Mercedes' design boss: traditional design doesn't work for EVs

Friday, 17 September 2021

Mercedes-AMG has unleased its first proper EV since the super-limited SLS Electric Drive.

Mercedes-Benz’s design boss, Gordon Wagener, has an issue with EVs.

Well, sort of – it’s more of an issue with how EVs are designed. Well, sort of again – specifically, he thinks electrification makes the traditional three-box sedan look bad.

The three-box sedan is basically what every kid draws when you ask them to draw a car. There’s an obvious bonnet or front area, a cabin for passengers, and a boot, making three boxes. Fastbacks are still broadly three-box designs, although it’s a bit more blurred.

The designer of the Mercedes-Benz EQS doesn’t think traditional sedan design works with EVs.

Speaking with Top Gear, Wagener said that “electrification will kill the three-box sedan (saloon) for several reasons. Aero is one. Secondly, with a six-inch battery pack a three-box sedan simply doesn’t look good, it looks s…. You have to do something that visually digests the height.'

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The Mercedes-AMG EQS 53 breaks up the swoopy roofline with a spoiler but it’s still pretty egg-shaped.

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Meanwhile, the BMW i4 still uses a distinct three-box design and looks good as well.

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You can see that attitude in Mercedes’ EVs, like the EQS or EQE. There’s barely one box to spot, let alone three. The bonnet flows into the windscreen and roof, which tapers right back to the edge of the boot. It seems more aero-designed than anything else, which helps EVs achieve better range.

Wagener went on to say that he isn’t in favour of other new EVs not really having a grille: “they’re faceless front ends, a bit anonymous.”

“They’re all very much alike. Do they look aggressive? No. They want to look more like a supercomputer on wheels.

“Maybe as driving becomes more regulated, and when the car becomes the driver, it has to look more like a computer and less like an aggressive animal or so.

“However, you do need a certain amount of wedge in the headlights, and so on. It’s a lot of physiognomics, you know – facial expressions, or body sculpture in the car that makes it similar to humans. And that’s something that doesn’t change.”

That might be somewhat true with regard to, say the Tesla Model 3, but other electric sedans like the BMW i4 certainly have a grille and a face. And it still retains the three-box shape, while looking good at the same time.

But you can’t argue that the Mercedes-Benz EQ range doesn’t have a distinct identity thanks to its fluid, smooth design.