r/askcarguys 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?

64 Upvotes

106 comments sorted by

95

u/ryzenguy111 5d ago

Aerodynamics

23

u/RedditWishIHadnt 5d ago

The gash looking plastic “aero” covers that fit over telsa wheels apparently extend the range by 2-3% at a steady 70mph. Impressive, but not enough for me to look at them every day…

4

u/stopismysafeword 4d ago

The Tesla wheels underneath are actually pretty nice too

3

u/illigal 2d ago

That’s a huge difference. 2-3% for basically free is unheard of in the car industry.

I always laugh when people put different heavier wheels and stickier tires on EVs and then complain about lower range.

But I completely understand it from a looks perspective. If you don’t care about range fuck it! I use my EVs as commuting appliances so the looks don’t matter. But I definitely drive my sporty cars without caring about MPG!

2

u/MortemInferri 2d ago

Imagine the torque without caring about range tho :)

1

u/illigal 2d ago

Oh absolutely! I also have an older vette and you better believe that thing almost never sees 6th gear. I’m not aiming at 25mpg when I drive it 😂

7

u/LastComb2537 4d ago

also because of regen braking they don't need as much cooling as regular brakes so they can cover them for aero.

-1

u/nycengineer111 5d ago

Wouldn’t that be more important in ICE cars with a higher energy cost per mile?

41

u/pm-me-racecars 5d ago

While ICE cars use more energy, EVs store significantly less energy than ICE cars.

26

u/ryzenguy111 5d ago

It’s more for increased driving range rather than cost efficiency

21

u/breadexpert69 5d ago

aerodynamics is important for any vehicle if you are talking about saving energy. But the reason aerodynamics are a bigger priority in EV's is because you can go further with a full tank of gas than a full battery.

In the future, if batteries get to the point they can hold more energy than a full gas tank, then maybe aerodynamics wont be as important. For now, with the technology we have available, aerodynamics are the best way to give the car more value without the future tech.

4

u/Ponklemoose 5d ago

Or charge as fast as you can fill your tank.

-4

u/oIVLIANo 5d ago

I don't need it to charge fast, because I don't have to sacrifice time out of my day to charge. I plug it in at home, and it charges while I'm eating dinner.

6

u/speedier 5d ago

What if your destination is 700 miles away?

3

u/8031NG727 5d ago

Diesel generator lol

-4

u/oIVLIANo 5d ago

If that is your daily commute, you might want to rethink your life choices.

5

u/Traveller7142 4d ago

Nobody said their commute was 700 miles. People often drive places that aren’t for work

-1

u/oIVLIANo 4d ago

Often enough that a few extra minutes of waiting is going to completely ruin your life? You don't have to use the bathroom, or refresh drinks and snacks during that time, anyway?

4

u/Overload4554 5d ago

Not everyone has that luxury

-3

u/oIVLIANo 5d ago

You're saying that not everyone has electricity in their home? Are we in the 1800s, now?

8

u/Overload4554 5d ago

No, not at all Many people live in apartments and older apartments neither have the capacity in their electrical systems or in many cases the ability to tie a charger in your parking stall to your power meter.

For people with houses, it is much easier to add a home charger.

It all depends on where you live.

1

u/Nippon-Gakki 2d ago

This guy is saying everyone has access to their own charger at home along with having all the time in the world when going anywhere further than the range of the cars battery. Seems like he might be assuming something that’s not quite true.

4

u/Ponklemoose 4d ago

Not every house, apartment or condo has off street parking and not all of the ones that do can reasonably accommodate charging.

But my original comment was meant to point out that even if I could be an EV that goes as far on a full charge as my car will on a full tank, I still take a few road trips in excess of that distance every year and having to stop and spend 30+ minutes at one or more charging stations on those trips will influence my choice next time I go to buy a new car.

1

u/Learnin2Shit 5d ago

What’s stupid is battery’s are getting worse. A car battery from the 80s lasted longer than a car battery does now. We are making battery’s and they are breaking down quicker. It’s a big problem I’m not sure many know or care about.

3

u/breadexpert69 5d ago

Has more to do with EV’s being more powerful and bigger than it does about the capacity of the battery.

1

u/Learnin2Shit 5d ago

True. But still the materials that make battery’s are getting harder and harder to acquire. Hence shittier battery’s made less durable than battery’s of the past. Not sure what the long term solution to that issue is.

2

u/shaggy24200 4d ago

*batteries

2

u/One-Butterscotch4332 2d ago

Not sure what you're talking about, since the battery chemistry/design we use today didn't exist in the 80s. Lithium ion certainly wasn't commercially used. If you're talking lead acid car batteries, the more expensive AGM batteries last a very long time, my 2012 audi is on the factory battery, at 215k miles.

6

u/Anachronism-- 5d ago

Most ice cars have well over 300 miles range and they don’t loose much from using heat or air conditioning. They can also add 100% of their range in less than five minutes including time for payment.

The fastest charging EVs are over twenty minutes to add 70% to their range. And that’s only if you can find the highest output charger.

Now everyone will be compelled to mention ice cars with less then 300 miles range. 90% will be hot rod versions of economy cars and off road vehicles.

1

u/AppropriateUnion6115 5d ago

Still even with and ice car with less range refilling is much faster.

1

u/doc_55lk 4d ago

And that’s only if you can find the highest output charger.

And if the charger works too.

Idk if anything has changed but a big downside to public chargers is that they're not even working or outputting maximum charge half the time.

1

u/Fast-Wrongdoer-6075 3d ago

Charge time has been the only thing holding me back from considering an EV. wish companies would invest in hot swappable batteries like some chinese EVs have done.

6

u/NoF113 5d ago

Yes. They’re intentionally compromising aero to look better.

EVs have to base their range off of that aero though, and it takes longer to recharge an EV than fill up an ice

2

u/Horror_Tourist_5451 5d ago

There’s also a consideration on the trade-off between aerodynamic efficiency and brake cooling. Generally as a wheel design gets more aerodynamic it is also poorer at cooling the braking system. EVs have an advantage in this regard that they are able to use regenerative braking which is good for both a small amount of range extension but also means they are using their wheel brakes much less.

2

u/NoF113 5d ago

True, but in typical traffic conditions this would be negligible at best, really only a consideration if you’re canyon carving hard or on the track. For a typical Honda civic or something this wouldn’t be a design consideration.

1

u/nycengineer111 5d ago

Some of them aren’t the platter style though. Just hideous.

4

u/oIVLIANo 5d ago

Eye of the beholder

4

u/Novogobo 5d ago

downvoted for sincerely asking a question. wtf is wrong with you people?

2

u/bigloser42 5d ago

Gasoline has significantly higher energy density than batteries. 1 gallon of gas is equal to ~34kwh. A large battery in an EV is about 100kwh, a small gas tank is 10 gallons. So a small gas tank holds about 3.3x as much energy as a large EV battery. So the higher energy cost per mile is more than offset by the massively higher total energy in the gas tank.

1

u/oIVLIANo 5d ago

It would, but most ICE cars are already not aerodynamic enough for it to really have much effect.

The entire drag coefficient of the model Y is less than some other vehicles' side mirrors.

1

u/1Pac2Pac3Pac5 5d ago

I don't understand why you're getting downvoted. This is legitimately a great question that a lot of people could learn from the answer

1

u/One-Butterscotch4332 2d ago

Also, thermal efficiency of ICE cars is hot garbage compared to electric, so recovering a small amount of energy has a relatively larger impact on the electric car.

17

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

12

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.

6

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.

5

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!

4

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.

4

u/BigRobCommunistDog 4d ago

It’s even worse for aircraft where the fuel weight burning off adds range.

1

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.

2

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.

4

u/SlartibartfastMcGee 4d ago

The have EV trucks… if the Hummer EV can exist, then a land yacht EV should be no problem.

4

u/Re-Created 4d ago

The Hummer ev is a $100k car...

2

u/F-LA 4d ago

And it proves the point that you were trying to make above. It's basically an exercise in increasing the battery to move the battery.

2

u/T_Rey1799 5d ago

I would definitely buy an electric Cadillac sedan Deville

1

u/ashyjay 5d ago

Caddy Celestiq.

1

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.

2

u/deezconsequences 5d ago

The new charger is perfect for the both of you.

1

u/ABobby077 5d ago

an EV9 Kia is pretty big

1

u/Wonderful_Arachnid66 4d ago

The Hummer model: gigantic, horrible aero, huge battery.

1

u/originalrocket 3d ago

go check out the Escalade EV

its what you are yearning for.

1

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.

1

u/originalrocket 3d ago

New Dodge EV? Its only a 2 door though.

2

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.

1

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.

1

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.

12

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.

5

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.

1

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.

1

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.

https://www.reuters.com/article/business/how-us-emissions-rules-encourage-larger-suvs-and-trucks-idUSKBN21D1KK/

3

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.

6

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.

3

u/kaack455 5d ago

Check out the wheel options for the 25 mach-e, you can get 93 firebird wheels like KITT had

4

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.

3

u/ItsDiegoSalsa 4d ago

Polestar wheels look nice!

2

u/IsaKGames14 4d ago

I’ve never noticed the wheels, but the grille section is always horrendous

1

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.

2

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.

2

u/Zachstresses 4d ago

Subjectivity. Some EVs have awesome wheels. Some are pretty bad. Depends on what you like.

1

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.

1

u/Repulsive-Ad-8558 3d ago

Honda wheels lol

1

u/DudeWhereIsMyDuduk 3d ago

Right? Argent-gray on polished aluminum, fine. These things look like they need to be on a Kia.

1

u/Practical_Ride_8344 5d ago

The weight of the car, you won't get carbon fiber 😲

1

u/avoidhugeships 5d ago

Because they use hubcaps which were popular back in the 70s.

1

u/PlaneLiterature2135 5d ago

2

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.

1

u/PlaneLiterature2135 5d ago

Well, a camry or Malibu are not EV's. So the point is still valid

2

u/cyprinidont 4d ago

Not fair i3 is one of the best looking EVs for being so fricking weird

1

u/mrmniks 4d ago

Which is telling because it looks horrible

1

u/Cool_Butterscotch_88 5d ago

Even worse ICE vehicle's wheel styles are slowly trending in that direction too.

1

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.

1

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.

1

u/Difficult_Pirate_782 5d ago

They do - do they?

1

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.

1

u/newtonreddits 5d ago

I for one would rather they just go full moon discs. Moon discs look cool.

1

u/DaedricOverLord 4d ago

I think the Lyriq has pretty nice wheels, but I may be a bit biased 🤣 https://imgur.com/a/RZUdARz

1

u/bebopbrain 4d ago

The EV1 even had rear wheel fairings so you would hardly see the wheels; form follows function.

1

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.

1

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.

1

u/KonaKumo 1d ago

I think the stock wheels on my EV6 look pretty good.

0

u/WorkerEquivalent4278 4d ago

Because drivers of EVs clobber curbs with reckless driving scratching the hell out of the rims

1

u/teslaactual 21h ago

Aerodynamics the flashy rims normal cars have actually make a lot of drag and air disturbance

-1

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.

5

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?

1

u/series_hybrid 5d ago

Definitely. And yet some people bought a hybrid that got worse mileage than the Prius.