[Aika Car Car Fun Talk Original]
"Look, the XXX brand has a new car"
"It looks a bit familiar, isn't this design the same as xx?"
As an automotive media practitioner, such a dialogue will appear in the office almost every day in the office of colleague dialogue, indeed, looking at today's car design, regardless of the level, positioning, it seems that a brain has fallen into the "homogenization" of the strange circle, smaller and smaller headlights, huge grilles and hidden door handles have almost become the "three treasures of the new car" in the current era. In this regard, as early as more than a decade ago, BMW designer Chris Bangle (Chris Bangle) predicted the future of car design trends: "The future of car design will be closer to demand, farther from art, and even become a 'refrigerator' like existence, the appearance is mediocre, homogeneous, and the interior relies on technology to achieve safety, comfort, entertainment, control and other functions." ”
If this is the case, why do many car companies still make unremitting efforts to make their new cars cause the lackluster "refrigerator" in the mouth of Bangor masters? Obviously, the reasons behind this are actually quite complicated. Some of them are the result of technological innovation, some of them have made the dreams of car designers come true, and some of them are even the last insistence of traditional car companies in the era of electrification, in this article, we will unveil the surface for you, taking you to explore the story behind these new car design trends one by one.
The Evolution of Headlights: Advances in Technology Aesthetic Regression
The above is an "evolution map" of the front face of bmw 5 series models, leaving aside the brand design characteristics, if only from the lamp analysis, we can very clearly clarify the context of its development: technology and regulations have always been the two core factors affecting car design.
In 1939, the General Motors Company (now the General Motors Group) applied for a patent for a "closed beam" headlamp. If the popular interpretation of this technology is to use a closed structure to integrate the bulb, lens and reflector, the benefits brought by this are obvious, better sealing not only prolongs the service life of the lamp group, but also avoids the recoil and lens from being polluted, which in turn affects the lighting effect.
In 1939, the General Motors Company (now the General Motors Group) applied for a patent for a "closed beam" headlamp. The following year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) froze automotive headlight-related technology.
As a result, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced a freeze on automotive headlight technology in the second year of the patent filing, and all models sold in the U.S. market must adopt a headlight style — two 7-inch prototype closed headlights with a minimum ground clearance of 24 inches. Since then, closed headlights have become the standard standard of headlights in global car companies, although this did not affect the design of the car at that time, but with the development of fluid mechanics and the iteration of the body style, the fixed system of the headlights has gradually become a constraint affecting the design of the car. Although the rules were revised in the late 1950s to add another combination of lights, four 5.75-inch round lights, for many European car companies, the design space was still very limited.
The 1500 (top) introduced in 1962 (the car is considered the predecessor of the 5 Series) used two 7-inch headlights, while from 1972 onwards, the first generation of the 5 Series (bottom) with chassis code E12 used a dual 5.75-inch circular light solution.
This was fully reflected in the previous generations of the BMW 5 Series, with the 1500 introduced in 1962 (which is considered the predecessor of the 5 Series) using two 7-inch headlights, and from 1972 onwards, the first generation of the 5 Series with chassis codename E12 used a double-circle lamp solution. Interestingly, although the relevant laws in the United States since the 1970s have "untied" the restrictions on rectangular headlights and H4 halogen bulbs popular in the European market, the long-term "compliance" has made the "four-eye" headlamps an important design feature of the BMW brand, so that the current G30 still maintains the "double circle" design element in the luminous unit in the light group to pay tribute to the "angel eye" era that fans talk about.
On the other hand, technological advances have once again become a bellwether for design. The new generation of the 7 series, which was first unveiled at the 2022 BMW Group earnings annual meeting, revealed this to us. In addition to the huge double kidney net, the headlights of the new car have shrunk into a slender "light bar", in fact, the smaller lights are far more than this, from bmw 7 series old rival Mercedes-Benz S-Class, to the split headlight design that many SUV models are keen on today. The root cause is that the smaller and smaller headlights can be seen as the result of the continuous evolution of lighting sources.
Xenon headlights are also known as "high-pressure gas discharge lamps". As the name suggests, its biggest feature is that there is no filament in the bulb, but it is filled with inert gases such as xenon, and the 12V voltage in the battery is instantly raised to 23000V through the ballast, and the xenon electrons in the quartz tube are excited by the high voltage amplitude, generating a light source between the two electrodes.
Going back a dozen years, xenon headlights were the first choice for high-end models at the time, a technology also known as "high-pressure gas discharge lamps". As the name suggests, its biggest feature is that there is no filament in the bulb, but it is filled with inert gases such as xenon, and the 12V voltage in the battery is instantly raised to 23000V through the ballast, and the xenon electrons in the quartz tube are excited by the high voltage amplitude, which produces a light source between the two electrodes, which is the so-called gas discharge. Under the same power, xenon lamp not only color temperature closer to daylight, while the power consumption is only two-thirds of the halogen lamp Even so, the disadvantages of xenon lamps are also obvious, the first is that the structure is very complex, in addition to the light emitting unit, but also in the rear of the lamp group to configure ballasts, and after starting, the vehicle lights need to be stabilized by the ballast to achieve the design lighting effect.
In 2006, the Audi A8 (D3) and Lexus LS 600h (XF40) ushered in the LED era of automotive lighting.
Since 2006, audi A8 (D3) and Lexus LS 600h (XF40) ushered in the ERA of automotive lighting, because LEDs can directly convert electricity into light, compared with the previous conversion of electrical energy into heat energy, and then into light energy halogen, xenon lamps and other light sources, not only energy-efficient, but also a significant reduction in heat generation. Xenon lamps and LED lamps of the same brightness have a luminous efficiency of 40 lm/W, while LEDs can reach 130 lm/W. This means that LEDs can achieve the same luminous effect with one-third of the power of xenon lamps and the luminous area, so it is not surprising that the size of the lamps becomes smaller.
Today's glittering, varied interior atmosphere lights, if there is no LED technology to add, I am afraid it is unimaginable.
At the same time, because each light-emitting unit body that constitutes the light group is actively small, so the lamp not only begins to decrease in area, but also has more possibilities in the shape, and the designer's design of the lamp no longer stays at the modeling level, but begins to change the effect after the lamp is lit through the arrangement of the light-emitting unit. In addition, LED also makes the lighting in the car rise to the level of interior design, and now the glittering, varied interior atmosphere lights, if there is no LED technology blessing, I am afraid it is unimaginable.
The Digital Light headlights of the Mercedes-Maybach S-Class, which has been used, have 1.3 million individually controllable microlenses on each side, which means that it can not only accurately achieve active near and far light, but also project warning icons onto the road surface based on the implementation road information received by the computer.
Today, the complex matrix headlights are even part of driver assistance and even active safety systems. For example, in the Digital Light headlights that began to be used in the Mercedes-Maybach S-Class, there are 1.3 million independently controllable microlenses in each side of the light cavity, which means that it can not only accurately achieve active near and far light, but also project warning icons onto the road surface based on the implementation road information received by the computer.
Changes in headlights
Hidden door handles: from the designer's former dream to the brainless follow-up of today's car companies
Many car designers have always shown an undisguised dislike of car door handles. Indeed, in today's era of parametric design, the central mesh, the complex feature lines on the side of the car, and the front and rear lights are often the key parts that designers use to express their design ideas. In contrast, parts such as door handles and rearview mirrors that destroy the surface lines of the body and even affect the aerodynamic performance of the vehicle have become the "eye nails" of designers. This is especially evident in many concept cars, where designers do not hesitate to remove the door handles in order to pursue a perfect and smooth body.
On the Lamborghini Miura in 1966, master designer Gandini cleverly designed the door handles and keyholes as a deflector slot in the engine air intake.
But when it comes to mass production models, for practicality and legal considerations, it is still necessary to provide the owner with a mechanism for opening and closing the door, so the "door handle disappearance" has become a "must-have" for early car designers: on the Lamborghini Miura in 1966, the design master Gandini cleverly designed the door handle and keyhole as a deflector on the engine air intake; and on the Mazda third-generation RX-7 (FD3S) in 1992, the small black door handle was like a chameleon. Blended with the black window frames, the 1954 Mercedes-Benz 300SL was the most groundbreaking, in order to make the gull-wing doors look complete and smooth enough, the designers turned the door handle into a delicate metal rod and embedded in the corresponding grooves in the door, and the owner needed to pull out with his fingers and lift the handle to open the door, which is also seen as the prototype of today's hidden door handles – of course, its internal construction is purely mechanical.
The door handles of the 1992 Mazda III RX-7 (FD3S) are integrated with the window frame.
According to the car's designer, Franz von Holzhausen, the door handle was one of the design difficulties of the car. Although the initial design sketch identified the pop-up door handles, the first prototype was fitted with conventional swivel handles for cost reasons. The scheme was denied almost at the first sight of Elon Musk. In the end, at the insistence of the real-life version of Iron Man, the hidden door handle still appeared on the production car.
According to Tesla Model S designer Franz von Holzhausen, the door handle was one of the design difficulties of the car. Although the initial design sketch identified the pop-up door handles, the first prototype was fitted with conventional swivel handles for cost reasons.
However, the hidden door handle that was originally the dream of obsessive-compulsive car designers has been given a new cultural meaning by Tesla, which is like a ticket to the era of electrification, symbolizing the sense of technology of the vehicle itself and the determination of car companies to bid farewell to the era of the internal combustion engine. As a result, hidden door handles have become "hot items" that can be "cross-dimensional". From the follow-up of countless new car-making forces to the fuel vehicles of Jaguar Land Rover, Ford and other brands, they are all vying to adopt this fashionable design.
However, in some special use cases, the design of hidden door handles will show some drawbacks, such as facing the cold winter in the northern region, hidden door handles have a greater chance of being "frozen".
But are hidden door handles really as good as they look? It can only be said that this is true in the vast majority of cases. Imagine approaching a vehicle with the car keys, the door handle unlocked and gracefully bounced open, full of ritual. However, in some special use cases, the drawbacks of this design are unmistakable. For example, in the face of the harsh winter in the northern region, hidden door handles have a greater chance of being "frozen". In this regard, different brands have also given a variety of strange solutions. Porsche, Ford and other brands in the research and development stage, the door handle in the body covered with ice surface of more than 4mm can be successfully "ice-breaking", the solution is also very simple and crude: increase the ejection motor torque, the surface covered ice and snow shattered.
For other car companies, the hidden door handle of the vehicle also retains the possibility of manual operation, in the unlocked state, as long as one end is pressed hard, you can smoothly open the door, the most interesting is the design of the strong promoter Tesla, in their after-sales service department manual, it is clear that the car is frozen when the need to manually hit the door to break the ice, and "the impact force must not roughly cause the degree of depression, the force size is similar to the size of the force when knocking on the neighbor's front door." "Couldn't have been more intimate.
Grille: the last stubbornness of traditional car companies
The growing grille seems to be another obvious design trend in today's car design, from BMW's XM concept car, to the Audi A6 Avant e-tron concept car, to Mercedes-Benz's just-released pure electric sedan flagship EQS. So, why do so many car companies have to make unremitting efforts to adhere to the design of the grille?
To understand the mystery, we need to turn back to the beginning of the last century, when many car manufacturers only produced chassis (even engines and all mechanical systems), and the body was purchased separately from the body manufacturer, so after people bought a car, the car manufacturer would transport the chassis to the customer's designated body manufacturer for body assembly, and then deliver the finished product to the customer.
The Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B is the crowning of the Coach-Building era: the Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B LUNGO, the 8C 2900B Touring Berlinetta and the 8C 2900B Mille Miglia Spider, from top to bottom. Although the three cars use the same chassis + powertrain, if it is not the same water tank grille and brand logo, I am afraid it is difficult to see its relevance from the different shapes.
Since cars at that time were still toys of the affluent class, many coach-building factories (Coach-Building) created a variety of strange bodies in the same chassis and birth to meet the personalized needs of consumers. As a result, the grille connected to the water tank became the only part that could identify the chassis + powertrain brand in appearance.
To this day, this tradition, which has lasted for more than a century, is still enshrined in the design of many European car manufacturers. Even at a time when car power has become electrified and tank grilles have begun to lose their practicality. For example, the All-Electric Model Mercedes-AMG EQS, although the front of the car has no real grille, but the car still pays tribute to the 300SL car that participated in the Transamerica Highway Rally in Carrera, Mexico, with the decorative cover of the straight waterfall medium net. On the other hand, since its inception, new energy vehicle companies represented by Tesla have strengthened their own "traditional automobile industry disruptors" by canceling innovative designs such as grilles and interior de-physical buttons. In this era when the automobile industry is undergoing tremendous changes and traditional car companies have changed from leaders to followers, the huge grille is the memory of traditional car companies for their golden age, and it is also the last insistence in the face of the torrent of the times.
The Mercedes-AMG EQS (part 1), a pure electric model, despite having adopted a closed front, still uses a straight waterfall-style mid-mesh decorative cover to pay tribute to the 300SL racing car (part 2) that participated in the 1952 Pan Am Highway Rally in Carrera, Mexico, to highlight its long-standing sports pedigree.
Editor's comments: After reading the stories behind these popular designs, will you change the design of many new cars at present? Perhaps, for every Petrohead, living in this day and age is a blessing and a curse at the same time. Fortunately, we are going through the biggest revolution since the invention of the car, and sadly, no one can predict what the car of the future will look like.
For the car design itself, the advancement of technology has brought us more imagination space, just as the car driver who enjoyed the analog mono music from the Becker radio 50 years ago could not imagine that with the blessing of technology, today's in-car entertainment system has become so wonderful. On the other hand, the highly institutionalized process of new car research and development in major car manufacturers today has also invisibly snuffed out the exuberant impact and creativity of the old era of automobile design. Moreover, today's automotive designers must not only consider safety, cost, and high performance, but also take into account the results of strict regulations and market research in various countries, and under the shackles of various shackles, amazing designs may become more and more rare. Car design itself is an art that goes over and over again in aesthetics and needs.
Concealed door handles & intake grilles