Electric vehicles, with their compact motors and flat battery packs, were supposed to liberate designers from the packaging constraints of internal-combustion cars. Gone were the bulky engines, drive shafts, and exhaust systems that dictated silhouettes for over a century, replaced by the promise of clean slates and fresh proportions. This freedom was expected to usher in a bold new era of automotive design, or so we were often told by automakers transitioning to EV lineups.
