Tag Archives: electric vehicles

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

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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This radical Audi EV concept uses four tubes instead of a body to make electric cars feel lighter than ever

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Audi’s futuristic concept vehicles have often pushed the boundaries of automotive design, but independent designer Wini Camacho takes that philosophy even further with the Zero One Sphere. Created as a speculative vision rather than an official Audi project, the electric concept abandons conventional body construction in favor of an eye-catching geometric framework made from four exposed cylindrical tubes. This is an interesting take on what an electric vehicle could look like if designers prioritized structural expression over traditional styling.

Instead of relying on a solid body shell, the Zero One Sphere uses four large tubular elements that define its overall silhouette while appearing to support the vehicle’s key components. This radical approach creates an open, skeletal form that emphasizes lightness and simplicity. The tubes visually connect the front and rear sections, giving the concept an architectural quality that makes it resemble a rolling piece of industrial design rather than a conventional automobile. The exposed structure also leaves much of the mechanical layout visible, reinforcing the idea of honesty in design.

Designer: Wini Camacho

The concept follows Audi’s recent emphasis on geometric purity and minimalist forms, but interprets those themes in a far more experimental manner. Sharp lines and clean proportions replace the layered surfaces typically seen on production vehicles. The signature Audi lighting elements remain recognizable, ensuring the concept retains a connection to the brand despite its unconventional appearance. Thin LED lighting at both ends, a simplified front fascia, and oversized wheels contribute to a futuristic stance while maintaining visual balance.

As an electric vehicle concept, the Zero One Sphere benefits from the flexibility offered by battery-powered platforms, which eliminate the need for a large combustion engine and its associated packaging constraints. This freedom allows the design to focus on proportions and structural creativity rather than on accommodating traditional mechanical components. Although technical specifications have not been revealed, the concept serves primarily as a design exercise exploring how future electric vehicles could rethink both form and function.

The open architecture also suggests opportunities for modularity and customization. Its visible framework could theoretically allow different body panels, seating layouts, or cargo solutions to be attached without fundamentally changing the underlying structure. While these ideas remain conceptual, they reflect a growing interest in adaptable vehicle platforms that can evolve alongside changing user needs.

Beyond its unconventional construction, the Zero One Sphere raises broader questions about the future direction of automotive design. As electric powertrains continue to reshape vehicle engineering, designers are increasingly free to experiment with new materials and structural concepts. Wini Camacho’s proposal illustrates how this creative freedom can produce designs that challenge long-standing expectations of what a car should look like. Whether such an exposed tubular structure could ever become practical for production is uncertain, but practicality is not the concept’s primary goal!

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XPENG L03 Brings Ex-Ferrari Designer and 520 km Range to Europe

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Xpeng picked Munich for the L03’s big moment, and that setting says almost as much as the car itself. Unveiled on July 17, the L03 arrives as a global-facing SUV coupe that mixes sleek design, family-friendly practicality, and a heavy dose of software-first ambition. For Xpeng, it is more than just another model launch. It is a clear statement of intent for Europe.

Xpeng calls the L03 a next-generation AI SUV coupe, and the design leans hard into that promise with a low, flowing roofline, flush detailing, and a drag coefficient of 0.228. Developed by a global design team led by former Ferrari exterior design chief JuanMa López, the L03 is clearly meant to look more polished and aspirational than a typical mainstream family SUV. At 4,650 mm long with a 2,850 mm wheelbase, it sits in a sweet spot that should give it broad appeal across urban buyers, young families, and tech-minded upgraders. Xpeng is also giving buyers a broader visual palette than usual, with five nature-inspired exterior colors: Phantom Purple, Rock Gray, Arctic White, Midnight Black, and Silver Frost, plus a Global Black Edition with full black body color, darkened calipers, and darker wheels.

Designer: Xpeng

Inside, Xpeng is trying to make the L03 feel more lounge than machine. The cabin centers on a 15.6-inch display and layers in 256-color ambient lighting, AI-enabled climate control, and active noise cancellation, while the seating package aims squarely at comfort with ventilated, heated, and massage-equipped front seats. The rear bench folds in a 40/20/40 split, and practicality looks like a genuine strength rather than an afterthought, with 539 liters of rear luggage space including underfloor storage, a 102-liter front trunk on EV variants, and a further 102-liter rear underseat drawer.

That usefulness extends beyond the cabin. Xpeng says the L03 has been designed with expansion and adventure in mind, featuring eight flush magnetic attachment points, five 1/4-inch threaded mounting points for accessories such as action cameras, and front passenger expansion docks for added flexibility. The company also says the system supports roof racks, helping position the L03 as something more versatile than a style-led urban crossover. Towing capacity is rated at up to 1,500 kg with an optional market-specific manual tow hook.

The bigger story, though, is software. Xpeng is using the L03 to showcase its latest XOS 6.0 cockpit platform and a more advanced intelligent driving pitch built around VLA 2.0 and NGP. The L03 also brings direct Google Maps integration, adding a familiar layer of usability to Xpeng’s latest cockpit experience. Xpeng said it plans to bring its next-generation assisted driving technology to Europe in early 2027, making the L03 not just a new model but an early marker for the brand’s next software chapter in the region.

Xpeng is also casting a wide net on powertrain choice. The battery-electric version is rated for up to 520 km of WLTP range, while the EREV version stretches to more than 1,000 km of combined range. Fast charging is another headline figure, with Xpeng claiming a 10 to 80 percent top-up in around 20 minutes under 3C charging conditions. That helps the L03 look less like a niche style play and more like a serious attempt to cover multiple use cases with one global product. With its current pricing, the L03 looks strikingly competitive in Europe, particularly given its range, technology, and day-to-day usability.

Taken together, those elements make the L03 more than just another new model. It is a statement car for a brand that wants to prove it can speak the language of European design, global software, and everyday usability all at once. In Munich, Xpeng did not just unveil a new SUV coupe. It unveiled a model designed to carry its international ambitions much further.

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BYD Seal 08 is a $29K flagship EV with 905 km range that already secured 65,000 orders

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Six days after its official debut in China, the BYD Seal 08 is already making headlines for reasons beyond its specifications. The flagship sedan entered one of the industry’s most competitive segments with a starting price of 196,900 yuan (around $29,000). Interestingly, it offers the kind of technology typically associated with luxury electric sedans costing significantly more.

Available in three battery-electric (BEV) variants and three plug-in hybrid (DM-i) models, Seal 08 EV also recorded around 65,000 locked orders within its first 30 hours. A very strong signal that BYD’s strategy of combining premium engineering with mass-market pricing is resonating with buyers. The automaker is headstrong with its strategy for the future, aiming to dominate the commercial market segment and also having ambitions to be the first Chinese automaker to occupy the Formula-1 paddock spot by 2027. Of course, how can one forget their ambition to surprise the hypercar dreams with the marque offshoot Fang Cheng Bao.

Designer: BYD

Flagship Sedan With Mass-Market Pricing

At 5,150 mm long with a 3,030 mm wheelbase, the Seal 08 is flush in the large sedan category, placing it alongside executive cars rather than mainstream family sedans. It adopts BYD’s latest Ocean Aesthetics 2.0 design language, characterized by clean surfaces, flowing proportions, flush door handles, and slim lighting elements that give the four-wheeler an understated yet premium appearance.

The interior follows the same philosophy. A floating central infotainment display anchors a clean dashboard layout, while the spacious cabin emphasizes comfort without overwhelming occupants with an excess of controls. The long wheelbase translates into generous rear-seat room, reinforcing the Seal 08’s positioning as a flagship designed for both daily commuting and long-distance travel.

Pricing of the EV is perhaps the biggest surprise. Starting below $30,000, the sedan undercuts many rivals while delivering dimensions, technology, and equipment usually reserved for vehicles in a much higher price bracket, like the Hyundai IONIQ 5. That value proposition helps explain why dealerships reported tens of thousands of orders shortly after sales opened.

Premium Hardware Usually Reserved for Luxury Cars

Beyond its size and styling, the Seal 08 showcases BYD’s latest engineering advancements. The battery-electric models are built on an 800V high-voltage architecture, enabling ultra-fast flash charging that significantly reduces charging times compared to conventional EV platforms. The sedan also debuts BYD’s Blade 2.0 battery, an evolution of the company’s well-known Blade battery technology. The new pack is designed to improve charging efficiency, energy density, and safety while supporting the vehicle’s long-range capabilities.

Higher trims introduce features that remain uncommon at this price point. DiSus-A intelligent air suspension continuously adjusts ride height and damping to improve comfort and stability, while rear-wheel steering enhances maneuverability in tight spaces and increases stability at highway speeds. Together, these systems give the Seal 08 a technology package more commonly associated with premium European luxury sedans. BYD also offers impressive driving range figures. The top BEV variant claims up to 905 km on the Chinese CLTC testing cycle, while the plug-in hybrid version combines electric power with a fuel engine for a claimed total range of 1,660 km. Although real-world driving distances are typically lower than CLTC ratings, both figures position the Seal 08 among the longest-range vehicles in its segment.

Why Seal 08 Matters Beyond China

The much hyped EV arrives at a pivotal moment for BYD. During the same week as the launch, reports indicated that the company had reclaimed the global battery-electric vehicle sales crown from Tesla after delivering roughly 557,000 BEVs in the second quarter of 2026. That context makes the Seal 08 more than just another product launch. It shows how BYD’s vertically integrated business model of designing its own batteries, electric drivetrains, semiconductors, and vehicle platforms allows it to deliver flagship-level technology at prices competitors struggle to match.

Rather than treating the battery as just another component sourced from a supplier, BYD has built an entire vehicle ecosystem around its battery expertise. The result is a sedan that combines advanced charging technology, sophisticated chassis systems, generous range, and premium comfort without carrying the premium price tag traditionally attached to such features. For global automakers, the electric vehicle raises an important question: if a flagship electric sedan with air suspension, rear-wheel steering, an 800V architecture, and a next-generation battery can start at around $29,000, how long can premium pricing remain the industry’s default? Judging by the first 65,000 orders, consumers may have already begun answering that question.

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Fiat Multiplina concept rincarnates Classic Multipla as a clever four-seat electric urban vehicle

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Urban mobility is evolving rapidly as cities become more congested and the demand for compact, efficient electric vehicles continues to grow. Building on the success of the Topolino and its expanding micromobility lineup, Fiat has now revealed the Multiplina Concept, a compact four-seat electric vehicle that previews the brand’s vision for practical city transportation. Rather than replacing a conventional car, the concept is designed to be a lightweight quadricycle and a full-fledged automobile, offering greater versatility while maintaining a small footprint.

Multiplina draws inspiration from the original 1956 Fiat 600 Multipla, one of the earliest examples of a space-efficient people mover. While the new concept embraces a thoroughly modern electric platform, it preserves the classic model’s philosophy of maximizing interior space within minimal exterior dimensions. The upright stance, rounded bodywork, expansive glasshouse, and cab-forward proportions create a distinctive retro-modern appearance that prioritizes visibility and cabin room over aggressive styling.

Designer: Fiat

Unlike the two-seat Topolino, the Multiplina features seating for four occupants in a two-door configuration, making it more suitable for families, shared mobility services, or urban commuters who occasionally need extra passenger capacity. Fiat describes it as the “missing link” between the Topolino and a conventional passenger car, projecting it as a practical solution for people who find existing microcars too limiting but do not require the size or complexity of a standard hatchback.

The concept was unveiled as part of Fiat’s broader micromobility strategy during a dedicated event in Rome, where the company showcased an expanding ecosystem of electric transportation solutions. Alongside the Multiplina, Fiat introduced new Topolino variants and highlighted the Tris electric three-wheeler for commercial use, illustrating how the brand intends to serve personal transportation, urban logistics, and shared mobility through a unified lineup. According to Fiat CEO Olivier François, the company aims to make mobility simpler, smarter, and more accessible while reinforcing its long-standing focus on compact vehicles designed specifically for urban environments.

Although Fiat has yet to disclose technical specifications, battery details, or performance figures, the Multiplina is expected to remain compact enough for crowded city streets while offering improved everyday usability over existing quadricycles. Reports indicate that the production model is targeted for a 2028 launch, with expectations that it will fit within Europe’s heavy quadricycle category, enabling lower operating costs and greater accessibility in markets where these vehicles benefit from simplified licensing requirements.

The timing of the concept is significant as Fiat continues to strengthen its position in Europe’s growing micromobility sector. The company reports that the Topolino became Europe’s best-selling electric quadricycle in 2025, with demand continuing to rise in 2026. As more cities introduce low-emission zones and prioritize compact transportation, vehicles like the Multiplina could offer an appealing alternative for short-distance urban travel without the size and expense of traditional passenger cars.

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5 EV Charging Designs So Beautiful You’d Actually Want to Stop There

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EV charging infrastructure has grown considerably in recent years, but the experience of actually using it rarely gives people much to think about. Most stations are indistinguishable from the utilities they resemble, built for function with little thought for the space they occupy. That’s a missed opportunity in a technology that already asks drivers to rethink a habit as ingrained as stopping for gas.

A series of five conceptual EV charging station designs takes a different view of what that infrastructure could look like. Rather than treating the wait as dead time to get through, they propose something closer to a destination, structures that generate solar and wind energy while also giving people a reason to look twice, and maybe start a conversation about why they’re there.

Designer: Michael Jantzen

The Silver Solar Charging Station rises as a steel structure with a large photovoltaic panel angled overhead on a tall vertical arm. Drivers pull inside to access the charging connections, sheltered from the weather while the panel converts sunlight into electricity stored directly in connected batteries. The charging bay is practical, though the frame around it looks nothing like anything built with that purpose in mind.

The Black Waves Solar Charging Station shares the drive-in shelter principle but trades angular geometry for something far more fluid. Ribbon-like steel sections curve and undulate overhead, each covered in photovoltaic panels. The design functions exactly like the others, but the wave-like form overhead gives drivers something to look at while they wait, the kind of structure that prompts questions before it answers them.

The Red Solar Charging Station doesn’t try to blend in. Its vivid color marks it on the horizon well before you reach it, and the zig-zag arrangement of solar panels on top gives the structure a jagged, almost aggressive silhouette that contrasts with the smooth drive-through tunnel below. The photovoltaic cells are fully functional, drawing power from sunlight to feed the charging points inside.

The Yellow Solar Charging Station takes a completely different approach to form. An arched dome made from eco-friendly concrete composite curves over the charging bay, painted in the kind of yellow that reads clearly from across an open field. Circular disc-shaped photovoltaic panels are mounted in a ring around the crown of the dome, turning the roof into something that looks as deliberate as the structure below.

The Solar Wind Charging Station breaks from the others in one important way: it isn’t designed to be driven into. Cars pull alongside it to access the charging points while the station itself stands as a tall sculptural object, a curved photovoltaic panel at its base and a vertical-axis wind turbine rising above. It draws from both sun and wind, storing electricity in batteries for continuous output.

All five sit somewhere between infrastructure concept and large-scale sculpture. The thinking behind them is that a charging station people actually stop to look at can do something a plain utility box never could. It places the shift from gasoline to electric into visible, physical form, turning an ordinarily forgettable errand into a small but deliberate presence in public space.

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Another Ex-Apple Designer Made An Electric Vehicle (And No, It’s Not The Ferrari Luce)

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Apple spent somewhere north of ten billion dollars and nearly a decade trying to build a car. The project, codenamed Titan, employed hundreds of engineers and designers, quietly consumed some of the sharpest automotive minds in the world, and was ultimately cancelled in 2024 without a single vehicle reaching the public. Julian Hoenig was inside that room. As lead designer on Apple Watch and Vision Pro, and a key contributor to the Apple Car programme, he spent years thinking about what a vehicle designed with Apple’s obsessive material intelligence and formal restraint could look like. Then Titan died, and Hoenig went and built one anyway.

The vehicle he built looks nothing like what Apple would have made. The Amble One is a doorless, screenless, open electric buggy that tops out at 65 kph, weighs 450 kilograms, and is made from aluminum, leather, cotton, and cork. Co-founded with forpeople’s Michael Tropper, Cowboy’s Adrien Roose, and Portuguese hospitality entrepreneur José António Uva, Amble launches today out of Lisbon with a starting price of €20,000 and a waiting list at properties like Amangiri and Six Senses. The design thesis is almost aggressively simple: slow down, open up, and let the place you’re moving through actually reach you.

Designers: Julian Hoenig, Michael Tropper / Amble

The Amble One sits in a gap in the vehicle landscape that nobody has bothered to properly design for. Golf carts are utilitarian objects engineered for a golf course, not a 780-hectare Alentejo estate. Microcars are city tools dressed up with doors and dashboards. E-bikes put you on two wheels and ask you to negotiate with traffic. The Amble One occupies the space between all three, at 3,200 mm long and 1,480 mm wide, compact enough for coastal paths and private estate roads, but four-wheeled and substantial enough to carry four people with 100 kilometers of range on its 11 kWh lithium-ion battery. The 15 kW motor runs on a 48-volt architecture and charges fully in 5.5 hours on a standard 220/230V supply, the kind of socket you’ll find in every hotel utility room in Europe. The 28-inch wheels and independent suspension are calibrated for the terrain between a manicured lawn and a dusty gravel road, which is precisely where this vehicle was designed to live.

Hoenig’s design philosophy on the Amble One reads as a direct inversion of everything the Apple Car programme represented. Project Titan, at its most ambitious, wanted to create a sealed, autonomous, software-defined pod where the vehicle itself became invisible in service of the passenger experience. Hoenig’s answer here strips the vehicle back to its irreducible minimum: no doors to close you in, no screens pulling your attention inward, no unnecessary separation between the people on board and the environment around them. The material palette of aluminum, leather, cotton, and cork was chosen with aging in mind, materials that develop patina and character rather than scratching and yellowing. Michael Tropper, who shaped the creative direction alongside Hoenig, describes the design as holistic, right down to the sounds the vehicle makes. That level of sensory intentionality is familiar territory for anyone who has watched Apple obsess over the click of a button or the grain of a glass surface.

It would be reductive to frame the Amble One purely as Hoenig’s Apple detox, because the founding team around him brings its own formidable design intelligence to the project. Tropper built forpeople into a 120-person agency behind some of the most considered industrial design work of the last decade, including work for NIO, Arc’teryx, and Herman Miller. Adrien Roose took Cowboy from a Belgian startup to one of Europe’s most design-literate electric bike companies, backed by Index Ventures, by applying consumer electronics thinking to a product category that had been stuck in sporting goods logic for decades. José António Uva spent 14 years restoring São Lourenço do Barrocal, transforming a 780-hectare Alentejo family estate into one of Europe’s most celebrated rural retreats, which means he understands, at a granular level, the kind of journeys the Amble One was built for. The investors backing the company, including Peter Rive of SolarCity and Joe Zadeh, former VP Product at Airbnb, suggest the ambition here extends well beyond a niche hospitality toy.

The comparison that everyone’s bound to make, especially given the timing, is with the Ferrari Luce, which debuted last month and represents the other answer to the question of what former Apple designers do with a vehicle brief. Jony Ive and Marc Newson’s LoveFrom studio shaped the Luce’s exterior and interior, with a design language built around a smooth, continuous, shell-like form and floating front and rear aerodynamic wings. The interior features precision-engineered mechanical buttons, dials, toggles, and switches combined with multifunctional digital displays, and the steering wheel is machined from 100% recycled aluminum. Four electric motors produce up to 1,035 horsepower from a 122 kWh battery, and the car starts at €550,000. Ive’s answer to the post-Apple-Car question is a sealed, 310 kph glass house wrapped in aerodynamic sculpture and priced at a level that makes it purely aspirational. Hoenig’s answer is a 65 kph open buggy in cork and cotton that costs €20,000 and is designed to be driven slowly through somewhere beautiful. Both men drew on the same decade of Apple material obsession and arrived at completely opposite conclusions, which tells you something interesting about what each of them actually took away from Cupertino.

The initial 2027 production run is allocated entirely to leading destinations, with interest confirmed from Amangiri in Canyon Point, Mustique Island, Six Senses Les Bordes in the Loire Valley, and Uva’s own Na Praia in Comporta. These are properties where every guest touchpoint is considered at the same level of intensity that Hoenig would apply to a product surface, which makes the Amble One a natural fit. A golf cart parked outside a Six Senses villa is a minor embarrassment. An Amble One parked there makes a statement about the property’s design values. The consumer-facing 2028 waitlist opens the vehicle to private buyers in Europe and the United States at the same €20,000 / $25,000 price point, which positions it as an accessible second vehicle for a coastal house, a rural property, or a private estate, the kind of context where 100 km of range and a 65 kph top speed are exactly what you need.

The bigger play, the one that makes Amble worth watching beyond the launch story, is that the One is explicitly described as the first expression of a broader platform, with future vehicles planned for more urban environments and new use cases. The Moon Buggy influence Hoenig and Tropper cite is instructive: that 1971 vehicle was purpose-built for a specific terrain and a specific pace, and its design was completely liberated by accepting those constraints rather than fighting them. The Amble One accepts the same bargain, building an entire design philosophy around slowness, openness, and context-specificity rather than chasing the metrics that mainstream automotive culture prizes. Whether that philosophy scales beyond hospitality estates and private communities into something more broadly relevant is the question the next few vehicles will have to answer. For now, the One makes a quietly compelling case that the most interesting vehicle to emerge from the wreckage of the Apple Car programme might be the one that wanted least to be a car.

The post Another Ex-Apple Designer Made An Electric Vehicle (And No, It’s Not The Ferrari Luce) first appeared on Yanko Design.

A New Electric Hypercar Just Packed 3,154 HP and a 550km/h Top Speed Into a Prototype GT

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WIRED called them the brands that stole the show, and at CES Las Vegas in January 2026, KOSMERA arrived with a four-door high-performance GT prototype wearing a blue-black finish that New Atlas described as magnificent in person, noting its low-sloping hood, big rear wing, and dual-layer diffuser. SupercarBlondie’s verdict was equally direct: “a race car from the year 2199.” For a company that almost no one in the room had encountered before that week, the response was the kind that established brands spend decades trying to manufacture. KOSMERA’s founders, whose engineering lineage runs from China’s earliest quad-rotor UAV programs through 100,000 RPM-class digital motors and autonomous chassis research, had spent years building toward this moment. The car on the floor was proof that the preparation had translated.

The company calls itself “born global by design,” combining Chinese speed of innovation, American AI ambition, German engineering discipline, and Italian emotional design language into one evolving brand vision. R&D centers sit across Beijing, Suzhou, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Los Angeles, with the design studio operating out of Turin and manufacturing anchored in Brandenburg, Germany. From hypercars and high-performance GTs to luxury all-terrain SUVs, KOSMERA is building a product portfolio powered by a shared foundation of performance, intelligence, and software-defined mobility. That portfolio breaks down into a collector-series hypercar called The Hypera, a pair of high-performance GTs in the Star Matrix and Star Razer, and a luxury all-terrain SUV called Terra. At the center of every vehicle is a quad-motor AWD system targeting 3,154 horsepower, a 0-100 km/h time of 1.7 seconds, and a top speed of 550 km/h.

Designer: KOSMERA

The Star Matrix is KOSMERA’s interpretation of intelligent performance built around balance, with an aluminum spaceframe wrapped in carbon-fiber panels, starburst rear lighting with a speed-responsive dynamic flow animation, and an acceleration pulse effect that makes the tail of the car feel alive at night. Designed as a next-generation high-performance GT, it combines extreme electric performance with aerodynamic efficiency and driver-focused ergonomics. Physical controls inside are reduced by 80 percent, leaving a driver environment of carbon fiber, aerospace textiles, and Alcantara with an AI Coach display projecting real-time racing lines and blind-spot alerts into the driver’s eyeline. The Star Razer carries the same architecture into wilder territory, arriving in Quantum Violet with frameless doors, a lower and wider stance, a breathing light bar, and a Cd of 0.20 achieved through aero blade lines and rear wheel channels. Where the Star Matrix reads as precision, the Star Razer reads as provocation.

Kosmera Star Matrix

Axial-flux motors redirect magnetic flow along the rotation axis rather than radially, producing a shorter magnetic path and better torque leverage in a far more compact package, and the HyperDrive quad-rotor layout delivers up to 1,578 PS on a single shaft, achieving nearly twice the power density of conventional motors. The quad-rotor configuration targets 1,160 kW per axle, 7,500 Nm of peak wheel torque, and wheel-end speeds above 4,000 rpm. The power electronics use a full silicon-carbide inverter architecture, reducing conduction loss by approximately 40 percent compared to conventional silicon systems. Four independent motors deliver per-wheel torque vectoring, shaping cornering through real-time torque redistribution rather than braking intervention, a more precise and faster-reacting control philosophy. KOSMERA describes each axle as comparable to two Ferrari V12 engines combined, and for once the metaphor and the physics actually align.

The HyperCore battery’s cell-to-pack architecture eliminates the module layer, pushing pack efficiency to 85 percent and enabling peak discharge above 2,500 kW on a 1,200-volt, 6C platform. Charging targets 10 to 80 percent in under seven minutes, a figure that starts collapsing the practical gap between an EV charge stop and a combustion fuel stop. KOSMERA’s HyperPilot Vision-Language-Action stack runs on a 2,000-TOPS compute platform with LiDAR, millimeter-wave radar, cameras, IMU, and HD mapping feeding a physics-based World Model architecture capable of predictive reasoning. The system covers predictive track mapping, an AI racing coach, AR headset integration, highway L3 assisted driving, and urban Navigate-on-Autopilot. The Star Razer extends the ecosystem further, adding an onboard drone interface that deploys autonomous UAVs for last-mile logistics, emergency delivery, and aerial capture, functioning as a mobile mothership for intelligent mobility. That prediction layer shifts the system from reactive driver assistance to genuinely anticipatory control.

FlexBase integrates drive, braking, steering, and suspension into a fully by-wire architecture with a closed-loop response time under 10 milliseconds, a latency figure that approaches the point where human perception cannot distinguish digital from mechanical control feel. A maximum steering angle of 90 degrees enables zero-radius turning and crab-walk capability that conventional suspension geometry cannot approach. Four-wheel independent control includes automatic compensation for single-wheel failure, and the ASIL-D safety certification aligns the platform with L4 autonomy requirements. KOSMERA claims the electrified integration reduces overall system cost and weight by 30 percent by eliminating components rather than replacing them. The modular chassis is designed to scale across the entire vehicle lineup, from The Hypera to Terra, meaning each model shares a validated foundation rather than developing bespoke hardware from scratch.

Kosmera Star Razer

Kosmera Star Razer

AutoEvolution placed KOSMERA’s 1.7-second 0-60 claim squarely in “a league where Rimacs and Koenigseggs have been making the rules for years,” and that is the competitive frame the brand has chosen for itself. The Axion Power propulsion division confirmed in June 2026 that the 3,000-plus horsepower system remains in pre-development and patent application review, a qualifier worth holding onto when reading the headlines. What exists today is a technically serious platform grounded in axial-flux motor engineering, 1,200-volt battery architecture, AI-driven chassis control, and software-defined mobility. The founding team’s background spans decades of experience in AI, robotics, autonomous systems, and high-speed motor engineering, which means the ambition carries real engineering DNA behind it. Whether KOSMERA can close the gap between concept-stage intensity and production-validated performance will be the story worth watching through the rest of the decade.

The post A New Electric Hypercar Just Packed 3,154 HP and a 550km/h Top Speed Into a Prototype GT first appeared on Yanko Design.