How companies are making electric cars cool
How will the major manufacturers make EVs appeal to the masses?
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It’s strange how something becomes what we class as ‘cool’. In terms of cars, it can be the slightest little feature that can tip it into the spectrum of coolness – a well drawn body curve, a well-engineered engine, even a bit of motorsport kudos. One thing we can be sure of is that being cool sells, and no one is working harder in the car industry than EV manufacturers to make their cars as desirable as possible.
If we’re all going to switch to electric cars like forecasters predict, they’ll need to grab us emotionally with their new tools and mannerisms and shake off any pre-conceived notions that many ardent cars fans possess.
Are electric cars cool? If you don’t think so just yet, here are the roads that manufacturers are taking to get us engaging with this new electric age.
They’re not as silent as you might think
Have you ever watched a Formula E race? Despite all of those cars running on what are fairly tame electric powertrains, they make a high-pitched scream that amplifies a sense of speed that you wouldn’t expect from a type of car that is normally criticised for lacking emotion.
Away from the racetrack, manufacturers have worked hard to invent sounds that they think we will associate with a futuristic drive but also that we associate with being in a car. Be it a Millennium Falcon-esque whoosh or a space-age V8 rumble, sound engineers in the car industry have been busy making electric cars that bit more accessible for our old school minds.
Even the ‘normal’ ones are fast
Everyone knows by now that electric cars have accomplished frankly ludicrous acceleration stats, with the real stars being the Asian entrants like the Aspark Owl and NIO EP9. Take a step back and look at the everyday electric cars going on sale and the stats are right up there with supercars of the ‘90s and modern sportscars.
The Audi e-tron is an SUV that is around the same size as a Q5 and yet will get to 62mph in just 4.6seconds. Like all EVs, that’s due to the fact that an electric motor can spin up almost instantly, compared to an internal combustion engine that has a huge amount of moving parts to reciprocate and communicate with each other. The performance of family cars is about to reach another level, and it’s all down to a switch to electricity.
Designers aren’t afraid to push the boat out
Electric cars don’t have engines or gearboxes as we know them. That means that designers can start experimenting with different proportions. So depending on where the cooling system, battery packs and motors are placed, EVs can look very different to what we’re conventionally used to.
The world needs change because progression normally only occurs off the back of it, so I say the more radical an EV looks, the better. We’re all used to the mid-engined proportions of today’s top supercars but if something like the Audi PB18 or e-tron Vision Gran Turismo was to roll through your city centre, the futuristic designs would certainly make you sit up and pay attention.
EVs are becoming smarter and more connected than cars have ever been before
Let’s admit it, we’re all obsessed with our mobile phones. They run our lives from our pockets and are an unbelievably capable fountain of knowledge that has our attention like nothing else. EV engineers have tapped into the power of the smart phone, connecting you to your car in a way that a ‘normal’ car simply can’t hope to match.
For example, you’ll be able to tell your car when you want it to charge, from which it will then learn your regular journeys and make sure the car is juiced-up and ready to go when you need it. When once you had to make time for a quick splash-and-dash pitstop at your local petrol station that would make you 10 minutes late for your lunch date, your EV will have you there in plenty time to enjoy your oversized croissant and Soya Chai Latte.
In Audi’s case, the upcoming e-tron SUV will also check the weather forecast for you so that – if you have solar panels at home – you can maximise the efficiency of your charging system to save you money. It’ll also make sure that it’s spending less time charging during peak times for the grid, saving you even more pennies whilst also making sure that you start your next journey all charged up. Clever stuff indeed.
The major manufacturers know that there’s still some work to do to fully convince everyone of the move to electric. Billions of dollars of investment into the shift should ensure success and be it through looks, performance, connectivity or simply convenience, EVs will only continue their march into the realms of coolness.
Man’s three greatest achievements: Scientists splitting the atom, Toto using ‘Serengeti’ as a song lyric, and the invention of the internal combustion. Now, we’re doing everything we can to get rid of that final
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Comments (11)
All cool stuff. Just let me know where the spent batteries end up for processing/recycling and not to landfill, and I am in. Does not seem to be part of the EV offer, but should be. Cobalt, Lithium, where does it go after its useful life....... No one says.
Dude, your comment is 5 years late. Read up! Like the ICE crises that spanned 100 years and still causes panics today - oil didnt pump itself out of the ground and the destruction we’ve caused is affecting quite the massive rock. Sure we now...
Read moreYep, all good. We just need for our electrical supplies to be greater than 75% coal fired where I am and for someone to promote li ion recycling in our neck of the woods. With all that R & D funding, would be nice if some found its way to a clean...
Read more'Cool' in the autmotive world often relates back to danger, EVs are born from a goal to make the world a safer place. Therein they are invariably uncool and will remain so until someone has a fatal, high-profile accident.
The fact is, electric cars are awesome. Get out and drive one or two. They are a cheap and efficient way of doing your daily driving. Save the petrol cars for weekend fun driving or long distance drives.
Any SUV that has doors like this is cool. You mightn't think so, but your grandchildren reading through The Car Book will.
I think they have a place in the world, but to make these cars "cool". It's a huge up-hill battle.