[Reinhard]

Ever since the EVs started appearing on the stage, we have started seeing closed-off grilles on their faces in most cases. Its of course about looks & looks are completely subjective. So some will like them, some won't. I don't. Most of the EV versions of existing ICE cars look rather awkward from the front. As if their mouth is covered with a duct tape. A car held hostage.

Its not that the car doesn't need cooling when its an EV. Certainly there are enough components that need cooling and ventilation in an EV also. Why not retain the vented grilles that we have grown up watching right from the Ford Model T? There is no express need to block those faces anyway. In fact - vented grilles save many grams of plastic & input costs (I'm sure Maruti EVs will have vented grilles ).

Here are a few samples of conventionally powered cars vis-a-vis their EV counterparts from recent times. I feel the ICE variants look definitively better while the EVs look like after-thoughts (which they pretty much are in a way).

Volvo XC40

ICE



Recharge (EV)



Hyundai Kona

ICE/Hybrid



EV. No offence but I think this is the ugliest execution of a street legal car's face.




The MG eZS is an exception - where the EV has a pretty beautifully finished vented (I presume) grille just like the ICE counterpart also.

ZS Petrol



ZS EV




How can a thread be complete without a Tata Easter egg?
We have the Tata Nexon 2020. When launched together with the EV - the ICE Nexons actually came with closed off top half of the grille. First I thought if they mistakenly started installing EV fascia on ICE cars! Interesting implementation here since EV as well as ICE Nexons structurally look identical, which is great. The real cooling anyway is achieved through little gaps under the T logo and the large air-dam and cooling vents around the Bi/Tri-Arrow lower grille.

ICE



EV



Of course - there are exceptions in cases of ground-up EVs like the iconic TESLA-S and stablemates. They look fine. In future I guess as care designed as pure-blood EVs will have better aesthetics as designers pay more attention. Currently most EVs are built on top of what were ICE cars, so there are limitations to what the designers can imagine for differentiation.
Personally - I'd still really prefer that the cars have traditional / conventional faces even when we see the imminent shift to Electric Mobility within a decade's time. Grilles in our mind are a significant contributor of the car's personality. Remember how much we are annoyed by the large kidney grilles of the new BMWs? Anything IMO looks much better than these flat slabs upfront. What do other BHPians think about it? Or there are even more aspects to it - like some benefits of having a closed grille for EVs that trump looks (I can think of lesser drag = better range + low wind noise to start with).

(P.S. - All pictures - courtesy various posts and threads within TBHP.)

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the EVs section. Thanks for sharing!

EVs intentionally look a bit "different" for marketing + image purposes, and the fact that owners also want a differentiator. Similar to the green number-plates. There is no denying that driving an EV today has bragging rights. Also note that the examples you have listed above are ICE cars converted to EVs; they weren't EVs built from the ground up.

I think a lot of manufacturers carry off the grille-less look well, especially them Teslas. The Model S is almost a decade old now, but see it in person and the car looks absolutely astonishing:

Source

Some other EVs that have really managed the transition well:

Source


Source

Absolutely love what Rivian is doing!

Source

VW, being VW, will always get its styling right:

Source

[VKumar]

I believe that it has something to do with your drag coefficient and avoiding the dust from entering your system. Instead of thinking what electric cars don't have, let's think about what's there in IC engine equipped vehicles, and why it is there?

Air intake, cooling system, both of them need to be up front for IC engined cars (We know how happy the mid engined cars are in hot weather at city speeds). In an EV, you can drive it even on the surface of moon, the motor doesn't require the air as there is no ignition. With actual moving part with physical contact being only 2 bearings in the motor itself, and the driving gears; as everything else happens with electromagnetic energy, there is very less friction as compared to our IC engines, and of course, there are no blasts happening in a cylinder at a rate of X thousand per minute, and of course - no hot gases in the play too.

Cooling is mostly required in the battery pack, which is under your seating area in most of the cases. Again, which doesn't require you to have the air plumbing to be done from all the way up front.

Even for the likes of MG ZS, the design of the grille is same, but its a closed grille, else your charging point will be stuffed with dust, and I don't think one can clean that point off with a pressure wash too.

That said, if I don't need the grille for cooling, then why not completely remove the grille; hence achieve a better drag coefficient and save my entire system from the uninvited dust accumulation?

IF EVs came before IC engined vehicles, we would have been wondering why these IC engined cars have gaps up front and not the nice smooth sections. It's more like, "there is nothing pre-marital if you decide to not get married". Same way, "there would have been no front grills if IC engined vehicles never existed".

[vb-saan]

I think it is more to do with the aesthetic aspect to clearly differentiate EVs as the new era in motoring, and I like this new design language. As GTO mentioned, EVs done from scratch are pretty handsome machines – the Tesla Model 3 or Mustang Mach E are a few good examples.





I really like what VW has done with the ID.4 exteriors. As expected, their focus seems to be on timelessness rather than being quirky or futuristic.



The awkward / uninspiring looks comes in when an EV is derived from a regular car (to Hyundai Kona EV or the XC40 in the opening post). The Mercedes EQA looks to be another lame effort (when it comes to the looks and grille treatment).

[androdev]

Replacing the grille with a solid plastic contraption to highlight that it's an EV is the ugliest choice. Retaining the grille makes no sense except during the transition. I believe the best EV designs are yet to come. Sedan/Coupe are far easier to design to look pretty. I wonder how SUVs will turn out.

[lonetraveller89]

As long as grill less designs are implemented well, I see no reason why EVs should retain the grill. Since they have no functional use here, we might as well use the space for bringing in new and interesting design elements. One of the most exciting aspects of EVs has to be the unchartered worlds of aesthetics they could introduce us to. Let's face it, automobile designing in most of our modern ICE cars today is excessively derivative. So any kind of experimentation against this should be encouraged.

Although I agree that these experiments can sometimes get 'ugly' -



But beauty is subjective. Perhaps, they should check out how their elders did it -



An interesting read on the topic - I have no mouth but I must scream!

[landcruiser123]

Did we start having fake vestigial keyboards after full-touch screen phones became affordable? Nope. So, just a matter of time before we get used to seeing the grille-less design, which is here to stay.

Besides radiators, parts like alternators, power steering pump/motor, lead-acid battery, and the transmissions (some ATs have coolers too) get air-cooled in a conventional ICE car. With all there parts not there, why have the additional drag? Cooling needs for parts of EVs can be taken care of by the ducts and heat exchangers in the underbody side panels of the cars. The gains by removing the drag will significantly improve the performance & range of EVs.

Also, some EVs have a small storage in the front compartment.

[Turbohead]

I agree with VKumar.

It definitely has to do with drag coefficient. Having an open grille is similar to having open windows. It creates drag and wastes energy and potential range. The only vents you need are for cooling.

These are serious considerations for cars which needs substantial time to charge compared to their equivalent ICE competitors.

Also, it would reduce the work required to channel the air out properly to prevent 'lift'.

Aerodynamics can make or break a car. Ask Ferrari why they do the things they do with all those electronically controlled flaps.

[RavSam]

For a regular non-sports/supercar the grille is like its nose. It defines its character.

I do not like cars with such grille-less design. Least they can do is design it like a regular grille and slap a smooth transparent plastic covering on it for airflow.

Regular cars on becoming EVs without grill look like having a mouthful of toothpaste unable to spit.

May be they do it to show that they are electric cars deliberately. This is similar to having mobile cover for iPhones with a cutout for the apple logo.

[Thilak29]

Vents have no role in EV, we should move over them in the interest of better range and aesthetic choices.

Drag coefficient plays a significant role in deciding the range of EVs, hence voted NO.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by Reinhard

Recharge (EV)

Originally Posted by GTO

Also note that the examples you have listed above are ICE cars converted to EVs; they weren't EVs built from the ground up.

My God, now I know why you thought of this thread. The XC40 Recharge is bloody ugly! What a terrible job of covering up the grille. From a press release received last evening:

[Reinhard]

Originally Posted by vb-san

As GTO mentioned, EVs done from scratch are pretty handsome machines – the Tesla Model 3 or Mustang Mach E are a few good examples.
I really like what VW has done with the ID.4 exteriors. As expected, their focus seems to be on timelessness rather than being quirky or futuristic.

Originally Posted by RavSam

For a regular non-sports/supercar the grille is like its nose. It defines its character.

Right - I should have been a bit clearer in my OP.

I meant to ask - in the cars that we have today, that are being converted into EVs - why not do a better cosmetic job. Fake visual grilles - like JEEP COMPASS. With aerodynamic tweaks to ensure low drag, while retaining the visual balance of the car is what I'd prefer.

Like I mentioned in OP and also by others in posts - certainly as cars start getting designed ground up as EVs, they'll have much better faces with sleek faces that look gorgeous, like the Tesla S.

As for the VW cars - well they already designed the grilles so well, that their EV conversions are easy on the eyes & easy for the engineers too. Leave awesome designs to the Germans.

Originally Posted by Thilak29

Vents have no role in EV, we should move over them in the interest of better range and aesthetic choices.

This is not 100% right. There is plenty cooling required in EVs also. Motors, regen circuits, electronics around controllers, driving aids, air conditioning etc. Its just that the overall area of cooling vents may be reduced due to lack of a large radiator, intercooler and huge hot engine block burning fuel inside the bay. EVs still have cooling vents near the center / base of the bumper.

Originally Posted by GTO

My God, now I know why you thought of this thread. The XC60 Recharge is bloody ugly! What a terrible job of covering up the grille.

Exactly . You caught me with a smoking gun really. While I was annoyed by the Kona EV already since an year now - What Volvo presented really toppled me over. Didn't expect a botch-up like this from them.
The latest ICE XC40 looks so good and handsome. This plastered up EV face is comical.

[SS-Traveller]

There's always a grille. The heat exchange requirement of the air-conditioning system will always be there. It's just that the grille is smartly camouflaged as a little black chin below the bumper in most EVs.

Also, the frunk needs to be closed from the environment, so we can't really have a grille with perforations, can we? Whether a faux grille or a body-coloured plate replaces the ICE car's grille, is partly dictated by cost and partly by aerodynamics.

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by VKumar

IF EVs came before IC engined vehicles, we would have been wondering why these IC engined cars have gaps up front and not the nice smooth sections. It's more like, "there is nothing pre-marital if you decide to not get married". Same way, "there would have been no front grills if IC engined vehicles never existed".

First EVs and ICE cars looked similar - they were horseless carriages. They had a dashboard up front and engine in the back. The early renaults had engine in the front with radiator behind the engine creating the signature smooth and rather unusual shape. If it was not for Model T, perhaps renault`s design would have taken over, similar to why US cars have steering wheel on the left hand side.

[badtman]

Originally Posted by GTO

The XC60 Recharge is bloody ugly! What a terrible job of covering up the grille

The execution looks very bad, even aftermarket if I may say so. I made some mockups to see what it could have looked like.

#1 - Electric Blue Lining
#2 - Black Lining
#3 - Piano Black Cover