The Big 4: General Motors, Chrysler, Ford, and… everyone else? Over the last 10 years there has been an incredible amount of new American car companies being born, each taking aim at capitalizing on the niche growing market of alternative fuel vehicles. Although they currently cannot compare to the sheer size and sales of the OEMs, they respectfully comprise their own market and combined can be considered a 4th entry into the league of American car companies. They are the ‘Wii” to the Big 3′s XBox 360 & PS3: filling a demand that the consumer did not know they needed. It mimics the booms of the 20s, 30s, and 40s.
With this boom also comes the growing pains of finding the right design aesthetic to help define this new market. Does it remain traditional? Do all vehicles need to be either micro-cars or roadsters? Swoopy shapes or edgy? Futuristic or modern?
This is where you come in. In the comments, let us know what you think about the aesthetic design direction for these new vehicles. We’ll incorporate the comments into a future podcast.
Looking for inspiration on what to comment on? After the jump we’ve posted images of vehicles from several US-based companies.
Ronn Motors Scorpion – Hydrogen Injection Hybrid
Tesla Roadster – Electric
Fisker Karma – Electric
Chevrolet Volt – Electric Hybrid
Local Motors – Diesel
*While there is no vehicle yet showcased, LM has had several vehicle design competitions that may lead to future vehicle designs.
American Electric Kurrent – Electric
Zenn NEV – Electric
ZAP! Alias – Electric
ZAP! X – Electric
Ford Escape Hybrid – Hybrid
Universal Electric Vehicle Spyder – Electric
Mullen L1X-75 – Electric/Hybrid
Phoenix SUV – Electric
* All Images Courtesy Respective Companies
Generally speaking, most of these cars are not well designed. Take the Tesla…based on the Lotus Elise, a striking and beautiful (dare I say over-designed) vehicle, yet it looks like it’s younger, less attractive and socially inept sister. Bland, and half-baked, even if the battery technology/performance is good. The only car of the group that looks well designed and compete is the Zap! image. Everything else looks like bad student work…the guys that didn’t get hired into the industry and are still trying. Very immature in general, and very forgetable.
Muy bonito carros,pero los perritos!,Soy una pobrecita y estoy busco uno hobre rico de Vera cruz por ayuder me van a compras,si eres de Vera Cruz? dar me una mensaje de posta electronica! mas pronto por favor!
I think the real issue is that it takes SKILL to design a successful car. I am not talking biker build off skill.
I am talking about 4 years design school, and a few years in the industry skill.
The unfortunate thing with electric cars is that most of them are being designed by non-traditional car designers, so they look………. Well less then good.
Even GM is trying to do something different, and when you just try to do something different for the hell of it it often looks contrived. AKA like a steaming pile of poop.
I like the Roadster, and many aspects of the Karma and Alias. I much prefer a design that gives me some emotional reaction, even a negative one as opposed to a tepid non-reaction. Imho, establishing a well defined design aesthetic for EV’s in general is an unnecessary pigeon hole, at least at this point. Just keep it fresh!