Domestic EV styling is too ugly, why Tesla can balance beauty and practicality?

First of all, let's make sure that the design of EVs is not really average. I think it's important to look at this issue from two perspectives. As a whole, there are some well-designed EVs out there, such as the first concept car from Byton, which was just released as I was writing this, and it's a good one, but it's not the only one that stands out.

But at the same time, there are plenty of not-so-good-looking products, such as the controversial Azera ES8, the first new car from Azera - despite being a benchmark for Tesla's products - which was a bit of a throwaway when it came to styling.

According to the report, the company also talked to a number of "Zhihu Da Shen" to explain its "styling" and "technical connotations". "The company's styling and technical connotations are also explained. Of course, that's beside the point. As for whether the ES8 is ugly, that's a matter of opinion. When and if one goes even further and expands the scope of EVs to include pure EVs launched by traditional car companies, then there are even more that aren't ugly.

So, from that perspective, there's really a preponderance of unattractive EVs. With that in mind, it's easier to expand on the next question. We have to look at this separately. For the higher-end EVs, it's the design concept that's the reason they don't look good.

Overall, high-end EVs such as Tesla and Byton have put a lot of emphasis on styling, but the question is how to break away from traditional styling concepts.

Automotive styling was refined as a separate work program in the 1950s, when General Motors took the lead. So the 1950s became an important watershed in the history of automobile design, as designers replaced engineers and cars became better looking. It's almost seventy years old now, too.

After more than seventy years of evolution, styling has been solidified on the traditional vehicle platform, specifically, on the platform architecture premised on the traditional internal combustion engine, the shape of the entire vehicle and the proportion of the car is limited to some of the rules and regulations. The entire styling system of the automobile is also developed within this framework.

When it comes to new energy vehicles, the entire vehicle styling system developed within the framework of the traditional combustion engine-based powertrain will inevitably have to face the challenge of breaking the framework.

It's clear that the core hard point that can limit the styling of an EV has changed from the cabin to the floor, which theoretically gives the existing styling system more room for imagination.

But in reality it won't be that easy, because as we've seen from the beginning of this article, the existing styling system is based on the traditional combustion-engine model, which has dominated the market aesthetic for nearly seven decades.

So the advantages of EVs can sometimes be a disadvantage, such as the grille design we mentioned earlier. Is this an important functional trim for traditional internal combustion models to be eliminated, or not?

But, right now, pure electric vehicles are looking for another styling breakthrough. As an epoch-making product, pure electric vehicles represent the future, and the most representative of the future is styling. This invariably puts invisible pressure on designers who have grown up within the framework of traditional vehicle design. In other words, it becomes a breakthrough for the sake of breakthrough.