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?
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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.
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