We recently spoke with the President and CEO of Brembo North America, Dan Sandberg, at the 2019 SEMA Show in Las Vegas. Among the topics of discussion was Brembo’s new podcast, Brembo Red, which recently hosted GM design chief Michael Simcoe. While on the show, Simcoe shared his opinion on the design of electric vehicles.
“In your philosophy, does an EV look different than the cars we’re driving now?” asked Sandberg.
“The biggest thing we’ve found is that the packaging – the way the architecture is put together – is quite different,” Simcoe replied. “Clearly, you have some things that you don’t have in an ICE vehicle, but you replace them with a very large battery.”
That’s the technical side of the equation. But what does the GM design chief think of the actual design?
The rise of electric cars results in “different proportions, but we don’t believe customers are really looking for vehicles that scream ‘I’m electric’ and therefore have a different appearance,” Simcoe stated. “Most of our customers tell us that we’ll buy an electric vehicle is if does everything that my gas-powered vehicle does, including in some ways the appearance,” he added.
Currently, The General’s only electric vehicle sold in North America is the Bolt EV. Though the Bolt looks like a “normal” vehicle, we’re not sure anyone would describe it as being overwhelmingly attractive. Meanwhile, GM’s most recent electric car – the Chevrolet Menlo EV for the Chinese market – is a bit more attractive. But, like the Bolt EV, it isn’t necessarily a looker. In that regard, GM design has its work cut out for it as it relates to future GM electric offerings, which will be vital as the automaker plans to launch at least 20 new electric vehicles by 2023.
The pressure on standout design of EVs is even more critical when considering that GM’s cross-town rival, the Ford Motor Company, just announced the Mustang Mach-E – a fully-electric crossover inspired by the Ford Mustang. Despite the use of the Mustang name causing all sorts of commotion among (some) purists, the new vehicle is quite attractive and seems to deliver a product many are interested in.
It’s worth noting that Simcoe also discussed various other intriguing topics during his time on the Brembo Red podcast, including his belief that the industry will eventually shift back to sedans, that larger wheels are in the future, and the intricacies of designing good-looking utility vehicles. The full podcast is available here.
Filings made in 24 countries, so far.
The sweepstakes closes on December 22nd and the drawing will take place on December 28th.
At a time of year when luxury car ATP usually rises.
Sales decreased 5.6 percent to 16,670 units during the first ten months of 2024.
Specifically critical minerals supply chain development.
Scheduled for a Spring 2025 launch.
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Really ? I thought many people buy Tesla because they want the different.
People buy Tesla not because they want different, but because it’s the only option... for the time being.
As soon as the “big boys” start offering EVs that are better than decent, Tesla will have a hard time competing.
For instance, I expect the Mach-E to take a very good chunk of Tesla buyers. The same goes for GM’s electric offerings. It will continue down that road until there’s no reason to buy a Tesla, at which point it will be an over-priced also ran with few options as a company.
@Alex
I am sorry but I disagree with you. People buy a Tesla because they are the best at what they do. Period.
Legacy Auto Makers are at least five years behind. At least.
Give credit where credit is due. Look at all the upcoming cars that the "Big Boys" have announced. Has any of them even come close to Tesla numbers? Not even saying surpassing them just simply matching them.
Even the new Ford Mac-e is subpar only when you compare it with a Tesla. If you want Performance you have to give up a Significant amount of Range. Not just a slight decrease. Also reports came out that Ford can ONLY produce about 50K unites next year. I am sure Tesla is shaking in their Boots right now about it. Plus I love how everybody just assumes that whenever the Legacy Auto Makers catch up, Tesla will still be using the same Tech they are today. It is comical.
Tesla is a Great American Company and I support them just like I support GM, Ford, and FCA to do well. Americans need jobs and they provide them. I am a GM fan first and foremost though.
Having said all that, I wish GM will become the Best but Tesla has already solidified their Top Ranking in peoples minds. They are the Apple of the Industry and we are just waiting to see who will become the Google now.
Lets all remember that Google sells way more then apple but they do not hold the Market Cachet that Apple has. That is what I mean. Not that Tesla will become the Best selling Auto Maker in the world.
as far as the article is concerned...I could have told GM that 10 years ago. Besides the Front of the Tesla Model 3, most people that would just look at a Tesla would have NO IDEA that the vehicles were pure electric.
"A bit more attractive. But, it isn’t necessarily a looker."
Appearance is subjective and to me the Menlo (don't care for the name) is a better looking car then the Mach-E. The Mach-E looks as if they scanned the model X into a computer and tweaked it to make it their own. Just as Toyota copied the looks of Mercedes when Lexus first came out and Hyundai copying the Lexus IS with the Genesis. And countless others over the years.
The plane sculpted look of the "Mach-E" is going to look "plane old" in a few years in my opinion!
What ever is Chrysler oops, FCA ...sorry, Peugeot Groupe PSA-FCA (do we still consider them an american company?) going to do with "HEMI" once they go EV?
Change the spelling? "HEM-E"? That'd be my guess!
Tesla actually brought the styling back to a more conventional vehicle in the s model. It was not a style of a golf cart or failed science experiment, but yet it was different in other ways that people did like.
The S really looked like a car that could have had a DOHC under the hood.
The other key points are people don’t want to pay more GP than a similar sized ICE. Also they don’t want to have any change in their life style with similar range and charging times that will be as fast and easy to find as a gas station.
And last they want fuel cost as cheap or cheaper than ICE. Right now charging on the toad many places can result in $35 charges every 250 miles. Many places have min charges that many don’t learn of till they go to charge.
One more thing to be faced is while EV saves on oil changes things still will wear out. What will these cost be and how long will they last. Will the car battery last 10 years? Will the car be worth a $10,000 battery? Will advancement move fast enough to render the car as valuable as a Apple 4 phone? This would kill resale and affect customers.
I have wondered if the automakers would move to more lease programs to protect customers from possible low resale as new car continue to get more advanced.
There is still lots to learn.
The "Mach-E" is "attractive"? What are you smoking? People don't buy evs because one a certain kind of person drives them of a certain leftist persuasion. Second, the materials mined for batteries are more harmful to the environment ironically and besides being a danger to pedesterians and other motorists specfically catching fire and the battery keeps on burning after on impact. And yes they are ugly. Electrics,Hybrids are soulless meant to kill motoring by elitist statist liberal killjoys. Im 37 and I want pure ICE.
Jose,
Yes there are quite a few features I like on the new Mach-E. But one thing that worries me is the efficiency of the motor VS battery pack. The long range Mach-E uses a 99Kwh battery to achieve 300 miles range while the Tesla Model 3 uses a 75Kwh pack to achieve the same 300 miles range on a full charge? That's a difference of 24Kwh of battery power to go the same distance and to spend money on charging every time? The Mach-E does have some nicer features like the touch sensor door openers and the display behind the driver steering wheel and the control knob on the 15" portrait display and it does have a sizeable front trunk.
Over the next 24 months, you are going to see more Electric Vehicles being introduced to our market. You still have the choice to keep your gas vehicle and pay the ever fluctuating market price for fuel as you wish. But one day in the not so distant future, EV's will be taking over and it has nothing to do with the "Left or the Right"!
Yes. A 100x yes. Normal looking, stylish electric cars is definitely what the market is demanding. I'm glad Simcoe is on the same page.
I don't think the Bolt is bad looking, but it seems there used to be an unwritten rule that Electric cars have to look quirky or goofy.
The Honda Fit and several other imports share the same body style yet they sell more than the Bolt EV. Do you think that only pricing made that difference?
That's why the C10 at SEMA got so much attention. It was cool looking without saying 'I'm electric'.
Dan Sandberg is wrong! Real EV customers want something different. As proof, compare Ford Focus Electric sales with other domestic EVs. It sold very little. Even the Chevy Volt sold more. Toyota made two generations of the RAV4 EV (the second had Tesla technology) yet it was a failure in sales.
The new Mustang Mach-E will sell very well, even killing sales from the gas only Mustangs. Anyway the Chevy Bolt EV looks like many gasoline only imports itself, so it does look like a regular gas car.
People want EV's that look "normal" but still want them developed as EV's from the ground up. Even a layman can tell the Focus EV was a modified version of the ICE car.
@Vorg
You are 100% correct
You're a fool to believe the Mach-E will kill sales from the regular Mustangs! While Electric cars will sell (and I believe Ford will do well with the Mach-E and the possibility of the Shelby version of the Mach-E) it's only going to sell to the small percentage of people who are interested in these types of vehicles. People who buy Mustangs, Camaros, Chargers, Challengers, etc. with V8 engines buy them because they are interested in those types of vehicles, just like people who buy Off road trucks, Diesel trucks and the likes of those types of vehicles. The problem with all of this is, rather i say the problems with all of this, is the fear that electric cars and boring hybrid cars are going to take over and leave the rest of us who enjoy V8 performance cars and other things like that out in the cold. All of these cars have their place in the world, they're all part of an ecosystem, just like animals, plants and everything else. What needs to happen is balance.
The front end of many EV's are a turn off to me. The Model 3 (no grill) and Mach-E (slit grill) are not appealing at all. The Melano has much better traditional styling. GM needs to focus on price, range, and availability of charging stations. Every car maker is coming out with EV's but in the last few years I've seen zero increase in public charging stations.
We can all sit here and give our opinions on what the EV buyer wants a vehicle to look like.
And the " Big three " as some put it, can have their PR people on here trying to convince their EV will take over the likes of Tesla as soon as they can figure out how.
Now I know, for sure, that some of the boomers here will simply never figure this out, but some X-ers and most Y-s will understand.
Its not the vehicle so much as the company. It is my opinion that Mary knows this, yet how do you change an old boomer, raping, machine, like GM ?
I hate to bring up politics here, but need to, to try AGAIN to make this point !!!
I and I relies that the boomers here and the " car guys " will not like it and simply will not get it. So I will try to AGAIN to bring it into generational experiences, yet again.
Like scott3 AKA C8.R often types in a preaching tone !
Its like this :
Remember back when humans lived in caves, and that one human made a wheel, pretty soon every human on earth used a wheel.
JUMP
Remember when all the humans rode horses, and that one human made a vehicle using that wheel, pretty soon every human on earth used a vehicle with a wheel.
JUMP
Remember when every human used that vehicle with a wheel, and that one human said us humans could fly, pretty soon every human on earth will have flown.
JUMP
Remember when all we had was 30s vehicles then the young wiper snappers wanted those smooth sleek 50s vehicles, then those smooth sleek 50s vehicles transitioned to the muscle 60s vehicles because you boomers did not want the old 50s and early 60s vehicles.
JUMP
Then who the h3ll ever wanted the 80s and early 90s vehicles, just outright junk in relation to late 50s to late 60s stuff.
JUMP
Now this EV craze has as much if not more to do with GM as a company than GM as a vehicle. And no matter what GM tries to do, they will be a big bloated boomer pig of a company, caring more about the " non reinvested money " than the worker or customer.
Lets look at Tesla because that's what we have to do as they are the clear leader here. When Tesla doesn't make money, per say, that's because they are using all that capital as reinvestment for the future, and not paying some big boomer fat cat a profit that they will hoard in case the end of the world is near and they can eat that cash to survive. Boomers and fat cat hoarders just don't get it, who invests in a company that doesn't make money for the share holders, says the boomer with Microsoft stock, as Microsoft just got a US defense contract worth how much ?
Now that Simcoe seems like a younger, I would guess X-er, guy, and clearly can design some good looking stuff !!
But when the boomers jump into the mix, and want the " bean counters " share, in other words the share of the profit taken from the customer going directly to the fat cat for nothing, other than the use of his bloated money, the design is at that point held back from status !! ( status meaning, wheel, first vehicle, first plane, first rocket, first computer, etc. )
I consider myself a Progressive Conservative !!
I want progress for the betterment of the human race, and will not invest a dime of my capital to a bloated profit driven company. AND I AM A CAPITALIST !!!! I understand how to make money, profit !!!! But I draw the line on investing my capital, when the company rapes ME the CUSTOMER, in warranty, and CUSTOMER SERVICE !! When I research the company, and products, only to find out that GM pays lawyers, instead of helping the very customer they rely on to turn that profit to pay that lawyer, for the CLASS ACTION suits just to get FAULTY DESIGNS fixed !!
Get it yet !!!!
Why will GM never be a Tesla, Google, Microsoft, Apple.
Because they STILL operate like a Montgomery Wards, that thing is as " solid as SEARS ", GE " we bring good things to life ", the big banks are " to big to fail " GM went bankrupt once already.
Get it yet !!!!!
Boomers tax dollars built and bailed them all out, but the X-ers, and Y-ers, will not invest in profit without results, and by results id DO NOT MEAN profit !!!!! I MEAN results of substance, a wheel, a computer, a Tesla, a plane flying, a rocket landing on a boat, an internal combustion engine, a light bulb, etc. ,SUBSTANCE.
Just more money, to do nothing with, is NOT substance !!
Money is a tool to get something done, a tool that is not used gets NOTHING done !!!!!
Get it yet !!!!
You are trying to get a Warren supporter to vote for Trump, when GM is trying to sell the best EV.
You are trying to get a Trump voter to vote for Warren, When GM is developing the EV.
Get it yet !!!!!!
For god sakes, if you hate Cadillac then get rid of it, and buy an Audi or whatever it is that makes you happy. Your complaints are starting to get on my nerves lately, and I honestly can't handle it anymore !!!
I had a crappy experience with my Nissan when my parking brake failed to engage. The car nearly ran me over. The dealer didn't care to fix this issue and gouged my wallet. Am I crying in Nissan forums about my terrible experience ? No, I got rid of it, bought a Malibu Hybrid, and moved on with life. I wouldn't consider a Nissan ever again, but the forum folks don't need to know that every single day.
Adithya Ramachandran,
I am glad to here my comments are getting under your skin !!
While I cant speak to exactly how you feel !!
I can only imagine its like I feel when I read or hear comments on how people have been " taken care of " by GM's customer support !!
While my comments are truth to me, and my experiences, you have trouble with that, as you have said !!
I also have trouble with the comments that people have been treated great by GM's customer support.
You see ( as scott3 would say ) :
It is a FACT that GM truly has NO customer service !!!!
They simply DO NOT !!
GM relies on a privately owned and operated system of dealers that charge GM money for service.
When you have a system set up like this GM CAN DO NOTHING for their customer !!!
What makes this system especially HORRIBLE is:
With GM's sheer greed for profit, for the non doing share holder, GM has to release $$$$$$$$$$$ to the private dealer owner. With the dealer owner, who has been taught by GM how to be greedy to a GM standard of greed, now the dealer owner is greedy toward the very company that taught them how to be greedy !
As GM and the dealer sit and bicker back and forth no one is taking care of the customer !!!!
As you read my posts remember this all started, after 39 years of GM ownership, from a $16.00 fuel sender, we paid once to have replaced, and never worked from the day the dealership replaced it !!!
I even offered to pay a second time, to have it replaced, if it did NOT fix the trouble, but the dealership refused !!!
I simply could not believe it, ( I can imagine this is kind of how you feel when reading my comments ) GM just called the dealer and said " that's fine do nothing " !!!!
Over a $16.00 part, that had a TSB as they were defective and GM had changed the design.
I would think at this very spot on history GM would have pulled the part number and been able to see the TSB as the parts were faulty, yet no.
I have purchased 3 of the highest priced GM 2500 trucks made by GM, and offered to pay for the same repair a second time, if it did not fix the trouble, and GM said no !!!!
Do to a lying service manager who does not even work at the dealership any longer !!!!
$ 16.00
That I paid for already !!!!
How are your nerves ?
Can you handle any more ?
As I read the thousands of comments, by other owners, who haven't had the same experience as say, scott3 that had his entire junk faulty GM 8 speed transmission replaced, I feel for them !!!!
Before this happened to me, I simply swept their comments under the rug, like GM does !!
But when it happens to you !!
When you get screwed over !!!!
You will also be right their in line at the lawyers office, standing in line for the class action suit !!!
I however will continue to purchase GM products as long as the make them, still buying from the same dealer whos, no longer there, lying service manager screwed us over !!!!
But this rests solely on GM !!!!
GM was the one who designed the faulty fuel sender, the faulty headlights, the faulty wheels, the faulty CUE screens, the faulty junk GM 8 speed transmission, and others to numerous to mention !!!!!
And like others have said, " O " I will preach until I can preach no longer on the horrible GM customer support !!!
I will !!!
How are your nerves ?
Skin crawling yet "
Blood boiling ?
Call GM, customer support, the numbers are all over !!
See if they do anything for you.
And have a good day, your continued loyalty is very important to them !!!
I'm sure they can help you !!
If he keeps designing more Bolts the GM is in trouble.