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Comment by mikestew | Hacker News Reader

> why is it so hard to understand that design matters?

Maybe Nissan did understand that, which is how we ended up with the Leaf. You spend $32K on a car that's saving polar bears, you want the world to know it. How am I supposed to feel smug if I'm driving something that looks like a Nissan Versa?

Contrast that to the Tesla Model S, which IMO is kind of bland (though I'd still buy one if we didn't have the Leaf). A buddy of mine recently said he hadn't seen a Tesla. In Redmond, WA? I guarantee that he saw at least one or two on his way to work at Microsoft that morning. But if one isn't in to cars much, a Model S isn't really going to stand out.

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> How am I supposed to feel smug if I'm driving something that looks like a Nissan Versa?

Wait what, I always thought the Nissan Leaf looked like an uglier Nissan Versa? Wikipedia says the prototype version was a Versa.

Personally, I've been confusing newer Volvos for Teslas a lot recently (both have the brand name written out in 5 letters across the back). The Tesla Model S looks reasonably nice, but like you said, it doesn't really stand out if you don't know what you're looking for. Personally I prefer that, if I were to buy an electric car I'd rather it look closer to normal.

I've seen that hypothesis floated for hybrid-electric cars also, in particular to explain why more conventional-looking cars like the Honda Civic Hybrid failed to make a meaningful dent into the Toyota Prius's marketshare.

The Teslas are rarer at Microsoft than I expected. Over the summer I made a point of looking for them. The Leafs were easy to spot and numerous. Meanwhile I remember one or maybe two Teslas.

In fact I saw more Ferraris than Tesla Model S. Without a doubt the Leaf is more noticeable and more popular.

If you want a car that smug people can feel smug about, at least have the courtesy to make it look desirable.

I'm looking at you too, Prius.

The ugliness of it is the whole point. You care so much about the environment that you don't even care about silly superficial things like aesthetic design. If it looked desirable then there is a risk that people might assume you bought it for its looks rather than it environmental credentials and your smugness potential takes a serious hit.

I would like to volunteer myself to slap the shit out of everyone with this mindset.

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