The 10 craziest EV concept cars in the world (so far)
From doorless off-roaders to 70s-inspired gull-winged supercars, here are our favourite EV concepts.
Concept cars often tease what’s to come from a manufacturer and often contain bonkers design elements and features. Sometimes, the finished product look like the concept design, while others change massively. From doorless cars to bizarre shapes and odd LED lighting, here’s our pick of the craziest EV concept cars.
Citroen Oli
We’ve already had the Citroen Ami, which wasn’t miles away from its concept design, but the Oli is Citroen’s next step in all-electric mobility. It almost looks like a tiny but rough off-roader with its upright windscreen, straight-edged front bonnet and fastback-like rear, but everything listed serves a purpose. The windscreen keeps manufacturing costs low, while the rest aid aerodynamics. The Oli concept weighs just shy of 1,000kg and features a 40kWh battery, which is claimed to give a 248-mile range.
Fiat Panda Camper
Gone are the times of cute Pandas of old – meet the “Mega-Panda”, as Fiat describes it. There are five Fiat Panda concept designs, but the Camper and its nifty roof rack, raised suspension, and Mars rover-like appearance stick out. These new cars show signs that the Panda has grown up a bit, and Fiat plans to reveal one production version every year until 2027, starting with the recently confirmed Grande Panda. The Panda Concept features bamboo and recycled plastics to add to its already massive persona.
Porsche Mission X
It sounds more like a rocket prototype than a car, but the Mission X is a nod to the Porsche 959, Carrera GT and 918 Spyder. It measures 4.5m in length; it’s 2.0m wide and has 20” wheels at the front and 21” at the rear. A lightweight glass dome sits up top, and two Le Mans-style doors open forward and upwards. Porsche claims that each wheel is driven by separate motors. It will deliver more downforce than a 911 GT3 RS, and it can charge at twice the speed of a 2023 Taycan Turbo S, thanks to 900-volt architecture.
Honda Sustaina-C
Most of us fell head over heels when Honda revealed its E. It was cute and zippy and had one of the coolest interiors fitted to a production car at the time. There’s little information about the Sustaina-C, but we do know it comes with a small electric bike just like the Honda City of the 1980s and its Motocompo bike. If the E is anything to go by, we can’t imagine Honda will change too much of the Sustaina-C’s concept.
Nissan Hyper Punk
Designed to be a ‘mobile creative studio’, Hyper Punk’s job is to enhance content creators’ and artists’ creativity. Nissan claims it does this through AI and biosensors, which detect the driver’s mood and select the correct music and ambient lighting. One of its coolest features is its ability to capture the scenery around the car using cameras, which transfer them to manga-like patterns across the cockpit’s three screens. There’s no information just yet on batteries or powertrain, but the Hyper Punk is claimed to be roughly the same size as a Nissan Juke, so could hint (very loosely) at the design direction of the next-gen all-electric Juke.
Cupra DarkRebel
designs have been sharp to date but the DarkRebel takes things a little further with its two-door, two-seat layout and shooting brake rear. It measures 4.5m long, 2.2m wide and is only 1.3m tall. A roof-mounted thermal camera monitors the cabin’s condition and feeds information to a clever climate control system that automatically adjusts the temperature. The driver is then alerted to the cabin’s temperature change via ambient lighting. To keep things sustainable, the DarkRebel gets 90% biodegradable bamboo throughout its cabin.
Hyundai N Vision 74
This razor-sharp concept pays homage to the 1974 Hyundai Pony Coupe, which didn’t reach production, and while its design cues are similar, the Korean giant has given the N Vision 74 a unique drivetrain. It’s fitted with a 62.4kWh battery and two motors at the rear and features a hydrogen fuel cell, giving a total of 670bhp and 664lb ft. It’ll also crack 0-62mph in under 4 seconds, hit 150mph and travel over 327 miles.
Mercedes-Benz Vision One-Eleven
In the ‘60s and ‘70s, a test mule was needed when Daimler-Benz was experimenting with new powertrain tech, and the C111 was soon born. The C111’s low-slung bodywork housed a plethora of ventilation ducts, while gullwing doors topped its dramatic appearance. The Vision One-Eleven carries all the C111’s design cues, but instead of a modified diesel powerplant, the Vision One-Eleven’s been given Axial Flux Motors, which means that its motors are lighter and smaller than conventional ones. Inside, there’s a full-width dashboard, a yoke-like steering wheel and sports seats.
Dacia Manifesto
hasn’t confirmed that this moon buggy-like model will be hitting showroom floors, but it’s claimed that it does envisage how the brand sees itself evolving. Dacia calls it a “lab for ideas”, giving the Romanian brand brainstorm scope without having production pressure. It has no doors, windows or a windscreen, but it does have 850mm airless tyres, a four-wheel drive system, a waterproof interior and seat coverings that double up as sleeping bags.
Toyota FT-Se
Although its exterior may not be as outlandish as most of the concepts on our list, this EV earned its spot through its race-derived features and ‘midship’ heritage. It’s not quite an MR2, but it is a small, mid-engined-looking sporty Toyota and could well indicate a future production model. It’s claimed that Toyota’s interests lie in making the FT-Se a car for the driver, and although no official figures have been released, Toyota’s teased 365bhp and a 0-62mph time of roughly 3 seconds. Inside, there’s a squishy material on the doors, which keep your knees bruise free when hammering the FE-Se around a track.
