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Why Don't Electric Cars Look Like the Future?

posted by janrinok on Sunday January 14 2018, @07:42AM   
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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Original Submission

• Re:You prefer blinding glare-inducing pinpoints? Re:You prefer blinding glare-inducing pinpoints? (Score: 3, Insightful) by maxwell demon on Monday January 15 2018, @07:00AM (1 child)

  by maxwell demon (1608) on Monday January 15 2018, @07:00AM (#622480) Journal

  It's not so much the total amount, but the directedness. A panel shines light in all directions. The reason for the normal lights' shape is that they send the light in a very directed way; most of the light goes down to the street.

  With undirected light emission, you either have too much light up to other's eyes, or too little light down to the street.

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

  Parent

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• No, it shines light in the desired direction. (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 15 2018, @07:26PM

  by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 15 2018, @07:26PM (#622673)

  A panel is composed of many tiny elements. Each can be designed to have a narrow beam, a wide beam, or a flattened beam. Put those together and you can get what you want.

  You can even get an beam that can be aimed without any moving parts. Simply install an excess of elements, all with narrow beams but facing different directions. You can install more elements than you have power to simultaneously operate.

  Why does everybody assume weird and awful properties for this form factor?

  Parent