Who are these idiots designing future cars?

[timk225]

I don't like the design of all these new concept cars coming out. They are all pretty much the same. Giant rims, tires with sidewalls an inch high, a huge flat non-grille in the front, etc.

Here's an example. These aren't the most extreme drawings I've seen, but they are still pretty bad:

Toyota unveils images of upcoming all-electric cars, accelerates EV plans by 5 years - Electrek

I think it's mainly a bunch of art students who blew $100,000 on a really expensive degree that is pretty much useless unless you become the next Picasso, so they have to justify whatever auto design job they were able to get by making these crazy looking drawings.

 

[SSedan]

Concepts rarely resemble production much, it goes both ways awesome concepts are dumbed down by the time production hits.

On the art students you just described most of our higher education system, you can get a ivy league law degree without taking a class on the Constitution..........it is a scam that makes Maddoff look like an amateur. Thing is the degrees that teach few actual skills do get people past the HR department.

 

[TampaRich]

The same idiots that designed the previous generation of electric cars and failed miserably.

 

[DanCar]

The "idiots" are trolling. Their goal is to get people to comment / free marketing, in which they have succeeded.

 

[DanCar]

What Toyota's next EVs will look like -- and why
Quotes:
The display of life-sized clay concepts, in earthy gold and bronze hues, is the clearest sign yet of what Toyota envisions for the more than 10 EVs it plans to launch in the early 2020s.
The new EV platform will be able to accommodate everything from a three-row SUV or a sporty sedan to a small crossover or a boxy compact...
Toyota now expects to get half of its global sales — or roughly 5.5 million vehicles — from electrified models by 2025. Full EVs are expected to account for less than 1 million of the total.

 

[Saghost]

Figuring out the right amount of sidewall is interesting. Part of the reason we've seen the big race to low profile tires is looks - but only part. The rest is suspension design.

When you have a big balloon tire, the tire itself eats up a lot of the variation in the pavement before passing it on to the car. That's good for smooth ride - but it'll also compress the same way when you turn, causing body roll and weight transfer and eating in to grip.

By using lower profile tires, more of the absorption happens in the suspension, where careful design and adaptive elements can separate the smooth ride from the turning feel/performance. That's why the trend towards lower profile tires happened in the performance and grand touring genres of cars a few decades ago IMHO.

But if you go too far, then the tire runs out of room to move in the face of a pothole or road debris, and blows out or allows rim damage.

I like tight handling as much as the next guy, but living with horrible roads and no spare tire, Tesla's base rims with the 45 profile tires are about as far as I'm comfortable with right now.