“Change like we’ve not seen in decades”—high-end auto designers go electric

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Change comes hard. And sometimes, it's slow. Until recently, no industry played closer to that model more than that of the automobile. Ever since the first series-produced cars of the 1900s placed the big internal combustion lump of iron at the front, the drive wheels at the back, and the passengers in the middle, the form factor of the automobile has stayed largely the same for 100 years. Variations have cropped up here and there-like rear-engine cars, front-drive cars with engines placed transversely, and the odd mid-engine car-but the reality for designers and engineers of the future's electric cars is more wide open now than in the prior 100 years.

Of course, there have been electric cars before. By 1912, for instance, 20 companies were in the electric car business, with more than 30,000 of them registered for street use in the US. So as we prepare ourselves for this latest incoming wave of viable, affordable, and practical modern electric cars, we wanted some big picture perspective. What does the drive for electric mean for design, engineering, and consumer perceptions?

Wayne Burgess is a long-time designer who's currently Jaguar's number-two man in charge of design. Likewise, Andreas Preuninger, head of GT car development at Porsche, has been around four-wheeled vehicles for quite a while. If anyone may have a clue what a renewed and seemingly genuine push for EVs will do to the vehicles we love, it's this type of industry lifer. After touching base with the duo recently, it's clear the coming changes in the name of better electric vehicles will impact cars for both driver and designer in ways that are and aren't immediately obvious to even the most dedicated petrolhead (err, batteryhead?).

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