There is am amazing wealth of design language that could be used for electric cars, but for some reason, most manufacturers seem to land between "metabolic syndrome power ranger" and "criminally battered emoji".
To me, it looks like shares a lot of cues with a Kia Soul.
For years and years, I thought that the Soul was a nearly unspeakably ugly vehicle. (Not as bad as a Pontiac Aztek, but we don't talk about Azteks.)
But due to circumstances, I got to spent a few months driving one on a regular basis. That changed my perception enough that I can talk about it.
The Soul had a feeling of lightness that is unusual in even actually-light vehicles. It felt stiff, like the unibody was very rigid and that left the real work to be done by the suspension (as is right and proper). It was practical: The shit in the back folded down flat-enough to spend a long evening at a drive-in movie with someone rather close, or to go car-camping with them for a weekend and use it as a bail-out "the rain happened, and then the tent blew away" plan.
Instead of associating that shape with being simply ugly, I instead began associating it with being quirky, efficient, flexible, and rather fun.
YMMV. The form of the EV3 doesn't turn me off at all -- not even a little bit.
(I probably won't ever buy one -- despite my very positive time driving a Soul, I'm still a fan of vehicles that are either much more compact or which are much bigger and more utilitarian -- but it's probably a good fit for lots of folks. If shape were the only concern, I would support an SO's decision to buy one if they felt it was a good fit for them.)
Don't start me on the Range Rover Evoque, which always reminds me of a Kia Soul at two to three times the price.
That car blows me away. It appears bulbous, expensive, paradoxically small in cargo space and utility yet large in appearance. It's got that subaru-outback style plastic trim (why does every vehicle have this??) which giving it a poseur outdoorsy look, but with a grille so large and paint so shiny that nobody could be fooled into thinking it has ever left incorporated city limits. A tree has never been reflected in its paint. It's curved like one of those bumblebee airplanes whose radial engine is larger in diameter than the fuselage is long -- and I believe -- since those airplanes fly -- that they do a better job cutting through the air than this thing.
BMW copied them because they sell well apparently. I will never understand.
https://media.renault.com/r17-electric-restomod-x-ora-ito-th...
https://www.hyundai-n.com/en/models/rolling-lab/n-vision-74....
While I'm certainly not a fan of this 'genre' of car design, I don't find this one any more offensive than all the other cars it is similar to.
(•) A knockoff of that also horrible Land Rover Range Rover design with the narrow and rising window line
They could make it half the size and remove $10k from the price, but they don’t seem to want that.
If you want a vehicle that's $10K cheaper then the manufacturer will have to cut a lot of the comfort and safety features that US consumers have come to expect. Those who want cheap vehicles just buy used.
Try "are mandated by regulators".
People keep bringing this up.
The massive size of American-market cars is thanks to regulations introduced by the Obama administration.
They effectively outlawed small cars.
Plenty of people would love to be buy a modernized take on an 80s or 90s car, but they literally can't be made or sold in the US.
I live in Japan, and have a Kei from maybe the early 2000s? My only complaint is that the A/C is like being coughed on by an asthmatic penguin, because otherwise, I absolutely love that car, precisely because it's like driving a Honda from the 1980s. Lots of glass, low beltline, all the rest.