If you’re an introvert who doesn’t want to advertise your car’s electric-only power, automakers have plenty of normal-looking EVs for shrinking violets. But for the more extroverted buyers who wish to flaunt their vehicle’s uniqueness and attract admiring stares, here’s a sampling of some of the more wild-looking new EVs for sale in Canada.
2024 BMW iX
Over the decades, BMW styling has swung between adventurous and overly conservative. After the German automaker established its iconic three-box sedan look, styling went 180 degrees with the groundbreaking early 2000s cars that had the so-called “Flame Surfacing” design language that was quite controversial at the time. Conservative-looking BMWs were back in vogue by the 2010s, but recent designs have been more brave. A great example is the battery-electric BMW iX. The mid-size SUV’s sheet metal is angular all over. It is dominated by massive vertical BMW “kidney grilles” up front, bracketed by triangular air inlets that look like they could inhale garbage cans. The battery BMW’s backend is no less wild looking, with multiple cut lines and drooping blacked-out bumper panels.
2024 Cadillac Lyriq
A direct competitor to the iX, Cadillac’s new electric Lyriq looks like it rolled off a science-fiction movie set. Cadillac calls it a mid-size SUV, but the Lyriq’s elongated proportions give off more of a sport wagon vibe. Similar to the brand’s flagship Celestiq EV, the Lyriq boasts a classic Cadillac long front hood, led by a front “grille” that’s a minimalist’s dream of angled fine-tooth lines and vertical chrome blades topped by a horizontal slice of chrome at the hood’s leading edge. Harking back to the General Motors luxury brand’s bold and attention-getting 1960s designs, the electric Caddy’s rear displays a plethora of vertical and horizontal lights and chrome strips.
2024 Fisker Ocean One
The all-new Fisker Ocean One was penned by the same designer of such styling standouts as the Aston Martin V8 Vantage, BMW Z8, and his first eponymously named vehicle, the Fisker Karma. Henrick Fisker’s new Ocean One mid-size SUV delivers proportions and details that make it unique among a sea of same-looking EVs like the ubiquitous Tesla Model Y. Looks aside, the Fisker EV’s California Mode may be its wildest design feature. Every glass panel except the windscreen opens simultaneously at the touch of a button. The result is about as close as possible to a convertible electric SUV.
2024 Hyundai Ioniq 6
Like its retro-styled Ioniq 5 hatchback sibling, the sleeker Hyundai Ioniq 6 sedan doesn’t look like any other EV on the road today. Carrying over many details of the Hyundai Prophecy Concept it’s based on, the production Ioniq 6’s exterior harkens back to the art-deco streamliners from the 1920s and 1930s. From behind, the Ioniq 6’s rear wing’s “parametric pixel” high-mounted stop lamp animates when the car starts. But the Ioniq 6’s looks aren’t all for show: its swept-back profile affords it a drag coefficient of just 0.21, making it the world’s most aerodynamic car, according to its maker.
2024 Kia EV6
If its Ioniq 6 platform-mate tries to tweak your nostalgic heartstrings, the Kia EV6 wants you to look to the future. Kia designers have dubbed its new design philosophy “Opposites United,” and the EV6 is the flag bearer. The result is an EV that, when seen in day-to-day traffic with “normal” cars, will have you asking, “Is it a hatchback? A sport wagon? Or an SUV?” Much of the EV6’s eye-grabbing design can be attributed to the Kia’s profile, anchored by a character line that runs below the doors before heading upwards to its wrap-around taillights. Those lights separate a radially raked rear glass and spoiler from the rest of the hatch.
2024 Tesla Cybertruck
An electric pickup truck from Tesla would never be anything but wild, and the Cybertruck doesn’t disappoint. Angular to a fault, the Tesla truck’s calling card is its steel alloy body panels, not seen since the short-lived DMC Delorean sports car from the early 1980s. Tesla says its unique four-door mid-size pickup truck’s bodywork uses the same metal from its sister company SpaceX’s Starship prototype and is bulletproof to 9-millimetre shells. Like the Honda Ridgeline, the Cybertruck has a unibody design, but the Tesla’s styling looks like nothing else on the roads.
2024 Toyota bZ4X
“Wild looking” isn’t what typically pops into drivers’ minds when they think of a Toyota. But with the brand arriving late to the EV party, Toyota’s bZ4X successfully stands apart from the brand’s conservatively styled cars, trucks, and SUVs. Although smaller than its Toyota RAV4 compact SUV sibling, the bZ4X gets a lower and longer stance. Up front, it wears a small hexagonal grille down low, bracketed by vertical gills in the corners. In profile, the bZ4X has a complex sculpting C-pillar with a steep rake that creates a sharp shape when viewing the SUV from the side. The back of the bZ4X follows the trend of incorporating a full-width strip for the taillights.
You may also like
