The Kia Elan was never a chart-topping icon, but for those who remember it, it carried a certain charm. A compact roadster borrowed from Lotus DNA, it was Kia\u2019s unlikely flirtation with sportiness in the mid-\u201990s. Fast forward to today, and designer JinTae Tak is revisiting that lineage, not by replicating the original, but by extracting its essence and reshaping it for the electric era.<\/p>\n
The Kia Elan EV concept doesn\u2019t just hint at a new design language, it commits to one. You won\u2019t find soft curves or classic sports car proportions here. Instead, the Elan EV cuts through convention with brutal, origami-like surfaces and a stance that hugs the ground like it\u2019s part of the architecture. There\u2019s no pretense of retro styling, just deliberate, sculpted form driven by the freedoms afforded by EV platforms.<\/p>\n
Designer: JinTae Tak<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
JinTae Tak\u2019s main objective was to use electrification as a design opportunity, not just an engineering shift. With no bulky combustion engine to accommodate, the Elan EV lowers its nose dramatically, resulting in a pronounced wedge silhouette. It\u2019s sharp and aggressive, but not impractical. The side profile is where this decision is most apparent. The car hunkers forward, creating a visual tension that draws your eye from the subtle peak of the roofline down into the low-slung nose. This isn\u2019t just for drama. It\u2019s a studied way of reinterpreting the low center of gravity look of the original Elan, now translated into a closed-top GT form.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Look closely and you\u2019ll notice how many times the same narrow, angular motif repeats across the body. From the pinch at the A-pillar to the fender transitions and the flush door seams, it\u2019s a consistent language of compression and expansion. There\u2019s a kind of visual rhythm in how these angles play with the light, almost architectural.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
From the front, the EV\u2019s lighting treatment makes an immediate statement. A series of segmented LEDs span the nose, mirroring the rear lighting in layout and attitude. It gives the car a clear identity, especially in low light. The hood, with its severe wedge, risks looking overly narrow, but JinTae solves this with a visual trick. The wide fender volumes spill out toward the ground, offsetting the narrowness of the centerline and pulling the car visually wider.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Swing around to the rear and the fenders become the main event. Unlike the original Elan\u2019s simple surfacing, the Elan EV revels in volume here. The horizontal gesture is emphasized with precision, letting the taillights slice across cleanly. It\u2019s one of the more direct nods to the roadster roots of the original car, though executed with today\u2019s taste for muscular silhouettes and precise geometry.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Even the wheels are worth a second look. They\u2019re huge, visually enclosed, and likely designed to aid aerodynamics, typical EV priorities. But their styling doubles down on the overall theme, angular, directional, and aggressive.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Given the conceptual nature, there\u2019s no spec sheet, no drivetrain details, and no promises of production. That\u2019s not really the point. The Kia Elan EV is a design study that explores how brands can revisit the past without repeating it. It\u2019s not a tribute to the old Elan. It\u2019s a conversation with it.<\/p>\n
The post Electric Kia Elan concept shows wedge shaped future Roadster<\/a> first appeared on Yanko Design<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Kia Elan was never a chart-topping icon, but for those who remember it, it carried a certain charm. A compact roadster borrowed from Lotus DNA, it was Kia\u2019s unlikely flirtation with sportiness in the … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n