Futuristic Electric Vehicles

author: FutureCar Staff    

When an automaker starts designing a brand new electric vehicle, it can make it look a lot like the combustion cars that we're used to, or it can completely ignore established trends and create something unusual. There are more EVs with conventional designs than those that mark a radical departure from the norm, and it's worth highlighting those models that break with tradition.

Here is our selection of the coolest-looking futuristic EVs that you can buy or are just around the corner.

1. Aptera Solar Car

The Aptera two-seater, three-wheeler solar EV was designed with a clear philosophy of form following function, with a strong emphasis on making the vehicle as aerodynamic and lightweight as possible. It has to be one of the strangest and most futuristic presences on the road, with its smooth, flowing lines and jet fighter-like glass canopy. Its design has already been signed off on, so this is what the production model will look like when it hits the road in early 2024, with prices starting at $25,900.

2. BMW iX

BMW has been the source of some controversial car designs, and the iX electric SUV is certainly among the ones that caused the biggest stir, up there with the i7 electric luxury sedan. Like many vehicles on this list, the BMW iX, which starts at $87,100, has a minimalist design that features elements of traditional BMW design that have been reinterpreted. Being a passenger in one, or even just seeing one on the road, you might get the impression that you have stumbled upon a science fiction movie set.

3. GMC Hummer EV

The vehicle on this list that feels more like an oversized toy than any of the others is the feature-packed GMC Hummer EV. Its designers wanted to integrate familiar Hummer and Humvee details, but they were all reinterpreted with a futuristic twist. The result is a huge and very advanced-looking EV, but also one that's very capable off-road.

You can have it in SUV and pickup body styles, and it has a starting price of over $85,000. Whichever you choose, though, you can rest assured that there is no other vehicle on sale that can match it for road presence. If you see this in your mirror, you may want to get out of its way and let it silently surge ahead thanks to its 1,000 horsepower output.

4. HiPhi Z

China has produced many unusual and futuristic-looking EVs over the years, and the Human Horizons HiPhi Z probably features the craziest design of them all. It's hard to even fit this vehicle into a predefined body style, but it has a hatchback-like design with a narrow-looking greenhouse and over 4,000 LEDs that it will use to relay information to its occupants and other road users. The Z is priced in Europe from around €100,000, where it is available for order only in certain markets like Norway and Germany.

5. Hyundai Ioniq 6

Even though it revives the streamliner body style after decades, the $45,000 Hyundai Ioniq 6 looks cutting-edge from every angle (although not so much when you step aboard). Its designers, just like the people who penned the Aptera, will tell you that airflow dictated the shape of its body. This meant the nose and especially its rear end had to be very low, although, in the back, Hyundai did give the Ioniq 6 two separate spoilers to give it more downforce and also help balance it visually.

6. Tesla Cybertruck

The list of futuristic EVs that you could use as sci-fi movie props would not be complete without the inclusion of the Tesla Cybertruck. Unlike all the vehicles mentioned above, the Cybertruck was designed to make it look like it could be featured in Blade Runner or I, Robot. Some have even called its design a bit of a caricature, but there's nothing droll about its angular shapes and unpainted stainless steel body.

Tesla promises it will be one of the most capable electric pickups on the market when it arrives in 2024, with a claimed starting price tag of $39,990.

EVs Give Designers Much More Freedom to Be Creative

Futuristic vehicle designs like the ones on this list are just the start. Given the fact that in the looming electric age, car designers will not need to conform to the rules that dictated automotive design for decades (put in place due to the constraints of having a big combustion engine, complicated cooling systems, or prop shafts running the length of the car), we could see some wild designs in a few years.

Cars will evolve in ways we can't even comprehend with our current level of understanding, but they will have to change to perform more advanced tasks such as autonomous driving or providing power to your home.

FutureCar Staff