There are a large percentage of traditional car enthusiasts who believe electric and hybrid cars are not for them. They have an emotional attachment to their internal combustion cars. Usually, their cars are customized with visual and performance enhancements. They work on them with friends and talk about cars for hours. Their vehicle is their source of pride, and they put in a lot of hard work and money into them. They go driving together on the weekends in the mountain canyons and/or coast side. They are not necessarily street racers, but these are people who really love their cars. Right now, there is not an affordable electric-powered car for them to own with the same source of pride. Yes, there is the Tesla Roadster, but at the price of 108k, it is way too steep a price for admission. Certainly there is a following for Toyota's halo car, the Prius, especially in Southern California, sparked no doubt by eco-conscious Hollywood actors who first adopted the quirky vehicle. However, after reviewing blog comments in Jalopnik.com, e46fanatics.com, Speedhunters.com and many others, I found words like hate, bland, soulless, and boring connected with the environmentally enlightened hybrid. Yes, there are people who love cars and own a Prius, but to the majority traditional car nuts, the Prius is the anti-car. As the Chair of Transportation Design at Art Center Stewart Reed states, "Environmentally friendly cars are generally marketed for people who do not love to drive." This rationale must be changed to "Environmentally friendly cars are marketed and engineered to be better, sexier, and more desirable than gasoline cars in every way. BUILD THIS CAR OR DIE, shows us how.
Car companies have difficulty building a hybrid sports car for the masses. This confirms a rationale that car companies will not build a car people would not demand (the interviews with product planner Rex Parker confirms this). The demand is not there because the affordable green sports car does not exist. Therefore, ELECTRON will be there to create the demand first. This article speculates on the strategic planning of an affordable green sports car.
From my research, I pinpoint disconnects of recent affordable sports cars from cars of the past. An in-depth look to the essence of the affordable sports car helped determine what it takes to produce an iconic auto that is long lasting (like the Ford Mustang which has sold around 100k units every year since 1964 1/2). I devised a system to measure cars based on 5 criteria: sexy, performance, value, utility, and green. Any car company looking to manufacture a green sports car can use this rating system to see if their purposed car measures up. Car stylists were hired to visualize what the future affordable sports car might look like per my recommendation. With acknowledgement of what came before us, 100+ years of internal combustion performance cars, the design language is evolutionary, not revolutionary. The end of this article tells the car manufacturer how to support it and turn the car into a profitable icon. In addition, the idea of enthusiasts as being very sustainable was introduced, as they keep their cherished cars longer than most drivers. This article was meant to influence the manufacturer into building green cars that are desirable (sexy), affordable (value), and long-lasting (iconic).
This year, Honda introduced an affordable hybrid sporty car, dubbed the CR-Z that will go into production in the U.S. by 2011. Although it does not contain all the qualities specified in the BUILD THIS CAR OR DIE article, it is comparable in some respects. It is front wheel drive, which most enthusiasts do not subscribe to in this modern era. However, Honda claims that it is fun to drive, with good design and great value for the money. I will be closely monitoring its success when it comes to the United States. This car may be a game-changer and convert traditional enthusiasts into believing that green is fun, a much needed sentiment in the hybrid car lineup today. Many Honda cars were popular with tuners in the late 80s to late 90s, let's hope they do well and begin a new era of green enthusiasts.
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©2010 Yee Chan & Art Center College of Design
