Electric car grille - useless but hard to give up

When the first Nissan Leaf electric car was born without a grille, many people were unhappy.

The difference of Leaf when launched a decade ago is easy to identify. The car does not have a grille - the open design on the front of the car inherently draws air to cool the internal combustion engine. But because of battery usage, Leaf doesn't need this part. Some customers like the new look, but others don't.

The first generation Leaf electric car did not have a grille. Photo: Nissan

"The right design is a cause for conflict," said Francois Lafevre, director of electric vehicle marketing at Nissan Canada. In fact, some electric vehicle drivers prefer the different styles, while others still prefer the traditional design.

In the end, tradition wins. After surveying more than 300,000 Leaf owners since 2011, Nissan placed a fake grille at the top of the second-generation Leaf model, in 2018, and the latest 2020 model. The design is named "V-motion" with V-shaped border with blue glass surface. Many people seem to like the new type of grille.

On the market today, in the cars using internal combustion engines, many modern pickups (such as Ram 1500) or SUVs (like Lexus RX) have large grille to cover most of the front. Even luxury cars like BMW also have grown bigger grilles over time.

The function of the grille on electric vehicles is mainly for decoration only. In some cases, this design partly serves the purpose of brand identity in electric cars alone. So many companies are serious about shaping the front end of future products.

Leaf current generation with fake grille. Photo: Nissan

Liz Wetzel, co-director of the transport design program at Lawrence Technological University in Southfield, Michigan, said: "The shape, texture and proportion of the grille really match the image and personality. brand ".

Good examples are Mercedes's Panamericana grille, Jeep's seven vertical bars, or BMW kidney shapes. Brands like Rolls-Royce and Bentley are also known for their distinctive front end designs.

With electric cars, some products of famous brands still keep the grille style as internal combustion engines. The fake Mercedes EQ grille has the same design as its traditional products.

In young carmakers, like Tesla, because they don't have a legacy, they are adventurous with the design of the first of the electric cars, according to Wetzel. Examples are Model 3 and the Cybertruck Tesla pickup model, as well as the R1T pickup from Rivian startup (US), with investors being Amazon and Ford.

Wetzel commented: "We are seeing creative performances. It is a real opportunity for designers to create a whole new personality and face of the car. There are customers. different, and with them, brands will have different approaches. "

Ford has developed two types of grille for the electric car Mustang Mach-E. One looks like a gap in the air, and another is a flat surface of the same color as the body. Joel Piaskowski, Ford's global design director, described the latter as a "lying horseshoe." But both have the distinctive horse logo of the Mustang line.

Mustang Mach-E with two types of grille: sealed and shaped fake air vents. Photo: Ford, Motor1

Piakowski also said that the grille area as a car's jewelry is a place for Ford to differentiate itself from other brands. However, the American carmaker approaches customers step by step, with the goal of keeping both traditional customers and attracting new people. Wetzel commented: "They don't want to be shocked and are offering something as a springboard."

Mercedes also considered losing the grille when starting to design the EQ electric car, according to Robert Lesnik, head of the company's exterior design in Stuttgart, Germany. "We once wondered if we should erase what we have created over the past few decades and create something without a face, or remain faithful to the old style," recalls Lesnik.

But the answer is very clear. The designers and the board of directors all want something that is easily identifiable. The face is very important to the brand.

From there, Mercedes created a fake grille that is a bit different for the EQ, and has a three-pointed star logo. Lesnik said the grille is a decisive design that customers can identify and connect with.

And while the electric grille may not be the same as an internal combustion engine, Lesnik says the decorative version still has a lot of useful potential for new technologies, like sensors, or systems. Special lighting system.

Like the Mercedes Vision EQS concept, the car has a black interface with a blue light consisting of hundreds of LED bulbs. Lesnik concludes: "Even if there is no air in, it is still a high technology."

Nissan also does not seem to want to make drastic changes to the front of the Leaf in the next few years. The company is still connecting the car with loyal customers. "If we change too much in the grille, we will lose Nissan's identity. We need to respect brand design," Lefevre said.