Tag Archives: electric vehicles

This Electric Superbike Wears Its Battery Like a Honeycomb

Posted on by

Bees settled on the hexagon ages ago, and nobody has topped it since. The shape packs the most storage into the least material, which is why it turns up in honeycomb aircraft panels and in the way round battery cells get stacked together. Brisbane’s Clandestine Design Group took the hint and built an entire electric superbike around it. The Cellcius C-01 is a hypersport concept whose battery is split into eight hexagonal cells that you can pull out and swap. Those cells line the bike’s flanks like honeycomb, and the result is one of the more striking EV silhouettes I’ve seen in a while.

Neil Davidson, who founded Clandestine in 2014 after 14 years as Creative Director at CMD, has loved motorcycles since he was a three-year-old farm kid on a dirt bike. That obsession shows. The C-01 won a 2026 Australian Good Design Award in the Concept Design category. It is still a concept, so there is no price tag or showroom date yet. The studio’s pitch is that electric bikes force a choice between heavy track machines and short-range commuters, and the Hex-Core battery system lets one bike be both. Load two cells for the commute or all eight for the track, and the same machine changes its personality to match.

Designer: Clandestine Design Group

Two Cells for the Commute, Eight for the Track

Each Hex-Core cell holds 3 kWh, so the bike carries anywhere from 6 kWh to 24 kWh depending on how many you load. By the studio’s numbers, the weight swings from 353 lb (160 kg) as a commuter to 485 lb (220 kg) as a track bike. Do the math and each cell works out to roughly 22 lb (10 kg), a weight you could carry up a flight of stairs. Two cells also fit Australia’s Learner Approved Motorcycle Scheme (LAMS), a rulebook that keeps new riders on tamer bikes, according to the studio. I can’t think of another superbike that can shrink for a learner permit and then bulk up for a lap day.

Kawasaki’s Ninja e-1 launched in the US at $7,599, weighs 309 lb (140 kg), and carries two removable 1.5 kWh packs that Kawasaki rates at 41 miles in Road mode. Zero’s 2026 SR/F, the usual benchmark for a serious electric streetfighter, packs 17.3 kWh into a body listed at about 500 lb (227 kg). Fully loaded, the C-01 claims 24 kWh at 485 lb, beating the Zero on both counts. That makes the Ninja and the SR/F look like the two ends of a spectrum the C-01 wants to cover with one chassis. Kawasaki’s two-pack setup proves removable batteries work for city riders, and the C-01 keeps adding packs until it hits superbike territory.

A Honeycomb You Can Carry Home

A wall-mounted smart dock charges several cells at once, so a fresh set is always waiting for a swap, a trick the studio calls “zero-minute” hot-swapping. Apartment dwellers get an ergonomic backpack that carries cells indoors for charging at a regular wall outlet. Riders who would rather skip the hauling can plug into a flush CCS port on top of the tank, which hooks into standard street-side fast chargers. Empty bays double as mounts for hex-shaped duffel bags, which keeps luggage inside the silhouette instead of hanging panniers off it. That setup goes straight at the studio’s stated target, urban apartment dwellers who have nowhere to plug in.

Pulled out of the bike, a cell turns into a portable power station with AC and USB outlets, according to the studio. That is the power tool battery logic every contractor already lives with, where one pack format runs a drill, a saw, and a work light. DeWalt and Milwaukee built huge product families on that idea, and the C-01 wants a superbike in the club. The studio also sees room for an aftermarket of Hex-Core accessories, from luggage to those power stations. A 5G app handles keyless RFID or PIN entry, over-the-air updates, and firmware tuning based on payload.

Shaft Drive, a Venturi Tail, and the Case for Swappable Superbikes

High-pressure ram intakes feed air in at speed while a low-pressure exhaust in the tail pulls it back out, a Venturi effect the studio says passively extracts motor heat without heavy fans. Power reaches the rear wheel through a fully enclosed carbon shaft drive, which the studio calls silent and maintenance-free. BMW has been putting shafts on motorcycles since the R32 in 1923, so the idea has real pedigree. Brembo brakes and fully adjustable Öhlins suspension round out a spec sheet that reads like a track-day wish list. My one wish is for the angular flyscreen to echo the hexagons a little more, since right now it reads like it came from a different bike.

Australia’s Good Design Awards date to 1958, and the Concept Design category, new since 2025, judges early-stage ideas on form, function, feasibility, and safety. A win there rewards the thinking, and the thinking here is easy to admire. My favorite part is that the battery, usually the thing EV designers hide under a tank cover, becomes the main visual feature. Electric bikes have spent years arguing over range versus weight, and the C-01 answers by letting the rider settle it each morning. Bees figured out the hexagon without a design degree, and a Brisbane studio just reminded the motorcycle world how well it stacks.

The post This Electric Superbike Wears Its Battery Like a Honeycomb first appeared on Yanko Design.

Someone Fixed Jaguar’s Type 01 With An Aggressive Sports Body Kit

Posted on by

Jaguar kept us waiting two years, and what rolled out in New York on Tuesday looks suspiciously like a very expensive Braun radio on wheels. The tail is a wall of horizontal metal slats stretched across a windowless rear deck, and the nose wears a matching slatted box that could have been borrowed from a vintage hi-fi. I mean that fondly, sort of. The Type 01 starts at $130,500 in the US, with orders opening in early 2027 and deliveries in the second half. At that price, I would like the car to look like somebody finished it.

Carbon Noir’s Type 01 Sports Edition concept is the cure, and it works almost entirely by editing. The slatted front panel stays but now sits inside a black carbon surround that ties it to the headlights, so the nose reads as one band instead of a box stuck on a face. A lower stance, stepped overfenders, and open black wheels with gold calipers fix the proportions, and the blue-gray paint helps the carbon trim blend in. Out back, a red light bar carrying the JAGUAR wordmark, a finned diffuser, and a big pedestal wing give the tail something to do. Everything recognizable from Tuesday’s car is still there, just dressed for dinner.

Designer: Carbon Noir

Why the stock Type 01 looks blank from the side

Stretch a tape measure along the Type 01 and you get about 17 feet (5.2m) of car that stands only around 4.6 feet (1.4m) tall, according to Autocar. Almost all of that length is a single satin silver slab from sill to shoulder, interrupted by a charge flap and a pair of flush door handles. A strip of bronze sits low on the door, and it is the only thing out there that looks like a design decision. The car rolls on 23-inch wheels, yet the flat turbine-style covers read as gray discs from any distance. A wheel that size should look like jewelry, and these look like dinner plates.

Hagerty reports that the production car came first and the Type 00 concept was developed from it, so those slab sides are the design rather than something watered down on the way to the showroom. Jaguar has a rear three-quarter pressing it calls the Impossible Panel, where the aluminum is formed across five planes with three feature lines meeting at a single point. That is serious metalwork, and in a flat satin finish it is hard to appreciate. Panels that clever deserve some shadows to play with. A body kit happens to be a shadow delivery system.

Stance, wheels, and a nose with a point of view

Lowering the car and wrapping each tire in a stepped overfender does more work than any wing. The factory car has a visible gap between tire and arch, so the body seems to float above its wheels. Carbon Noir closes that gap, and the fenders flare out in layers that finally give the long flank a rhythm. Open black wheels with gold calipers replace the flat covers, and suddenly the wheels look as big as they are. The dark blue-gray paint pulls the carbon into the body, so the trim looks grown rather than glued on.

Tiered carbon canards stack up the lower bumper, and their edges pick up the same bronze tone as the strip on Jaguar’s door. That is a smart little callback, since it turns one stray detail on the stock car into a theme for the whole kit. A pair of sculpted vents also cut into the hood, which is dead flat on the factory car. Together they give the face a head-down, ready-to-pounce posture, which seems fair for something named after a big cat. The slats stay, the headlamps stay, and the Jaguar-ness survives the surgery.

A tail with a wing, and what Jaguar could borrow

The factory tail is one uninterrupted surface, with bright slats edge to edge, a black band below, and a plate floating in the middle. Carbon Noir splits it into zones. A red light bar with the JAGUAR wordmark crowns the slats, a finned diffuser anchors the bottom, and a pedestal wing perches on the deck like a tray on a butler’s arm. A wing that size would look silly on a small car, but a 17-foot GT has the deck space to carry it. Copper trim traces the diffuser edges too, which keeps the back tied to that door strip.

Carbon Noir is the designer who gave India’s auto rickshaw a Renault-style electric makeover a few weeks ago, so jumping from a three-wheeler to a $130,500 British GT is quite the commute. Both projects show an eye for the shape already hiding inside a design. Managing director Rawdon Glover told Robb Report that more than 50,000 people have registered interest and 78 percent are new to Jaguar. Newcomers spending six figures will probably notice what the stock car leaves unfinished. Orders open in early 2027, which leaves Jaguar plenty of time to scroll Instagram. Jaguar gave us the radio, and Carbon Noir added the subwoofer.

The post Someone Fixed Jaguar’s Type 01 With An Aggressive Sports Body Kit first appeared on Yanko Design.

Middle East’s Exobot electric cars arrive with supercar DNA and futuristic looks

Posted on by

In the universe of the Tesla Cybertruck, Model S, Lucid Air, and Rivian R1T, a new flagship electric SUV and sedan have landed from the Middle East. Back in 2022, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) formed the country’s first-ever EV brand, CEER. Now they’ve launched their maiden SUV and sedan, homegrown and manufactured in the Middle East, to take on the stalwarts of the industry.

They call it the Exobot series, which comprises the electric SUV and sedan – first in line of the 5 other vehicles slated to launch over a length of the next five years. These EVs will be spread across various propulsion options and produced in the CEER Manufacturing Complex (CMC), claimed by the maker to be one of the largest and most advanced automotive production facilities in the region.

Designer: CEER

CEER is confident that the upcoming fleet of electric vehicles is going to be of the highest global standards, further strengthening Saudi Arabia’s position as a rising force in the global automotive industry. For now, the brand has revealed the Sci-Fi-inspired siblings designed by McLaren’s former design director Rob Melville. Both these vehicles have a similar DNA; they just differ in category and in their distinct body styles. The design language remains the same, as the front section is very low-slung and gets taller at the rear, just like the cars of the 1970s.

Both the future-forward EVs have around 2.5 meters of windshield at 15 degrees, windswept for an open-air feel, a very distinct concept-car-like shape, and manly light bars fitted with 32 varying lighting elements at the front and back. In fact, the open-air windshield is the first ever on a production car. Those Falcon-inspired Shahin doors are gull-winged to spread 10 feet, and don’t have any B-pillar for any visual hindrance.

The luxury sedan is longer than the Tesla Model S at 5,260mm and 1,428 mm tall, which makes it shorter than the Mercedes-Benz EQS, or even some of the popular options. CEER says the EV has a range of 416 miles, and it will vary depending on the model chosen. The standard edition churns out 850 horsepower to make it go from 0-62 mph in 2.6 seconds, while the Top trim produces 1,111 horsepower and 1,500 Nm, which are both better than Tesla. With these numbers, the sedan can go from standstill to over 60 mph in mere 2.1 seconds. The top speed of 155 mph, which is electronically limited, is also impressive.  The 800-volt platform it shares with the SUV makes it go from 10 percent charge level to 80 percent with just 30 minutes of plugging in.

The crossover SUV measures 5,016 mm long, 2,101 mm wide, and 1,693 mm tall, with a 3,200 mm wheelbase. It has a claimed NEDC range of 348 miles on a single charge, and about the same power delivery figures as the classy sedan. Both vehicles get a yoke-shaped steering wheel complemented by the huge 8K screen that runs the length of the windshield. There is a vertical 10.4-inch touchscreen in front of the center console. Rear passengers can enjoy multimedia content on the 8-inch display on the rear seats. The SUV gets the steer-by-wire tech and rear wheel steering for parallel parking, which puts it in a category of its own.

CEER plans to begin sales in early 2027, with deliveries expected in March. Initially, the Exobot sedan and the SUV are going to be sold in the Gulf markets in limited First Edition models. The customizable Plus trims will arrive some time later. The pricing has not yet been revealed, so it’ll be interesting to see how these modern EVs stack up against the competition.

 

The post Middle East’s Exobot electric cars arrive with supercar DNA and futuristic looks first appeared on Yanko Design.

Someone Designed India’s Humble Tuk-Tuk As A Modern-day Renault-style Mini EV

Posted on by

The Tuk-tuk, also called the ‘Auto Rickshaw’ in South Asia, actually comes from Italy! The original three-wheeled vehicle was manufactured by Piaggio and popularized in the continent under the model name Apé before other brands caught on. The vehicular category is now an unshakeable part of Indian automotive culture. In its regular form, the Auto Rickshaw (as opposed to the hand-pulled carts called Rickshaws) is a mode of public transport, seating up to three people at the back. Swap the back seat out for a truck bed and the Auto Rickshaw becomes a transport vehicle for all sorts of cargo, from furniture to fresh produce. The only problem with the Auto Rickshaw is that it hasn’t fundamentally changed in its aesthetic in decades. Carbon Noir proposes an alternative.

Dubbed the ‘Cyberpunk 2077 Auto Rickshaw’, this concept vehicle has a few changes on and under the hood. For starters, it comes with an electric powertrain, making it way more energy efficient than the fuel and CNG guzzling autos you see on Indian roads. Secondly, the exterior gets an absolute makeover, which I have mixed feelings on.

Designer: Carbon Noir

There’s a lot to appreciate about the makeover – you’ve got modernized headlights and taillights, an actual hardbody design that isn’t a metal armature roof with fabric pulled over it, and an aesthetic that feels very Renault Twizy but dialed back. The only real problem (and this is entirely in my head) is the dual-tone design, which gives the E-tuk (electric tuk-tuk) the stature and vibe of the Fisher Price toy car, but with a green base. That’s quite literally the only gripe I have. Ditch the two-tone and you have a winner on your hands.

The E-tuk sports a few interesting design details. It contains a usable boot, which most auto rickshaws don’t have. The conventional auto rickshaw packs the engine in the back, but one can assume that an electrified platform frees the boot up, letting people store luggage inside. Speaking of inside, the interiors see a pretty remarkable change too. The original auto rickshaw seats one in the cockpit, and 2-3 at the back. This revised model opts for a traditional 2×2 seating structure, while retaining the handlebar controls instead of swapping it for a steering wheel. Spiritually, this still feels like an auto rickshaw.

Like most auto rickshaws in India, the E-tuk sports doors on the left side of the vehicle, leaving the right bare. A mere bar on the right side blocks passengers in the back from falling off (or jumping out of a moving ride), but the front still lets the driver enter and exit freely. For riders, entry and exit happens purely through the left, using the doors on both the front as well as the back.

Like I said, spiritually, this is still the quintessential Auto Rickshaw. That two-tone design is iconic, although it serves no purpose here since the green-bottom Auto Rickshaws are painted to denote that they run on Compressed Natural Gas and not petrol. The handlebars for the auto-rider are iconic too, and an open-side design means accepting the weather the city gives you – sun on hot days, wind on good days, and dust or rain on bad days. That’s the non-verbal contract you sign when you sit in an ‘auto’. Yeah, and sure the thing is powered by an electric drivetrain, but that doesn’t mean we’re getting in-vehicle air-conditioning anytime soon!

The post Someone Designed India’s Humble Tuk-Tuk As A Modern-day Renault-style Mini EV first appeared on Yanko Design.

Someone Designed India’s Humble Tuk-Tuk As A Modern-day Renault-style Mini EV

Posted on by

The Tuk-tuk, also called the ‘Auto Rickshaw’ in South Asia, actually comes from Italy! The original three-wheeled vehicle was manufactured by Piaggio and popularized in the continent under the model name Apé before other brands caught on. The vehicular category is now an unshakeable part of Indian automotive culture. In its regular form, the Auto Rickshaw (as opposed to the hand-pulled carts called Rickshaws) is a mode of public transport, seating up to three people at the back. Swap the back seat out for a truck bed and the Auto Rickshaw becomes a transport vehicle for all sorts of cargo, from furniture to fresh produce. The only problem with the Auto Rickshaw is that it hasn’t fundamentally changed in its aesthetic in decades. Carbon Noir proposes an alternative.

Dubbed the ‘Cyberpunk 2077 Auto Rickshaw’, this concept vehicle has a few changes on and under the hood. For starters, it comes with an electric powertrain, making it way more energy efficient than the fuel and CNG guzzling autos you see on Indian roads. Secondly, the exterior gets an absolute makeover, which I have mixed feelings on.

Designer: Carbon Noir

There’s a lot to appreciate about the makeover – you’ve got modernized headlights and taillights, an actual hardbody design that isn’t a metal armature roof with fabric pulled over it, and an aesthetic that feels very Renault Twizy but dialed back. The only real problem (and this is entirely in my head) is the dual-tone design, which gives the E-tuk (electric tuk-tuk) the stature and vibe of the Fisher Price toy car, but with a green base. That’s quite literally the only gripe I have. Ditch the two-tone and you have a winner on your hands.

The E-tuk sports a few interesting design details. It contains a usable boot, which most auto rickshaws don’t have. The conventional auto rickshaw packs the engine in the back, but one can assume that an electrified platform frees the boot up, letting people store luggage inside. Speaking of inside, the interiors see a pretty remarkable change too. The original auto rickshaw seats one in the cockpit, and 2-3 at the back. This revised model opts for a traditional 2×2 seating structure, while retaining the handlebar controls instead of swapping it for a steering wheel. Spiritually, this still feels like an auto rickshaw.

Like most auto rickshaws in India, the E-tuk sports doors on the left side of the vehicle, leaving the right bare. A mere bar on the right side blocks passengers in the back from falling off (or jumping out of a moving ride), but the front still lets the driver enter and exit freely. For riders, entry and exit happens purely through the left, using the doors on both the front as well as the back.

Like I said, spiritually, this is still the quintessential Auto Rickshaw. That two-tone design is iconic, although it serves no purpose here since the green-bottom Auto Rickshaws are painted to denote that they run on Compressed Natural Gas and not petrol. The handlebars for the auto-rider are iconic too, and an open-side design means accepting the weather the city gives you – sun on hot days, wind on good days, and dust or rain on bad days. That’s the non-verbal contract you sign when you sit in an ‘auto’. Yeah, and sure the thing is powered by an electric drivetrain, but that doesn’t mean we’re getting in-vehicle air-conditioning anytime soon!

The post Someone Designed India’s Humble Tuk-Tuk As A Modern-day Renault-style Mini EV first appeared on Yanko Design.

Porsche’s 550 J is a racing legend shrunk into an electric track-day car

Posted on by

The Porsche 550 Spyder occupies a special place in the brand’s motorsport history. Developed specifically for racing, the lightweight mid-engined sports car proved that clever engineering and low weight could challenge competitors with considerably larger engines. At the 1954 Carrera Panamericana, factory drivers Hans Herrmann and Jaroslav Juhan took their 550 Spyders to third and fourth overall while winning their class, covering the demanding 3,077-kilometre race route.

For the 75th anniversary of Porsche Motorsport, Hedley Studios has reinterpreted that racing icon as the Porsche 550 J, an officially licensed electric replica built at approximately 80 percent of the original’s size. The “J” stands for Junior, but this is not a toy. It is a handcrafted two-seater intended for collectors and enthusiasts who want to experience the character of a historic Porsche in a much smaller package. Only 250 examples will be produced.

Designer: Hedley Studios and Porsche

The compact proportions measure around 2.9 metres long and 1.2 metres wide, yet the scaled-down body still accommodates two adults. Porsche provided Hedley Studios with access to its corporate archives and an original 550 during development, helping the British company capture the proportions and details of the original without simply producing a museum-style replica. The carbon-fibre body sits over a steel space-frame chassis, while the battery pack is positioned behind the seats to recreate the weight distribution and mid-engined character of the original.

Electric power gives the 550 J a distinctly modern interpretation of the classic formula. Its 48-volt drivetrain produces 8 kW in standard form, with an RS Package increasing output to 16 kW. The standard version can reach approximately 80 km/h, while the RS version raises the top speed to around 50 mph. The RS Package also adds drilled brakes and adjustable dampers, while four drive modes—Novice, Comfort, Sport and Race—bring a contemporary interface to the otherwise vintage-inspired cockpit.

The chassis is equally important to the experience. Hedley has adapted the original 550’s trailing-arm suspension for the smaller car, combining it with Bilstein coilover dampers, Eibach springs and Brembo brakes. Custom switchgear inspired by Porsche’s modern Taycan adds another subtle connection between the 1950s original and its electric successor.

Visually, the 550 J stays close to the elegant simplicity that made the original distinctive. Buyers can choose Porsche Silver alongside heritage-inspired blue, white, yellow and red finishes, while Hedley’s Bespoke programme opens up further paint, livery and detail combinations. Every example is handcrafted at Hedley Studios in Bicester, UK.

The Porsche 550 J is not road legal, so its natural home is a private estate, closed course or suitable track environment. Pricing starts at £69,500 (approximately $93,500), with deliveries expected from spring 2027.

The post Porsche’s 550 J is a racing legend shrunk into an electric track-day car first appeared on Yanko Design.

A Designer turned Xiaomi’s Logo into a Multi-Utility Vehicle Concept

Posted on by

Side profile of the Xiaomi Horizon concept MPV in blue-to-lavender paint, parked on a white platform above still water.

You know that little rounded square Xiaomi uses as its logo? The one a Japanese design legend spent actual months tuning with a math equation just to get the curve right? Lucas Angelo looked at that shape and thought, sure, why not build a car out of it. The result is the Xiaomi Horizon, and I mean that almost literally. The tailgate is one giant glowing squircle. The wheels are squircles. The whole rear end reads like someone blew up an app icon to the size of a minivan.

It sounds like a gimmick until you remember Xiaomi’s entire EV strategy is basically “make our products feel like they all came from the same brain,” and a car shaped logo is honestly not the dumbest way to pull that off. Whether it should be a Multi Purpose Vehicle or something else entirely is a separate question, and we will get to it. But credit where it is due, this thing has more brand DNA baked into its sheet metal than most concepts manage with an entire mood board of heritage references.

Designer: Lucas Angelo

Front three-quarter view of the Horizon against a tall black louvered wall, with mountains visible in the background.

Rear three-quarter view of the Horizon at dusk, showing its illuminated red squircle taillight and the Xiaomi wordmark.

That squircle obsession is not Angelo inventing a bit for fun. Back in 2021, Xiaomi hired Kenya Hara, the design legend behind MUJI’s whole visual identity, to redraw its logo. He landed on a superellipse formula, dialed to a value called n equals 3, which is the mathematically precise sweet spot between a perfect square and a perfect circle. People online mocked it as three hundred grand for rounded corners. Angelo apparently took it a lot more seriously than the internet did, because Horizon’s entire rear fascia is basically that formula rendered at automotive scale, ringed in individually lit LEDs so it glows like a screensaver whenever the car is parked.

Front three-quarter view of the Horizon showing its illuminated Cascade Grille and squircle wheel hubs.

Straight-on rear view of the Horizon on a salt-flat-like surface, with its glowing red squircle taillight centered.

The front end plays a similar game with something Xiaomi calls the Cascade Grille, a full width lattice of tiny illuminated squares that fade in a stepped pattern across the nose. It is not a functional intake so much as a light show, which tracks for a brand that made its name on phones and smart speakers before it ever touched a chassis. Xiaomi’s actual head of automotive design, Li Tianyuan, cut his teeth on the BMW iX and the i Vision Circular, a concept that turned BMW’s kidney grille into a digital display. Angelo landing in almost the same conceptual neighborhood, independently, says his instincts are pointed in a direction the real design team already validated once.

Side view of the Horizon parked in front of a spiked black wall, taillight lit, with snowy peaks behind it.

Here is where things get spicy. China’s premium electric MPV segment has a body count, and the most famous casualty is the Li Auto Mega, a smooth, curvy one box people mover that the internet immediately nicknamed the hearse. One owner slapped high speed train decals on his because the jokes wrote themselves, and Li Auto’s own design chief was still publicly defending the car more than two years later. A big blank slab of a rear end on an MPV is basically an invitation for the internet to decide what it looks like for you, and it is never flattering.

The Horizon driving down a city street past a billboard

This is exactly the trap Horizon’s illuminated tailgate sidesteps. Instead of a flat dark void back there, you get a glowing signature the size of a barn door, something to actually look at instead of squint at. Whether Xiaomi ever builds anything like this is unlikely, especially now that the real Xiaomi has already picked its answer to the family hauler question with the SkyNomad, an EREV SUV with a fridge and a bed mode rather than a sliding door MPV. But Horizon is a fun reminder that sometimes the best way to honor a brand is to take its smallest, most mocked design decision and blow it up until everyone has to take it seriously.

The post A Designer turned Xiaomi’s Logo into a Multi-Utility Vehicle Concept first appeared on Yanko Design.

Volkswagen launches first all-electric camper van and it’s called the ID. California Cruise

Posted on by

The closest we got to a Volkswagen ID. Buzz camper van was in 2024, when restoration outfit Peace Vans from Seattle, U.S., transformed the VW into not one but three fully-fledged camper van options. Ever since, a large population of fans has dreamt of an actual camper version of the ID. Buzz.

It has been some four years since ID. Buzz made its debut, but the wait is now finally over. Volkswagen has unveiled its first all-electric camper van based on the ID. Buzz. It’s called the ID. California Cruise, and it was recently showcased for the first time at the 2026 Caravan Salon in Düsseldorf, Germany.

Designer: Volkswagen

The camper van is the first all-electric version of the California model that Volkswagen has had on the roads for almost 23 years now. It is set to launch in Germany in early 2027. There is no word on whether it will make off shores, but that shouldn’t stop us from learning what this interesting ride is likely to feature.

The ID. California Cruise will feature a sleeping accommodation for two people. The van has a 2m long bed provided with a freshly developed 9 cm thick folding mattress. This bed is formed by converting the rear seats and when you’re back there, you can draw the back-out window curtains and have yourself a cozy den to sleep in.

When you’re not being comfortable in the rear of your ID. California Cruise, you can set out a set of accompanying camping chairs and a camping table outside to dine or just bask in the sun. Along with the embedded back-out blinds, the camper van comes with an optional panoramic glass roof, which also comes with a set of matching black-out blinds.

For the basics, the Volkswagen ID. California Cruise comes with a unique California mode, which allows the lights, USB ports, and other interior functions to be controlled by a central unit while camping. The vehicle designed for camping lacks cooking equipment, but it does allow its battery to be used to power appliances, if you have any onboard, and also charge vehicle or outdoor lighting systems with continuous output of up to 2,000 watts and a peak output of 3.6 kW.

The ID. California Cruise will be available with either the short or long wheelbase of the ID. Buzz, and feature climate control to heat or cool the interior when you’re sleeping. It can maintain the temperature for about 48 hours continuously, depending on the battery’s charge status of course, along with external factors like the temperature outside.

For the campers who love to stay ahead in the game, VW is updating the California App with the Electric Trip function. This is designed to give drivers a heads-up of charging stations in the direction they’re headed. With all the mentioned features and more, the ID. California Cruise is likely to start at €60,800 (roughly $70,000), which is a sweet spot for camper van enthusiasts, I believe.

The post Volkswagen launches first all-electric camper van and it’s called the ID. California Cruise first appeared on Yanko Design.

Hyundai’s New $30K Ioniq 3 Electric Hatchback Isn’t Coming To America (Hint: Tariffs)

Posted on by

Here’s the Ioniq 3. It costs about as much as a well optioned Camry, it looks like nothing else in its price bracket, and you will never be able to buy one in the United States. Not because it failed some test, not because Americans don’t want small cars anymore, though we clearly don’t buy them. Hyundai built this thing specifically for European roads and European wallets, and then, somewhere in a boardroom, decided the math for shipping it here simply doesn’t work. So enjoy the photos. That’s about as close as most of us are going to get.

Hyundai unveiled it at Milan Design Week of all places, which already tells you this car cares more about form than your average econobox. Flat roofline, four pixel dots spelling “H” in Morse code above the grille, an interior built around furniture design instead of dashboard clutter. It’s a compact hatchback with a starting price around thirty grand and a face circular enough to make you nostalgic for the Beetle era. It is, by most measures, a properly cool small EV. It just also happens to be built in Türkiye, which under current tariffs might as well be built on the moon.

Designer: Hyundai Design Center

The whole thing runs on what Hyundai calls “Art of Steel,” a design language born from the fact that Hyundai is one of the only automakers left that actually makes its own steel. Instead of pretending that’s boring industrial trivia, the design team leaned into it, sculpting the Ioniq 3 around how sheet metal actually bends and holds tension. The result is the “Aero Hatch,” a silhouette with a roofline that runs dead flat over both rows of seats before diving into a rear spoiler like it just remembered somewhere else it needs to be. That flat roof isn’t decoration. It buys rear headroom while the tail does the aerodynamic heavy lifting, landing a drag coefficient of 0.263 that Hyundai is calling class leading.

Step inside and the car keeps making its case. Hyundai calls the layout “Furnished Space,” meaning the cabin is arranged more like a piece of living room furniture than a traditional dashboard, with an open floating center console and seat fabrics pulling references from 1970s Italian furniture design. There’s a hidden underfloor bin called Megabox tucked beneath 322 liters of regular boot space, bringing total capacity to 441 liters in a car barely over four meters long. Materials lean sustainable without making a big show of it, recycled PET seat coverings, a steering wheel wrapped in corn derived synthetic leather. None of it screams for attention, which somehow makes it land harder.

The numbers back up the styling. Two battery options, 42.2 kWh and 61 kWh, get you 213 and 308 miles respectively on the WLTP cycle, running through a 400 volt architecture rather than the fancier 800 volt setup found on the Ioniq 5. That’s the quiet trick behind the low price. UK trims start at £22,245 for the entry Advance and climb to £31,945 for the sportier N Line Evo, with a 10 to 80 percent DC charge landing around 29 minutes across the lineup.

Here’s the annoying part. The Ioniq 3 rolls off the line at Hyundai’s İzmit plant in Türkiye, and current US tariff policy makes importing anything built there financially pointless. Meanwhile Hyundai has already trimmed its US EV lineup this year, pausing the Korea built Kona Electric and dropping the standard Ioniq 6, leaving the $35,000 Ioniq 5 as the brand’s de facto entry point stateside. That’s an awkward position to be in when Kia, Hyundai’s own sister brand, is bringing the smaller and cheaper EV3 to America instead.

So no, you can’t have the Ioniq 3, and pretending otherwise would be lying to you. What you can do is watch it become the car every European hatchback rival now has to answer to, while wondering why the industrial base making the case for small, affordable EVs keeps getting built everywhere except here.

The post Hyundai’s New $30K Ioniq 3 Electric Hatchback Isn’t Coming To America (Hint: Tariffs) first appeared on Yanko Design.

Xiaomi’s SkyNomad Brings Living Space Thinking to the Family SUV

Posted on by

Xiaomi is broadening its automotive ambitions with the SkyNomad series, a new SUV line built around space, flexibility, safety, and family-focused practicality. The range launches with two models, the SkyNomad N90 and the SkyNomad N70, giving Xiaomi a wider reach beyond the more driver-oriented SU7 and YU7 lineup.

Both models are built on Xiaomi’s newly designed Kunlun platform, which underpins the brand’s push into large, versatile SUVs. One of the platform’s defining features is a completely flat floor. That packaging decision supports easier movement through the cabin and gives Xiaomi more freedom to shape the interior around comfort, modularity, and open space.

Designer: Xiaomi

Two SUVs with different seating priorities

The SkyNomad N90 Max is positioned as the larger and more versatile of the two. It uses a 2+2+3 seating layout, giving it seven seats and a configuration aimed at larger families, multi-generational travel, and mixed personal and business use. Measuring 5,285 mm long with a 3,080 mm wheelbase, it sits firmly in full-size SUV territory.

Alongside it, the SkyNomad N70 Max takes a sportier approach with a confirmed 2+3 seating layout. That five-seat format makes it the more straightforward option for buyers who want the SkyNomad concept in a two-row package, while still benefiting from the same emphasis on cabin openness and flexibility enabled by the Kunlun platform. At 4,960 mm long with a 2,950 mm wheelbase, it is the more compact of the pair, though it still feels substantial in person.

SkyNomad N70 Max

Flat-floor platform defines the cabin

The completely flat floor is more than a technical detail. It is central to how Xiaomi wants SkyNomad to feel and function. By removing the usual floor intrusion, the platform helps create a more lounge-like interior, improves second-row and third-row usability, and makes it easier to reconfigure the cabin for different scenarios.

In the N90 Max, Xiaomi pushes that idea further with six sliding rails and a center console that can move 650 mm back and forth. The setup allows the cabin to be used with tables, bed arrangements, and other furniture-style layouts, giving the vehicle a more modular character than a conventional family SUV. Features such as a roughly 9-liter fridge and a 21.4-inch rear display with Xiaomi TV and remote control further underline the living-space concept.

The N70 Max carries the same thinking into a sportier two-row package. It supports face-to-face seating and a full bed mode, while Xiaomi claims up to 1,400 mm of maximum rear legroom and around 1,002 liters of rear cargo space. Even without the third row, it is clearly designed to prioritize comfort and usability over a traditional SUV layout.

Safety is a major part of the pitch

Xiaomi is also using the SkyNomad launch to underline the safety credentials of the new Kunlun Technology Architecture. The company says it has been carrying out real-life road load testing since 2024. As of June 30, 2026, more than 500 test vehicles had accumulated 4.28 million kilometers over 628 days.

The body structure makes extensive use of 2200 MPa Xiaomi Hyper Strength Steel across 16 key areas. According to Xiaomi, that includes a 13-in-1 integrated design spanning the A, B, C, and D pillars, a layout intended to improve lateral body load capacity and strengthen the passenger cell. The N90 Max also comes equipped with 12 airbags, reinforcing its positioning as a large family SUV where occupant protection is expected to be a central selling point.

Xiaomi also highlighted battery durability and protection as part of the Kunlun platform package. The company claims a cell lifecycle of more than 2,000 charge cycles, which it says is roughly double the national standard. It also says the battery unit is protected by an 18-layer safety structure, while the floor has been reinforced to improve fire resistance, impact protection, and overall structural security around the pack.

Performance and range round out the package

Both the N90 Max and N70 Max use dual-motor all-wheel drive and a 76 kWh battery. Xiaomi quotes a 0 to 100 km/h time of 5.9 seconds for the N90 Max and 5.5 seconds for the N70 Max, while both models have a top speed of 190 km/h.

Range figures are also notable. Xiaomi lists the N90 Max with a CLTC combined range of 1,705 km and a CLTC pure electric range of 464 km. The N70 Max is rated for a CLTC pure electric range of 505 km.

First-hand impressions from the briefing

During a media briefing and hands-on session, both the N70 Max and N90 Max stood out for their reconfigurable seating and spacious cabins. Even in a short test, both SUVs felt notably roomy, and the seats themselves came across as comfortable and well suited to the space-first character Xiaomi is trying to establish for the series.

The N90 Max in particular showed how far Xiaomi is pushing the concept. One of the most striking demonstrations was its face-to-face seating reconfiguration, which transformed the cabin into something closer to a lounge than a traditional SUV interior. That setup reinforced Xiaomi’s broader pitch that SkyNomad is meant to function as more than transport, serving as a flexible living space for travel, rest, and family use.

Cargo capacity was another standout. In its maximum rear trunk space configuration, the N90 Max was loaded with six 20-liter carry-on cases, a foldable bicycle, a folded baby stroller, and additional camping gear, while still leaving plenty of room in the back. The demonstration underlined the SUV’s family and lifestyle focus, especially for buyers who need genuine carrying ability rather than just a large exterior footprint.

Xiaomi also showed the N90 Max in a more leisure-oriented setup with an air mattress laid out in the cabin. Lying down inside, the space felt comfortable, and the panoramic sky roof gave a clear view upward. That added to the sense that the vehicle is being designed as a place to spend time, not just a machine for getting from one point to another.

That impression carried across both models. Even with limited time behind the scenes, the N70 Max and N90 Max both felt impressively roomy, and Xiaomi’s emphasis on reconfigurable seating did not come across as a gimmick. Instead, it felt like a practical extension of the Kunlun platform’s flat-floor packaging and the brand’s attempt to create SUVs that are genuinely adaptable to modern family life.

A broader move into family SUVs

With SkyNomad, Xiaomi is moving beyond the more driver-focused identity of its earlier vehicles and into a segment where comfort, flexibility, safety, and interior usability matter just as much as technology. The N90 and N70 are not just larger additions to the lineup, but a clear signal that Xiaomi sees family-oriented, space-led SUVs as an important part of its next phase in the auto market.

On first impression, that strategy looks thoughtful. Between the flat-floor Kunlun platform, the emphasis on reconfigurable interiors, and the effort to pair lifestyle versatility with serious safety messaging, SkyNomad gives Xiaomi a distinctive angle in an increasingly crowded field of large electrified SUVs.

The post Xiaomi’s SkyNomad Brings Living Space Thinking to the Family SUV first appeared on Yanko Design.