However you feel about EVs, there’s one undeniable benefit: it threw a wrench in the stagnant automobile industry.
Manufacturers no one cared about in 2010 are launching EVs into space, British sports car icons are in an SUV arms race and South Korean automaker Hyundai is raring to launch the most drool-worthy electric grand tourer we’ve laid eyes on. Or, technically, Genesis Motors — the luxury vehicle arm of Hyundai Motor Group — is.
The company has only released a few cars since they split off and became a standalone marque in 2015 and, to be frank, we haven’t paid much attention. Then we saw this: the Genesis Essentia. An all-electric, high-end GT, the concept left attendees salivating when it was unveiled at the New York Auto Show earlier this year.
Since it’s tough to appreciate the details from your device of choice, let us point out some of the specifics. The windshield not only swoops over to the back in one connected, transparent piece that recalls Futurama-esque bubble cars, it also flows down over the hood and behind the grille. The Essentia also touts a three-second 0-60 time, butterfly doors and a Blade Runner-worthy interior of 3D-printed carbon fiber components and leather in “Cognac” and “Oxford Blue.”
So, uh, how’d this happen … at Hyundai? As Jalopnik writes, Luc Donckerwolke, head of design at Genesis, was poached from Bentley and Lamborghini. Not only that, the team is filled out by a veritable Avengers of luxury-car designers, including Sasha Sepilanov (Bugatti), SangYup Lee (Bentley) and Hans Lapine (Audi).
Two Bentley alums, huh? Is that how Genesis ended up with their knockoff Bentley logo? Apparently not, as others have pointed out. Just as the hipster brand default is to put a bird on it, the luxury marque default must be to put some wings on it.
But we digress. No skin off our back if carmakers are mailing in their hood-ornament design, so long as everything else is fresh.
As a concept, no production date or price has been announced yet for the Essentia. But you can sign up for updates. Fingers crossed they move forward with the bubble dome.
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