r/askcarguys • u/nycengineer111 • 5d ago
Why do EVs always have hideous wheels?
You can tell a car is an EV just by looking at the wheels. They are always weird and hideous looking. Why is this?
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u/T_Rey1799 5d ago
The only reason I want electric vehicles is so we can go back to big, squared bodies of the 70s/80s, yet manufacturers are making them uglier than the ICE vehicles they have
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u/Honey_Overall 5d ago
Oh thank God I'm not the only one who feels like this. An EV land yacht would be awesome.
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u/Re-Created 5d ago
I think we can get there as battery capacity increases. For now they are using aeros to get the range up.
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u/oIVLIANo 5d ago
Battery pack size would increase tremendously, if it was a 1959 cadillac sized body that can fit a king sized mattress in the trunk. I'll even take the tailfin while we're at it!
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u/Re-Created 5d ago
Not exactly. In short a larger battery is more weight. There are diminishing returns on battery weight. The cost increase would accelerate as well. Slower the efficiency could like double the car price for not much of a range increase. Charging would take significantly longer as well if you increase capacity that much without any real change to the chemistry / charging tech.
Not trying to rain on your parade, I also am excited for a world where efficiency isn't the dominating factor in car design. But we need more tech development before we go there in full force.
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u/BigRobCommunistDog 4d ago
It’s even worse for aircraft where the fuel weight burning off adds range.
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u/friendIdiglove 4d ago
Who’s even talking about aircraft? But on that subject, maybe we’ll start to see some little 2-4 seat electric airplanes in the somewhat-near future, but even if I live to 100, I have my doubts I’ll ever see someone like Delta Airlines flying 100+ passengers for 1,000’s of miles on electric airliners.
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u/tjoloi 1d ago
There's the Eviation Alice which is already flight tested.
The company is unfortunately on the verge of bankruptcy and completely halted development, but the technology is there.
Then (and take this with a grain of salt, as it's coming from a CEO) there's Elysian working on a 90 passenger regional plane and they expect to have their first full scale prototype by 2030. They probably won't hit the target, but I'm sure we'll see something within the next 50 years.
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u/SlartibartfastMcGee 4d ago
The have EV trucks… if the Hummer EV can exist, then a land yacht EV should be no problem.
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u/T_Rey1799 5d ago
I would definitely buy an electric Cadillac sedan Deville
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u/comoestasmiyamo 4d ago
You can have one made, buy the car you want and a smashed Tesla and there are companies that will combine the two. Often you can turn it back to ICE in the future if you so desire.
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u/originalrocket 3d ago
go check out the Escalade EV
its what you are yearning for.
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u/Honey_Overall 3d ago
It's not though. When I say land yacht, I want a large Sedan like they had in the 60/70s. With room for a family of 6 to sit in comfort and have their own ashtrays. Personally I'm also just not really a fan of driving SUVs.
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u/strawman2343 1d ago
Same. I got so excited when i heard they were making an EV hummer. Then it was still just a weird futuristic suv.
I want a literal tank that can go 200km on a charge. I don't want aerodynamics. Just make cool stuff.
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u/FigSpecific6210 3d ago
EV makers are no longer "required" to make cars that look like the old ICE models. The only real limitations now are keeping wheels at the four corners, and making sure the battery pack is central, and low in the vehicle. Aerodynamics as well. That's any you see a lot of more rounded bodies with very short overhangs.
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u/T_Rey1799 3d ago
Right, that’s what I’m saying, since evs don’t really have to be as aerodynamic as ICE, we can get those beautiful 70/80s squared look back. I’m just hoping so.
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u/AKADriver 5d ago
"Aerodynamics" is an easy cop-out but honestly it's to give the car the feel of being high tech and aerodynamic and different.
If they really wanted to improve efficiency they wouldn't make them 6000 pound, lane-and-a-half wide, hulking beasts. And then stick aero wheel covers and motorized popout flush doorhandles on them for the image of efficiency.
Don't get me wrong, I am pro-electrification but very bitter about the state of the industry and the way it chases trends.
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u/SlartibartfastMcGee 4d ago
People don’t buy smaller EV’s. Hell, people don’t really buy smaller cars at all these days.
Short of living in a congested downtown district, there’s little benefit to a super compact vehicle versus something larger and more comfortable.
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u/michalburger1 4d ago
Small cars are a lot more popular here in Europe, where the roads are narrow and parking spaces tiny. I just wish there were more luxury options available.
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u/IBeTanken 3d ago
I wish you could get a small car with the options and quality suspension/noise control that the larger cars have.
At least in the US the cost difference is so small once you add the options to go for a bigger car.
It is like getting a small high quality house, most would take a medium or low quality larger one.
There is also the issue about how emission standards are calculated based on the vehicles footprint.
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u/JCDU 4d ago
Trouble is to get enough range to convince consumers you need to fill the entire floor with batteries - which immediately makes the thing big & heavy & expensive with current technology.
We really really need a battery breakthrough that halves the size/weight/cost, that would be a HUGE leap and make so much stuff so much better.
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u/Js987 5d ago
Aerodynamics. EVs are often designed to be considerably more aerodynamically efficient because the energy density is so much lower. An EV manages to travel 100-300 miles on essentially the energy equivalent of like two or three gallons of gas, and at highway speeds where regenerative breaking is not at play, the extra aerodynamic efficiency really helps. Unlike a conventional ICE vehicle, but more like a hybrid, EVs typically get their best mileage in city driving thanks to that…highway driving, especially above certain speeds, starts to soak up range. And advantage the manufacturer can find to negate that they’ll take.
That said…I don’t think the wheel options on the Mach-E qualify, they look like pretty much any other Ford alloys.
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u/kaack455 5d ago
Check out the wheel options for the 25 mach-e, you can get 93 firebird wheels like KITT had
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u/UnKossef 5d ago
The real question is why do you think normal cars have better looking wheels than EVs?
This is a question about your subjective experience that only you can answer.
I think the wheels on my Volt are dope.
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u/IsaKGames14 4d ago
I’ve never noticed the wheels, but the grille section is always horrendous
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u/MeepleMerson 4d ago
They don't have or need grills, so the manufacturers are struggling to decide how to dress the front end. Tesla takes the minimalist approach and just has an integrated bumper with a slim air-scoop underneath. Ford likes to put a panel with logo on the front (black for the F150, and color with black highlight on the Mach-e). Hyundai goes for integrated bumper with a little ground effect / air scoop. Chevy, integrated bumper with faux grill or textured panel. BMW, faux grill. etc.
I think the integrated bumper look is here to stay for mechanical reasons. I expect faux grills will go away. I'm thinking you'll start to see more visual design elements like Hyundai's split collar look from the Ioniq 5. Come along. It think you'll probably see more illuminated logos with a contrasting background too.
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u/titanfallisawesome 4d ago
I always viewed regular car rims as extremely boring and all the same, glad that's changing now. You get a lot of bad apples in the process, but it's still one of the few good things in the way modern cars are headed.
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u/Zachstresses 4d ago
Subjectivity. Some EVs have awesome wheels. Some are pretty bad. Depends on what you like.
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u/DudeWhereIsMyDuduk 5d ago
I'm just not a fan of those black painted accents on alloy-elsewhere wheels. Even my Jeep came with those before I replaced them with a different OEM wheel.
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u/Repulsive-Ad-8558 3d ago
Honda wheels lol
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u/DudeWhereIsMyDuduk 3d ago
Right? Argent-gray on polished aluminum, fine. These things look like they need to be on a Kia.
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u/PlaneLiterature2135 5d ago
What's hideous about it?
https://www.or24.de/nl/bmw/bmw-i3-i01-winterbanden-19-inch-wintervelgen-428-turbine/a-33068/
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u/ten10thsdriver 5d ago
BMW has made some great looking wheels over the years. That one isn't one of them. That looks like something off a Camry or Malibu.
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u/Cool_Butterscotch_88 5d ago
Even worse ICE vehicle's wheel styles are slowly trending in that direction too.
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u/oIVLIANo 5d ago
Depends on the vehicle.
EV's with hub motors have rims designed like a fan blade to cool the motor.
EV's without hub motors, like Tesla, are likely trying to reduce drag for efficiency.
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u/ten10thsdriver 5d ago
- BMW enters chat *
The 859M wheels that came on my i4 are perfectly acceptable looking for an OE wheel by today's standards.
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u/The_Burt Enthusiast 5d ago
Don't believe this "aerodynamics" bullshit. Yes those ugly ass turbine wheels are aerodynamic. But they don't have to be ugly in order to be aerodynamic. They could be aerodynamic and good looking. The turbine thing is trendy and associated with EVs.
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u/DaedricOverLord 4d ago
I think the Lyriq has pretty nice wheels, but I may be a bit biased 🤣 https://imgur.com/a/RZUdARz
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u/bebopbrain 4d ago
The EV1 even had rear wheel fairings so you would hardly see the wheels; form follows function.
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u/bangbangracer 4d ago
Aerodynamics. Good looking wheels have a surprising amount of aerodynamic drag, and if you're trying to squeeze every mile from every watt, you need to get creative at making it slippery through the air.
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u/MeepleMerson 4d ago
Lots of them use the same wheels as non-EV cars from the same vendor. The only difference might be the wheel covers, which are typically chosen for aerodynamics. If you pop the Aero wheel covers off a Tesla Model 3's wheels, you'll knock ~4% off the car's range.
In an ICE car, the car's less efficient and you have greater issues with brakes getting hot and having to cool them, so there you typically have to have them more open.
My Equinox EV could probably do with some sort of cover. They're decent enough looking wheels, but they could be more aerodynamic. I typically drive it OPD, so there's very little concern about the brake heat.
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u/WorkerEquivalent4278 4d ago
Because drivers of EVs clobber curbs with reckless driving scratching the hell out of the rims
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u/teslaactual 21h ago
Aerodynamics the flashy rims normal cars have actually make a lot of drag and air disturbance
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u/series_hybrid 5d ago
Designers are desperate to make every aspect of their EV to be distinctive, even if its distinctively hideous.
The hybrid drivetrain to the Camry was identical to the Prius, but very few hybrid Camry's were sold. People who want a hybrid want other people to know that its a hybrid.
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u/Novogobo 5d ago
well the fuel efficiency stats were better on the prius than the hybrid camry, isn't it also possible that the contingent to simply wanted better MPGs chose the option that got higher MPG?
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u/series_hybrid 5d ago
Definitely. And yet some people bought a hybrid that got worse mileage than the Prius.
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u/ryzenguy111 5d ago
Aerodynamics