this post was submitted on 26 May 2026
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Why do all electric cars look alike?
I ma not a designer but I know I could easily come up with awesome and cool designs for cars, none of those designs would look like the manager and c-suite designed shit that is on the road now
Right? Pull out one of the concept cars that were impossibe to build in the 70s and use that as a base. Build something cool. What is wrong with Ferrari, Porsche etc? They sell their cars on emotion, not practicallity, why do they have the most boring EVs?
Must be the "car must vroom vroom" brain
Do you find the Taycan boring? And based on the reactions, this Luce is everything but 😉
Most do, which is why they don't sell.
Yes, it's a boring suv for middle aged dentists
The Taycan isn’t a SUV though
Probably to extend range. Electric cars are obese. They weigh a lot more than the same car with an ICE. An ICE car can just add a bigger fuel tank to increase the range by more than what the weight would take away, but electric cars can't do that. Adding a bigger battery would add more weight than the range it would give, ending in a net negative. So aero is one of the bigger factors they can try to make up for it, and that usually means everyone all copying the same peak efficiency shape of the Prius for the least amount of drag.
Constraints are package and cost, you are saying that adding battery cells decreases range, which is mental. EVs can cope very well with weight, but as you say if you want to move through air fast, you need low drag.
Adding battery cells is not as efficient for range as adding gas tank capacity is for range. Just like how old cars had severe parasitic power loss from air conditioning systems, power steering systems, and other belt driven accessories, EVs have the same problem but with weight. Adding battery cells can increase range, to a point, but it needs to be balanced with the weight and surface area that is being added to accomodate it.
Using my own '68 Ford as an example, a full tank of gas adds ~170 lbs of weight, with a 27 gallon tank (a gallon of gas weights ~6.3 lbs. I get ~15 mpg, so that's a range of ~405 miles, if I always drive optimally. My Ford's curb weight is 3,765lbs (that's the weight with all fluids filled but no driver or passengers).
Compare this to a Tesla, as AFAIK they have the best range of EVs currently. The Model S battery weighs ~1,200 lbs, which probably makes it the single heaviest component on the entire car including the chassis. It has pretty efficient electric motors at ~95 kWh, so the official EPA rating puts it at a range of ~395 miles, but it can also get up to ~405 miles with smaller wheels and more favorable driving conditions. The Tesla Model S curb weight is ~4,600lb, give or take ~150lbs depending on model year and trim.
~170 lbs compared to ~1,200 lbs is crazy weight for about the same range. Increasing battery density/size is not going to be nearly as efficient as increasing gas tank capacity. And that doesn't consider where the battery is going to go. Bigger battery means bigger footprint, if the car gets bigger that is more surface area, more drag and more weight, and therefore less range. Aero is a good place for EVs to optimize because of this. ICE cars also benefit, but they can afford less efficient aero in favor of aesthetic styling.
Ok, less efficient for sure, as an EV carries its own energy storage around for its entire life. Gas is pumped out of the earth, refined, carried all over the world, put into the Ford and then farted out in the atmosphere, each engine revolution. With 7 gas fillings you burn the same weight as 1 EV battery, which lasts around half a million miles (give or take…). Sure the weight an EV carries everywhere is as you say a big (big) hurdle, but with low center of gravity, acceptable range and fast charging when needed, I think is a very good tradeoff.
Furthermore, adding cells doesn’t always mean increase frontal surface area: you can make a car longer or stack modules under the back seats like this Ferrari does.
They don't necessarily weigh more, but they often do simply because they're all giant fucking trucks and SUVs. Look at the small and aerodynamic EVs with ~50kWh battery and you'll see that they weigh about the same as their ICE counterparts.