The New Tesla Roadster: Design Breakdown. Part 2

People have mentioned that the front curve on the Teslas are starting to look a lot like Porsches. They are right, but not because Tesla is copying Porsche. Let me explain.

Porsche has developed their design language around cars that were rear-engined and didn’t have much need for a front air intake. Even when the front-engined Panamera came out, they still kept the size of the intake in the front to a minimum and kept the simple curve in the front. When there are no air intakes, the design options become very limited. You either make a pointy front like a Corvette, or a smooth curved one like a Porsche.

Tesla went for the smooth curvature not because Porsche did it, but because it was the inevitable thing to do. As Jonny Ive (Chief Designer at Apple) puts it: (I’m paraphrasing) “We design the products until they feel inevitable. Until you hold one and say, Of course it‘s this way. How else would it be?” And Tesla has reached the inevitability of the design as Porsche had done many years back. Tesla because it’s all electric and Porsche because of their rear-engine nature.

The front badge on the Roadster is flat and almost looks like a sticker. This was first seen in the Model 3 and I think future Model S and X will follow this path as they will lose their small air intake in the front and will probably solely rely on the bottom intake for HVAC.

I’m personally looking forward to this simplification. I know that many in the Tesla community are big fans of the air intake on the current models, but I think with Tesla implementing the new Roadster design language to the Model S and X not many would miss it.

But that’s not all with the line in the front. As it disappears under the light and into the side air intakes, it appears again behind the front wheel and continues on the door to create the most dominant design element of the car. Even if you don’t notice that the line continues from the front to both sides, the harmonious continuity will give you a nice feeling about the car. But that’s not all, the line that’s on top of the headlight also continues to the back of the wheels and from the top part of the air outlet there. Pure consistency! Loving it!

Speaking of consistency, the line that arches over the wheels in the front fades away and emerges again to do the same for the rear wheels. Not only that, but the same line continues to go on the front headlights to create the daylight running lights and become the strongest element in the headlights. In the back it continues into the tail lights to create what I’m assuming to be the brake lights and create the main element of the tail lights. This symmetry, front to back, results in one of the most satisfying designs I’ve seen recently.

Here comes the most Tesla design element in the car. The line at the bottom of each side. All Teslas have it.

This line makes the car recognizable from the side as a Tesla right away. With the aggressive angle it causes the top part of the line to reflect the skylight a lot, and this does a few things. It gets your attention more than the bottom of the car and lets you think the car is shorter than it actually is. It also makes the car feel much closer to the ground.

The line is not parallel to the ground either. Moving downwards as it goes to the front of the car making the car look like it’s in motion even when it’s not moving.

If you look closer, you see that the side line on the Model X doesn’t match the line on its rear bumper. Mostly because of the height and to make the car look sportier and shorter in the back.

On the model 3 the line on the door had to go a lot higher to make it look shorter than it is because the 3 is taller and shorter (in length) than the S. As a result the line doesn’t match the bottom line in the front bumper and instead it matches the second line on the bumper. The shortening effect of the line on the Model 3 is continued all around the car.

On the Roadster, this line continues on both the front and the back of the car perfectly. It’s details and consistencies like these that make me pause and really appreciate the thought and care that went into designing the current lineup of cars that Tesla has created. Well done, Franz. Well. Done.

This car has no door handles! Have you noticed? I’m thinking a combination of having your phone in your pocket and a small button here should do the trick. I’ve read comments with people talking about the lack of mirrors, but I highly doubt by 2020 the regulation would allow for mirrorless cars. We’re gonna get regular mirrors. Sadly.

Here’s another symmetry that might go unnoticed by many but creates a delightful feeling anyway. The shoulder lines which arch the front and rear wheels and go into both headlights and tail lights, both have parallel lines that begin right next to where they touch the lights and both parallel lines continue downwards to create en exaggerated version of the top line.

I guess that’s all I have to say about the design of the Roadster. This was really fun! I’m thinking a design breakdown for the Tesla Semi next. What do you think?
Here’s part 1 in case you missed it.

Edit: Thank you Allison for proofreading :) Thank you u/crshbndct and u/Eriamjh1138 for pointing out typos.