Is it just me, or do too many new vehicles look about the same? Hyundai believes it’s time to end a popular trend that nearly every EV has nowadays.

Hyundai looks past the LED lightbar for new EV design

The LED light bar has been around for a while. In the early 2000’s Xenon headlights were the hit trend, offering much brighter light while consuming less energy.

Although it was initially mainly found on luxury vehicles, Hyundai was one of the first to jump on the trend, working to make it more widely available at a lower cost.

Over the past few years, the trend has evolved into a thin LED light strip stretched across the front and sometimes the rear of the vehicle.

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Since most brands are slapping it on electric vehicles, it’s become almost a status symbol of the EV movement. In early 2023, Hyundai revealed the new “EV-derived, futuristic” design for the Kona Electric, placing a heavy emphasis on the front LED lightbar.

Nowadays, nearly every vehicle, EV or gas-powered, has the popular design feature. Even Tesla hopped on the trend with the new Model Y, Model 3, and Cybertruck.

According to Hyundai’s design boss, Simon Loasby, LED lightbars are “almost at the end of their journey.” After unveiling the new Concept Three at the Munich Motor Show last week, Loasby explained to Car Magazine on the sidelines, “When is the time you need to let go [of light bars], it’s almost like the end of that.”

Although Hyundai recently added the lightbar to the Grandeur, Kona, and Sonata, Loasby said he’s “seen enough.”

“It worked at the time, and it was absolutely right, the Grandeur was the first car with a one-piece structure. The biggest thing is the cost level, you just can’t afford to do it and some customers don’t need it,” Hyundai’s design chief explained.

In China, “you must have it,” Loasby said, but in other markets, like Europe and the US, it’s not needed. Hyundai is instead focusing on differentiating itself with its unique pixel lightning, found on the IONIQ EV models.

Hyundai has already had a few copy its design, notably the Fiat Grande Panda, which Loasby joked, “thanks for copying, thanks for being inspired by us.”

It may be time for a shake-up. Loasby said, “I think we are almost at the end of journey in terms of lighting. It’s almost like chrome.”

Hyundai’s new Concept Three, which is expected to launch as the IONIQ 3 in production form, did not feature a full LED lightbar. Instead, it had an updated pixel lightning design.

Electrek’s Take

I have to agree with Loasby on this one. I must admit that at first, I was a fan of the sleek look of a nice, slim lightbar, especially at night.

The more I see it, the more it reminds me of a Toyota now. And that’s nothing against them (It is the world’s largest automaker), but should a Tesla Model Y, or even a Porsche 911, look the same as a Toyota from the front? I’ll let you determine that one.

I drive a 2023 Tesla Model 3, the last of the pre-facelift version, and was pretty bummed to see how cool the updated Model 3 looked at first. The more I see them, though, the more I like the design of the first-gen Model 3 and its wide eyes. It’s unique. Now, the Model 3 looks like any other vehicle, at least, in my opinion.

Is it time to put an end to the LED lightbar? Let us know how you feel about it below.

Zero 60, an EV charge point operator on the ChargePoint network, is bringing fast charging to a Culver’s in the Northwoods of Wisconsin. The company, founded by Faith Technologies Incorporated (FTI), will install a renewable-powered charging station in Rhinelander.

The new site sits along a state-designated Alternative Fuel Corridor at Culver’s on 620 W. Kemp St. It will feature four 160-kilowatt charging ports, giving EV drivers in northern Wisconsin reliable fast charging well beyond the state’s urban hubs.

The project is backed by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation’s first round of funding from the Wisconsin Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (WEVI) program. Wisconsin wants to ensure EV drivers can confidently travel north, knowing they won’t be stranded without chargers.

“Partnering with a well-known brand like Culver’s gives us a unique opportunity to combine Midwest hospitality with clean, convenient charging,” said Wade Leipold, executive vice president of FTI. “We’re proud to support Wisconsin’s efforts to build a robust, future-ready charging network that serves communities and travelers alike.”

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Zero6 Energy is financing, owning, and operating the station, while FTI is handling the engineering, design, installation, and ongoing maintenance. Zero 60 already operates nine charging sites and has plans for many more across the US, with the first wave of stations installed in New York, California, Colorado, and Wisconsin, and more currently being developed in other states.

Read more: GM, EVgo, and Pilot hit 200+ charging sites across 40 states

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Tesla is attempting to conceal the details of three separate accidents involving its Robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, despite having only two months of service with a small fleet.

Due to the Standing General Order 2021-01 (the “SGO”), automakers are required to report to NHTSA crashes involving their autonomous driving and advanced driver assistance systems within five days of being notified of them.

We have previously reported on Tesla leading crashes for level 2 driver assistance systems by thousands of reported crashes, but the automaker never reported any automated driving crashes because it never had any system that would qualify as a level 3-5 SAE automated driving system, despite the name of its “Full Self-Driving” software package.

This has changed with the launch of Tesla’s limited Robotaxi service in Austin, Texas.

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Now, Tesla has reported its first three accidents involving an “automated driving system” through its new Robotaxi effort:

All the accidents happened in July, during Tesla’s first month of operating its Robotaxi service in Austin, Texas.

There was at least one injury reported for one of the crashes, but Tesla lists it as “minor”. None of the accidents is being investigated by authorities based on the information Tesla has released.

Tesla hasn’t released many details about its Robotaxi effort, but the automaker is estimated to have only about 12 vehicles in its Robotaxi fleet in Austin as of July, and it was offering rides to only a limited group of users, mostly Tesla influencers and shareholders who are disincentivized from criticizing the company.

As it does with its ADAS crash reporting, Tesla is hiding most details about the crashes. Unlike its competitors, which openly release narrative information about the incidents, Tesla is redacting all the narrative for all its crash reporting to NHTSA:

It makes it hard to get any context about the accident and assess the level of responsibility for the automated driving system.

Unlike competitors, such as Waymo, Tesla’s Robotaxi still uses a “safety monitor” who sits in the front seat with a finger on a kill switch ready to stop the vehicle. Despite this added level of safety, Tesla is evidently still experiencing crashes.

CEO Elon Musk has claimed that Tesla would remove the safety monitor by the end of the year and deliver on its “full self-driving” promises to customers, but he has never shared any data proving that Tesla’s automated driving system is reliable enough to achieve that.

NTHSA is also investigating Tesla for misreporting its crash data.

Electrek’s Take

The facts are that Tesla has never released any significant data to prove that its system is reliable. Never.

The only data Tesla has shared is the cumulative mileage driven by the fleet on Autopilot and Full Self-Driving, but that’s with a human driver at the wheel at all times.

Tesla never shared disengagement data despite publicly claiming multiple factors of improvement in miles between disengagements.

How can you trust a company that operates like that?

Furthermore, it redacts the most critical details of crashes involving its driver-assist and automated driving systems.

That’s not the type of opacity I want to see from a company deploying potentially dangerous, yet also potentially lifesaving, technology.

Unfortunately, I’ve lost hope of regulators doing anything about this any time soon. It will likely take more tragic accidents for them to act.