I’ve always wondered why electric cars are designed to resemble regular cars so closely, even though they don’t require the same components like the internal combustion engine. It seems like this would be an opportunity to create a more practical and efficient design. Can someone explain why electric cars are shaped the way they are?
In: 7
The design of petrol cars already pretty much is the most practical and efficient design we can make in terms of safety, aerodynamics and human-usability and different type of engine won’t change that.
To specifically answer the point about the engine, electric cars still have a long “nose” for aerodynamics and to provide a crumble zone for the passengers in the event of head-on collision.
Not to say that literally nothing is different about electric vehicles. In example the heavy batteries are placed in the floor to create a lower center of gravity than with petrol cars.
In part, because the entire build world expects cars to be a certain shape. You won’t be able to use much of the infrastructures like parking spaces and drive throughs if the car is completely different from other cars.
There are also a lot of regulations about cars that are written based on the default shape of cars and trucks.
Another part is that much of the shape of the car is not based on the engine but on other factors like aerodynamics and safety in case of a crash etc.
Finally it is what consumers expect.
Two reasons:
1. If you have a lot of design work, knowledge, and factories set up for a specific frame/body it’s way easier to just put an electric motor in instead of starting at the drawing board.
2. People as a whole don’t like too much change, keeping all the other bits of the car the same makes it easier to get people to buy the new electric cars.
The main reason is aerodynamic drag. Old-fashioned cars are already designed to be as efficient at moving through the air as possible. EV’s can be improved slightly, as they don’t need to force air through a grill to cool an engine, but the basic body shape remains the same because it’s already the most optimal shape.
ICE cars are not shaped the way they are due to being an ICE car. You have cars with loads of various configurations for the placement of their engines. In front of the front axle, over the front axle, between the front and rear axle, over the rear axle and even behind the rear axle. Some have the engines tall and slender to fit into their spaces while others have them low and wide, typically to fit under the floor. I have even seen busses and campers with their engines stuffed into a tall closet so what looks like maybe a toilet is actually the engine at an odd angle.
The shape of the car is therefore not determined by the engine or the driveline. Instead the shape is made to be as aerodynamic, ergonomic, safe, spacious and with good handling. The location of larger components like the engine, gearbox, batteries, etc. is decided after the general shape of the car is determined. So the cars are shaped without much regard for what kind of propulsion system they will have.
As others said, safety and efficiency. Ever noticed how various brands’ individual generations resemble their competitor’s products’ rather than their own previous generations?
Or for another, clearer example, boats have had the same shape since prehistory, regardless of where they were made and in spite of the lack of intercommunication between the different regions of the globe.
It’s convergent design. That is, through trial and error we have concluded that those are the optimal shapes for the given tasks.
An electric vehicle still needs to perform the same tasks: carry people and goods in an efficient and safe manner. Changes in shape would negate some of those characteristics.
Part of it is to accelerate adoption. Part of the success of the Tesla Model S was that its just a nice looking traditional sedan. This is attractive to some of the more conservative buyers who are intrigued by an electric vehicle but don’t want to go too far out of their comfort zone. Also, car design was headed this direction anyways. Engines are smaller and more efficient than ever, and this is where car design was already headed. The Model Y is already kind of the hyper efficient people pod design nearly optimized. And from a dynamics perspective, while humans still drive the vehicle, you can’t push the drivers position in the car too fad to one end or the other without it starting to feel strange. Also, centering the occupant position is generally the most efficient for safety and overall vehicle dynamic optimization. So the most optimized design seems to be a tall teardrop with the occupants nearly centered and a small cargo area at either end, with the wheels pushed as far to the corners as possible. Which is where automotive design has been heading in general since the 80s.
Traditional cars were designed their shape because it’s pretty optimized for:
1. The shape of the human body and cargo
2. Aerodynamics
3. Turning, acceleration and deceleration physics
There’s nothing inherent to an internal combustion engine that forces the shape of the car. Planes also use ICE engines. So do tanks, yachts, motorcycles and plenty of other vehicles with different shapes.
1) Marketing – despite Elon’s often rash behavior he’s gotta build a product that’s within the general parameters of what people expect a car to be for it to sell. There have been many auto entrepreneurs that broke that rule and died – look up Bricklin, Dymaxion, Tucker, Colani….
2) As a technology evolves it generally reaches a “proper” configuration that works for most people. Think about a desk telephone, calculator, kitchen knife, sofa…. Occasionally there are revolutionary new ideas that break the mold and ADD TO the original functionality. Generally it’s agreed that car steering wheels are a good control system, 4 wheels are a stable platform, storage/technology compartments at the ends are easy to access and protect the passenger compartment in the middle. etc.
Telo and Canoo look, to me, like they’re breaking the traditional molds, but who knows if these startups can make production or if they’ll forever be vaporware.
And if they can’t make it to production, how much of that is because people can’t stand to be seen in something a little different?
Latest Answers