Weird cars are becoming the new normal - The Verge

Automakers are stuffing weird gimmicks into their cars and leaning on more outside-the-box designs in an effort to stay ahead of their rivals in the electrification race.

The Verge homepageThe Verge homepageThe VergeThe Verge logo./Tech/Reviews/Science/Entertainment/MoreMenuExpandThe VergeThe Verge logo.MenuExpandTranspo/Cars/Electric CarsWeird cars are becoming the new normalWeird cars are becoming the new normal / With brands struggling to maintain their identities in an age of silent electric cars with incredible performance, many are leaning into gimmicky features to find traction on the road aheadBy Tim Stevens

Share this storyThe Hyundai Ioniq 5, with its pixelated lights and evocative design, is part of a trend of weird cars that are trying to make a statement in the age of electrification. Photo by Andrew Hawkins / The VergeIt’s been a real WTF kind of year for car releases, new machines in new shapes with offbeat marketing leaning on gimmicky features that nobody asked for. Gimmicks are nothing new, but as I was pondering yet another incredibly quick, perfectly quiet EV, it occurred to me that I’ve been having an increasing number of head-scratching reactions to new cars over the past few years. 

Cars are, by my estimation, getting weirder on the whole. While an endless number of oddball models have come and gone over the decades, we’re presently awash in an incredible density of quirky gimmicks and outré styling exercises. Why? Because the looming wave of electrification is commoditizing many of the features traditional brands have historically leaned upon as differentiators. Now, they’re desperately striking out in bold new directions while there’s still time.

If there’s one brand typifying this oddball moment, it’s Hyundai

If there’s one brand typifying this oddball moment, it’s Hyundai. The company, and its sibling brands Kia and Genesis, have been really pushing the boundaries of good design for the past decade or so, yet somehow, the weirder their cars get, the better they look. Look at the headlights on the Hyundai Sonata, backlit chrome strips that run from the front bumper all the way up to the A-pillars. This is a heck of a statement, all the more daring given it lives on a mass-market car, one of the cheapest in the US.

https://www.theverge.com/2022/11/2/23434740/weird-cars-gimmicks-ev-hyundai-kia-genesis


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