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Why Don't Electric Cars Look Like the Future?

posted by janrinok on Sunday January 14 2018, @07:42AM   Printer-friendly
from the you-can't-handle-the-future dept.

Phoenix666 writes:

Sure looks a lot like your father's Oldsmobile...

Electric cars were supposed to be the future – or at least look like it. So now they're here, why do they still look like ordinary petrol and diesel cars and not dazzling props from a science fiction film.

Before they hit the market and became relatively mainstream, many imagined (or at least, hoped) that electric cars would resemble the Light Runner from Tron: Legacy. After all, without the need for an internal combustion engine, an exhaust system and a fuel tank, electric car designers should have the creative freedom to rip up the rule book and create some truly eye-catching vehicles.

But this hasn't really happened. Park a Renault Zoe next to a Renault Clio, for example, and compare the two. While there are subtle differences and styling cues that suggest the Zoe is electric and the Clio isn't, the overall body form is strikingly similar. In fact, the Zoe is assembled on the same production line as the Clio and Nissan Micra.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 14 2018, @02:02PM (6 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 14 2018, @02:02PM (#622176)

    Electric cars could be very quiet. In some places they want to add noise so it sounds like a fuel engine while complaining about noise pollution from cars.

    Still waiting for the day where cars are taxed for every decibel over a specified limit.

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by JoeMerchant on Sunday January 14 2018, @03:12PM (5 children)

    by JoeMerchant (3937) on Sunday January 14 2018, @03:12PM (#622187)

    taxed for every decibel over a specified limit.

    Keep waiting, Harley riders vote too.

    --
    🌻🌻 [google.com]

    • (Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Sunday January 14 2018, @06:24PM (2 children)

      by maxwell demon (1608) on Sunday January 14 2018, @06:24PM (#622226) Journal

      Harleys don't count as cars, do they?

      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.

      • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Sunday January 14 2018, @06:30PM (1 child)

        by JoeMerchant (3937) on Sunday January 14 2018, @06:30PM (#622228)

        A Harley does count as a motor vehicle, I think it would be pretty hard to pass a law giving anything on less than 4 wheels a break for noise regulation.

        --
        🌻🌻 [google.com]

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 15 2018, @09:13AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 15 2018, @09:13AM (#622496)

          Why?

          Over here, motorcycle buyers pay a lot less taxes than cars. At one point I considered getting a drivers license for a motorcycle and checked the prices. I could get a brand new Hayabusa for the same price I paid for an 11 year old Toyota MR2.

    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by dry on Monday January 15 2018, @03:31AM (1 child)

      by dry (223) on Monday January 15 2018, @03:31AM (#622402) Journal

      Around here, a lot of Harleys are actually illegal noise wise. It seems to be a hard law to enforce as it is hard to measure the sound in such a way that it stands up in court.

      • (Score: 3, Insightful) by JoeMerchant on Monday January 15 2018, @03:59AM

        by JoeMerchant (3937) on Monday January 15 2018, @03:59AM (#622419)

        It seems to be a hard law to enforce as it is hard to measure the sound in such a way that it stands up in court.

        Probably because the judge also rides a modded Harley.

        --
        🌻🌻 [google.com]