowercase letters.
It’s weird, because they had a logo that said, “conservative 70s” and they are replacing it with a logo that looks “bankrupt in the 80s”. Hmmm.
Looks great, it works for me!
How about the Etron GT?
I think if I was in the market for a Model S, I’d have to test drive one of these, but the design doesn’t do much. The front seems really busy for an electric car. Oddly, the interior looks old already. I don’t like all the screens in the Mercedes concepts, but they look like concept car interiors. This looks recycled from an earlier Audi (to me).
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It’s a re-badged/bodied Taycan, isn’t it? Not that that is a bad thing.
I like it, it’s a little swoopier in the back that I would expect for Audi. The interior does seem old, but accessible. I would drive it over a Model S, just for spite.
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More news: GM has released photos of the the face-lifted Bolt and a new SUV version. Headline is a new low price (under $32k USD). The face-lift has done away with the faux-grille and looks surprisingly good for a facelift, although the hard edges clash a bit with some of the swoopy lines of the original Bolt.
SUV:
Bolt:
That’s what I thought too - a cheaper Taycan. The gradated/scaled arrows for the rear lamps are really off-brand both for a notion of ‘electric’ and Audi. The hood ‘inward’ bulge is a cheeky electric reference too, as if to say “there’s no engine in here”… opposite of the BMW M3 with the big V8. Rear diffuser details have really gone overboard these days. I just see more rear-endable plastic to have to repair.
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I’m the kind of designer who would ‘die on the hill’ of not having my gas-cap slash charging port require biting through the front fender arch.
If you told me that was a new Kia Stinger I’d be like, wow, that is getting really nice… but for an Audi it just doesn’t seem very German to me.I feel like Porsche has figured out how to warp its DNA into all manner of archetypes successfully but it really feels like Audi has lost the script on what it is to me.
Slippy, RE that charge port cap, I’m right there with you. If the part line for the charge port door couldn’t move I’d either delete that faux fender arch or move it up a little more so it felt intentional. Looking at the rear wheel it seems it is a bit further away from the plastic back there.
Oh man I’ll never unsee that…
I think the GM people were rushing that thing out. This is what happens when you put profitability above all else.
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Hyundai Ioniq. I don’t know what to make of this. I hope we get this in Canada, because maybe it looks more subtle in person.
Overall proportions: A+
Theme: A
Detailing: B- (horizontal lines, saw blades, or triangles, pick one, and the interior is all soft squircles)
Size: A+ (for the US market, but an F for me, it is the size of a Mazda CX5)
It is certainly interesting to look at. I agree with most of yo’s takes too, except maybe the size one. The introduction of small-scale surface deflections as in the wheel arches and lower trim is somewhat novel. That rear bumper somehow screams SoCal millenial fashion irony. There is a strong GTI vibe from the A-pillar back, with a taller stance of course. Good for Hyundai to attempt something fresh even if it echoes 70’s tech detailing.
I could imagine myself maneuvering in 405-S traffic to get behind this car, to give my eyes something to do. Then would immediately get annoyed with electric car driver habits.
Heyyyo, would you care to expand on the idea/category of ‘theme’? I think you mean something like “what is the designer trying to do” but would like your perspective.
Sean, I’d describe it as the overall gesture… the broadest strokes. If you could draw it in only 5 or so lines.
I think the weird lines on the wheel arches and the streaks on the bottom of the door are a bit too much. Overall form and proportion are pretty good. They say it is a crossover, so it’s hard to gauge how this is going to look in person. It might be 15% too big. The detail photos of the interior suggest some pretty cheap plastics.
Love the brow over the head lights and the tail lights (although they look like something from a thermostat I designed, so I’m biased).
Something bothers me when I flip between the back and front 3/4 views. They look similar, but somehow the back is a little flatter and angluler…it bugs me a little.
Grade: B+. It’s certainly fresh and more optimistic than some other crap out there.
Here’s a handy Jalopnik roundup of every EV on sale or coming to the market soon.