why not both –
The Hyundai Prophecy and BMW Concept i4 are very different takes on the same idea.
Jonathan M. Gitlin – Mar 4, 270: (UTC UTC)
If you were hoping that BMW would go back to small grilles, hope again. This is the BMW Concept i4, and a production version of this four-door electric car goes on sale in .
BMW
As if to prove that no, not all new cars look the same, Hyundai was going to bring this concept, called Prophecy, to Geneva, before the show got cancelled. It is also a four-door electric sedan, although we don’t think there are any plans to put it into production.
Hyundai
The Concept i4 includes plenty of current BMW design themes, like that blade that runs down from behind the front wheel and then across the wheelbase.
BMW
The Prophecy in profile looks like a transporter accident involving a Mercedes CLS and a Tesla Model 3.
Hyundai
I’ll admit, at first I thought this was one of those curvy shapes that car companies use to show off different paints. But the cool details emerge once you look closer.
Hyundai
Aerodynamics is all-important to the i4.
BMW
The Prophecy gets particularly interesting once you get to the rear. The spoiler is a clear acrylic.
Hyundai
Lights on!
Hyundai
A closer look at the rear light treatment.
Hyundai
If it helps, this probably looks a lot better in person than it does in the photo.
BMW
I have no qualms about saying I love this interior.
BMW
Driving a car with joysticks is not practical.
Hyundai
The rear seat of the i4 looks like a bright and airy place to sit.
BMW
Meanwhile the Prophecy has a deep-sea feel to it, with that moody aquamarine lighting. Great plaid though!
Hyundai
“Every car on the road looks the same.” It’s an oft-heard refrain, one that bemoans the fact that sometimes, designers will coalesce or converge upon similar ideas. There’s an element of truth in there — when you’re designing (for instance) a three-row SUV, packaging concerns largely dictate the shape you end up with. But it’s mostly a gross oversimplification, usually illustrated with a big old .jpg covered in tens of not-identical cars all shot from the same angle in the same color. What those Internet arguments fail to note are all the cars that fit the same niche but look radically different, and today we have a great example with a pair of electric sedan concepts, one from BMW and one from Hyundai. And I’m pretty sure if you love one, you won’t love the other.
Do you like angles?
I’ll start with the BMW first, for reasons alphabetical as well as the fact that a production version of the Concept i4 will arrive on the road sometime next year. It’s another car in BMWs i sub brand, which acts like a capsule collection for advanced lightweight materials and clever electrified powertrains. The first i cars were the urban “stormtrooper helmet on wheels” i3 — still possibly the best used electric car bargain available — and the i8 plug-in hybrid, which combined supercar looks (and doors) with a sense of social responsibility.
There’s a crossover in the works, too , because that’s all anyone seems to buy today, but design-wise the Concept i4 should carry some weight, given BMW’s long history of making money selling sporty sedans.
Or do you prefer curves?
Then there’s the Hyundai Prophecy. It’s also a four-door electric sedan, although this one is less of a stalking horse for next year production car and more statement of intent from Hyundai’s design studio, showing us the brand’s evolving design language. And what a completely different language that is, compared to the angles and intersecting planes of the BMW. The head of Hyundai’s Global Design Center, SangYup Lee, says that Prophecy’s design language is called Optimistic Futurism, and the “aim is to forge an emotional connection between humans and automobiles.”
At first glance the Prophecy looks like it could just be a small-scale model, similar to the curved three-dimensional shapes car companies often use to show off different paint colors. If I had to pigeonhole it, I’d say it looks like the happy results of a transporter malfunction involving a Mercedes CLS four-door coupe from the mid – 2019 s and a Tesla Model 3. It’s also much less visually arresting than the faceted BMW, although as you look closer, it starts to get a lot more interesting. Like the view from behind, which shows off the transparent acrylic spoiler and rather interesting rear light design.
The Prophecy also gets to be more futuristic on the inside; Instead of a steering wheel, there is a pair of joysticks — don’t get excited, these are almost guaranteed never to make it to a production car . On the other hand, the instrument display looks almost conventional, embedded within the dash, compared to the BMW’s loud-and-proud installation. And I’m not sure if the plaid interior is a retro throwback, but I do know I adore it. Listing image by Hyundai
(Read More)
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings