Why designing an electric car isn't as easy as it appears - but they could still save the sedan as we know it

The transition to electric powertrains has provided the biggest opportunity for change since the invention of the automobile. Designers and engineers are no longer restricted by the demands of an internal combustion engine and instead have more freedom to create fresh looks and more spacious cars.

Or at least that has been the widely held belief - until now.

While EVs do provide more design flexibility in many respects, with smaller electric motors able to be packaged in different ways to an internal combustion engine, Alfa Romeo design director Alejandro Mesonero-Romanos has revealed there are still huge challenges for he and his peers.

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“People are wondering with electric cars, ‘Ok, now you have freedom because you have more space and less intakes.’ It’s not true, because we have even more constraints than ICE cars,” Mesonero-Romanos said.

He explained that these include the packaging of the motors and the associated cooling hardware, but the batteries are arguably the biggest challenge. They add approximately 110 to 130mm of height, which in-turn increases the centre-of-gravity of the car and typically requires the length of the wheelbase to be extended.

The longer wheelbase leads to a need for bigger wheels for visual balance. Which then becomes a challenge for the aerodynamics as you increase frontal area. The increased need for cameras and sensors for autonomous driving functions also has to be incorporated into the design.

On top of all this, Mesonero-Romanos is a believer that electric vehicles shouldn’t be styled to bring attention to their drivetrain and instead be true to the brand’s design ethos and heritage.

A battery adds approximately 110 to 130mm of height to an EV.

“Technology is not driving the looks. An Alfa Romeo will be an Alfa Romeo,” he said.

He expanded on this, specifically referencing BMW’s decision to create models like the i3 and i8 that were obviously and specifically EVs, a tactic the German brand has since abandoned.

“That means some years ago some brands, I think BMW, were signifying the electric vehicles by a design language that was specific for electric cars,” Alfa Romeo’s stylist said.

“I think this was a marketing exercise to say ‘Hey, I’m electric, I’m different from the others, buy me.’ It was ok five years ago, it’s not fine now. Why? First of all, in the end it’s fake… Secondly, all the cars in the future all the cars will be electric so if you want to differentiate yourself by being electric then it doesn’t make sense.”

The longer wheelbase leads to a need for bigger wheels for visual balance.

To that end, Mesonero-Romanos revealed some details of his plans for future Alfa Romeo EVs, which will incorporate design elements from the brand’s long history - including its iconic Scudetto grille - and it will remain a ‘little shield’ rather than grow in size like some other brands.

“The Scudetto is something that is unique and has always been unique since it was started to be applied in the ’30s, so this is something [that] will remain,” he confirmed.

“I fully agree with you, I don’t know if I’m right or not, but a little criticism with some of the grilles with the Germans - but also not Germans - we are getting into kind of a race to see who is bigger. We are not doing that. The Scudetto you can almost do the opposite, something beautiful and small. Don’t expect I’m going to do a caricature of a huge Scudetto with a numberplate inside - it’s not going to happen. ”

Another old design trend that Mesonero-Romanos wants to bring back is the so-called Coda Tronca or Kamm tail rear-end design. This concept of a steeply cut-off rear end is one that Alfa Romeo has used throughout its past but according to the designer, it has an aerodynamic benefit which makes it ideal for the company’s upcoming EVs. The first product of this will be the unnamed new small SUV due in 2024.

The iconic Scudetto grille will remain a ‘little shield’ rather than grow in size like some other brands.

“We will be using Coda Tronca in the future,” Mesonero-Romanos said.

“The first car will be the B-SUV, it will have a Coda Tronca, because it’s beautiful and when we took it to the wind tunnel, it [demonstrated] fantastic results to the point that you would even wonder yourself why Alfa Romeo ever abandoned it for a few years, because it’s our DNA.”

He added: “We look at our history, we play with our constraints and we try to find the right solutions. We try to find the right aesthetic answers for the technical problems, this is how we handle it.”

The switch to electrification is also set to extend the life of sedans despite the increasing popularity of SUVs, according to Alfa Romeo’s product planning boss, Daniel Guzzafame. He believes that, as Mesonero-Romanos laid out, many of the challenges of EV design - such as the height and aerodynamics - can be solved by a sedan or “low-roof car” as he prefers.

Mesonero-Romanos wants to bring back the so-called Coda Tronca or Kamm tail rear-end design.

“I think with BEV there is a future for what you’d call ‘low cars’ by the simple fact of aerodynamics,” Guzzafame said. “If you are in normal customer use, the aerodynamics, the drag, is accounting for two-thirds of the energy you spend… So the lower you can be, coupled with the better you can be in drag coefficient can get you there. The short answer is - yes.

“Then, what do we mean by sedan? If you think of the sedan of 15 years ago conceptually it’s very different to what the world thinks of as a sedan now. If you categorise the [Tesla] Model 3, which everybody thinks of as a sedan, it’s a very different car to the sedan of 15 years ago. The seating position is much higher, there’s much more room around you, the feeling of space. The practicality is different. Ingress and egress, because of the seating point, is different. Those are the things that people will most probably want.”