A interesting design motif that is coming into question due to the burgeoning Electrical Vehicle (EV) is the functionality of the ‘bonnet’. Centering the engine over the front axel of the vehicle puts the most weight in the nose of the car to ensure the best power transfer to the wheels. How I understand it is the weight of the combustion engine, helps to counteract the inertia of the vehicle. Electric motors are smaller than the norm, and seemed to be better suited to the rear axil, some with one per axil and some talk about one per wheel. This may have to do with the batteries weighing in at 1,000+ lbs and the motor itself weighing around 70 lbs. So the power source becomes the heaviest component, with an added bonus for different organization based on engineering needs; allowing for a low spread out power source.

Right now this new power source + motor organization is butting heads with the combustion engine aesthetic. Meaning these big hulking masses in front of the driver is now no longer needed. Doing away with the need for arguable one of the more iconic elements of car: the grill. Often a very common identifier or branded object, in the movie Cars it is transformed into the mouth, highlighting how much of a personality each grill has. Tesla chose to just erase it from the drawing and just keep the shape, Other companies opting to do differently but across the board the “grills” are getting smaller.

Which leaves with an hood without and engine and no need for a grill, easiest thing to do is to turn it into storage. Which has been up until now something only reserved for high end rear European cars with rear mounted engines. This is all well and good, for the sake of aerodynamics and the need for storage space. With EVs the chassis are capable of holding all the necessary parts. Almost making it a mobile platform with a car body dropped on top. With no actual need for common the profile strokes that are so common in automotive design, bump for the engine, a bubbled area for the driver with a long slop backwards for visual symmetry and storage.

What I am looking at now is how designers will evolve the aesthetic of the shape of the car itself but also where does safety fit into the drawings. Something that is common on semi trucks is that the driver is mounted directly over the engine with an almost flat face of the vehicle, allowing the driver to peer forward and actually see their bumper. A design trend I believe that will become more and more common. Something that can bee seen with the Canoo trucks and cars.

My questions are with this configuration what are the safety standards? By removing the hood we loose the crumple zone or the crash pillow it used to be. With the increase of smart cars will we need the crumple zones? where are the air bags in this setup?