Please return to topic and away from the subject of police cars.
One design mistake I hope and expect EVs in general to eventually realize and move away from, is their front grills. Since EVs don’t need air flow to cool the engine, they have no need for a traditional grill and can just make it a solid material. As a result, all the companies have been experimenting with what to put there. Tesla has the space mostly sloped. The Rivian has a light bar all the way across the front. And some traditional car companies have super awkward looking solid materials or even “self healing” materials.
And honestly they all kind of suck. Putting aside that they often just don’t look good, the real issue is all of them end up looking bad quickly unless you wash your car almost perpetually, they are perfect kill zones for squished bugs and they accumulate quickly and are a pain to clean. It turns out beyond its air flow function one of the other benefits of a grill is it hid a lot of that bug killing field.
So here’s to bringing back a fake front grill design in future EVs.
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Many ICEVs do not need much airflow from the traditional grill area – if you look closely, many of them have grills that are mostly blocked off for aerodynamic purposes, and some have shutters that open and close depending on cooling needs.
Large grill areas are often mostly for styling purposes.
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I actually like the front of the tesla. And because there is no engine the front has a “frunk” (front trunk) and I can easily see over the hood. One of the reasons I didn’t get another Lexus crossover is I hate the Darth Vader-looking front grill. And the front bumper is so huge on the lexus that if it got damaged it would cost a lot to repair/replace.
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On grid capacity and increased demand from EVs, like others I’m not concerned. Electrification planning is comprehensive and these factors are all considered in the planning. There are some policy challenges (related to transmission capacity and permitting) but they are solvable. Longer term, widespread EV adoption and related distributed energy resources are part of the solution.
If you’re in Colorado make sure to check out the state EV incentives. They stack with federal.
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As I said, Tesla is the least problematic because their front hood slopes so much.
A lot of these alternatives look fine when brand new out of the shop or right after a cleaning, but they quickly look bad between cleanings. I’ve been studying this ever since I first noticed – pretty consistently they end up looking caked with bug splats you wouldn’t see with a grill, fake or real.
As for repairability, that’s another reason I favor the fake grill. First, because it can hide a lot of minor damage from road debris with no need to repair at all. Second, because it’s not that expensive to repair compared to having the replace entire fiberglass panels (at best) or complex light bars. The EV9 is a good example of that. Their front panel where the grill would go can get damaged through normal road pebble impacts. Once it is, it cannot be repairs and replacement runs $5.5-7,000.
Not to belabor this, but cleaning lovebugs out of a car grill is no easy task! And Grill designs change so frequently a car looks dated quickly with an old grill
eta: The tesla model S has a sort of “grill” and they changed the design after several years. So I can easily tell an “older” Model S from a “newer” one.
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Absolutely second that. PITA to clean chrome grills, even the small one of our old Lexus (pre-ugly one). Compared to that, washing our X is a breeze, even after a summer road trip to Eastern Washington.
My husband calls these new giant grills “biggest bug catchers.” He is right! 
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I have an older relative who loves cars. He was very anti electric until a beloved nephew started buying them.
I think some people are never going to be convinced so I’m not sure why they post on this thread. Several drivers I know who bought plug in hybrids are now lamenting that they didn’t go all electric. Granted everyone I know with any hybrid or electric has the ability to charge at home. In my area every time I drive anywhere I see more electric vehicles than I can count.
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I have two comments on the question about EVs and the electrical grid.
First, our EV has been a help to us when there’s trouble with the grid, because we can use it as a battery bank.
Second, this school year we’ll drive about 30 miles per weekday. Even if it gets super cold, that means we would be able to drive it without charging for six days. You can charge them (albeit slowly) even off of a regular wall outlet, if something happens that is so disruptive to the grid that there’s no way to charge for six days, that would be a huge issue for way more than just EV drivers.
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I drive so few miles (especially in retirement) that an EV would work. But when my old minivan wears out, probably a more reasonable solution would be to share a car with my retired husband, use Uber on the rare occasion the we have different commitments at same time.
That;s exactly right. Some/many gas stations will have a small generator for backup, but that only lasts so long. When the grid is down for days, no way to pump gas out of the ground to fill the ICE cars.
Definitely not easy to clean off a grill! I love the sleek look of the front end of my car. Overall, seems to me that having an aerodynamic car will get the best mileage. I will stick with an EV, even when I eventually have to replace it. DH has a hybrid now, but is waiting for the eventual day they make an electric convertible
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That’s the beauty of a grill – it hides the impacts even if you don’t clean it. Can’t tell. But with the solid panels where the grill would go it gets very unsightly right away.
Wouldn’t work for us! H & I tried to share a car this last week when my old car was in the shop for two days. Ended up I used it for one hour for a medical appointment, and he had places to go the rest of the time. He’s a busy boy, and we’re in a very car dependent area.
Thinking about replacing the 2010 Lexus sedan (which has been solid, but is showing its age) with smaller PHEV SUV. We already have a Tesla and don’t want two totally electric cars.
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That doesn’t hide anything. It’s disgusting!! Have you ever tried to remove lovebug guts from the front of your car? It’s an experience.
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It’s hidden it just fine on all my ICE cars for decades. The picture above is obviously extreme. I have never once had to do a special grill cleaning on any of my prior cars, in almost 38 years of driving, owning 3 cars at a time for the last dozen years and 2 cars at a time for the last 32 years. Just spray it with the hose and run a sponge over the surface or drive it through a standard car wash. By comparison, none of those things got rid of the very visible bug stains on my EV front panel.
“Spray it with a hose” is not gonna get love bug guts off.
Regardless, the grill issue is getting off topic, so let’s move on
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The leaf (and IIRC some other ev) charger ports are in the front of the car. A cosmetic grill might mess up that apparatus. Regardless, a cosmetic imitation grill just seems pointless. Wouldn’t seem to be the reason t
o buy or not buy an EV 
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