 Design of the future?
As if Toyota still hasn't found the right approach to battery electric vehicles. But unfortunately, their hybrid vehicles look exactly the same. The car has the misfortune that we were just dealing
with the Volvo ES 90.
It could (should) become a role model for the industry. In contrast, Mercedes, BMW, and Audi are still experimenting in the mid- to upper-class segments compared to this. But this Toyota C-
HR+ takes the cake. You could mistake it for a prototype, but it's a production vehicle.
Do you at least have any idea where the design team actually wanted to go? Of course, they will say that working against the grain is part of the program. As if they'd simply taken all the
design innovations from all the competitors and combined them in this one car.
Each one individually might not be so bad, but together, in our opinion, they're a disaster when viewed from the rear and side. Let's start at the top. A dark roof is almost standard these days,
even though a light one would radiate heat better.
What you can still see through such a flat window can be safely forgotten, especially since the lower spoiler further restricts the field of vision. It also has the third brake light, which would easily
fit in the light strip below.
| Does a rear window not need a wiper, e.g., hidden under the spoiler? No, if you can hardly see
anything through the window anyway. |
As if one were deliberately trying to pit technology against common sense. And there's slso a spoiler above the windshield. A drag coefficient (Cd) of 0.315 for a new electric car over 4.5 meters long is actually too high.
We continue with the rear side view, showing this swollen lift of the shoulder into the window area, where you sometimes orient yourself from the driver's seat. At least the door opens wide. But where on earth is the door
handle now?
And then there's that inward-tilting light strip at the rear. The Toyota logo is pointing down at the ground. What on earth is that gap underneath supposed to mean? How far does it go? Who cleans it? Yes, the design team is
right, a completely new car begins underneath.
On its own, it's not so bad and even logically put together. But who looks at that part of the rear alone and don't see those gaps of indentations on the side? This is unbearable! The outward corrugations almost become
inward ones.
And that's exactly where they apparently forgot the door handle. A very wide gray area is created. It might still match the color scheme here, but certainly not in every case. If they hadn't raised the lower window line, it would
have ended up directly above the light strip.
Then they could have extended the back paneling all the way to the door. But no, they wanted it this way with the two cut lines, one of which is even wider than the other. But seeing it all end so abruptly makes your eyes
jump in surprise.
Nowhere do they find a bit of peace and quiet; everywhere there's pure excitement, as if we didn't already have enough of that in our daily lives. And what's worst of all, after looking at it for a while, you actually start to get
used to it. And if you're unlucky, the next (Japanese), even more outrageous car will come along.
One advantage for the driver, however, is that they see the car's interior much more often and for longer periods. Toyota calls this a 'sleek design,' which could also be translated as 'slim.' We'd say sleek as a 'crease in
trousers, or perhaps even toothless as a catshark'?
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