The Genesis design team has been knocking the ball out of the stadium and into lower orbit lately, and the monoalphabetically named X concept car is just a continuation of that Grand Slam form. Unveiled on Tuesday in Los Angeles, the electric Grand Touring concept car is truly a stunning design, and one that continues to prove that electric driving doesn’t have to be staid.
“The car that we are unveiling today is a concept car that embodies the essential elements that Genesis pursues in its designs. Please take a moment to meet the future of Genesis design through this concept car, which embodies our brand’s progressive and audacious spirit” said Jay Chang, Global Head of the Genesis Brand.
The brand has only been around for a handful of years now, but it has already become synonymous with beautiful designs, taut lines, and unadorned panels which will hopefully prove to be equally timeless in their reserved futuristic aesthetics. This is in stark contrast to parent company Hyundai’s designs, which are equally fetching, but will likely prove to date themselves quite quickly.
The shield-shaped Genesis “Crest Grille” is brought forward from series production into this concept in an elegant way, flanked by the “two-line” headlamps which cut through the wheel arch and extend onto the fenders. It’s a strong aesthetic projection, and one that I truly appreciate. Nobody will ever mistake this for anything but a Genesis, despite the X cribbing some design lines from high end luxury grand tourers like Aston Martin.
While an electric car could really be any shape it wants to be, Genesis continued with a familiar GT design of a long hood and short rear overhang. While that normally accentuates a large engine under the hood, in this case it is more likely to be trunk space for long journeys.
The calipers are bright green. I wonder where they got that idea…
Inside you’ll find a set of bucket seats and four-point belts to optimize the X for sporty driving. The seats have exposed metal frames in the concept, to “create an athletic impression” but that isn’t something that would ever make production. The beautiful Crystal Sphere Electronic Shift Lever is pretty neat, though, and I could see this in future Genesis products.
To promote sustainability concepts, the X has an interior built from upcycled materials. Apparently Genesis has woven pieces of fabric from leftover pieces of leather to create parts of the inside of the car, such as the safety belts, steering wheel, and airbag cover. I’m not sure that leather is where you want to go to promote eco-friendliness, but Genesis has done it.
Genesis hasn’t made any claims in regards to the technical specs of the X, so I’m going to make some up. I think it has 582 horsepower and 654 lb-ft of torque from a three-motor system with independent rear wheel torque vectoring. I’m going to guess that this will be an extremely efficient car, somehow getting 495 miles of WLTP range from a 90 kWh battery. Oh, and that battery will use Sodium Ion tech, rather than lithium. You know, because it’s a concept and none of this really matters. If anyone skims this and tweets these numbers as factual without actually reading this paragraph, you have my permission to call them an ignoramus.
In any case, this is a beautiful concept that we would love to see more of in the future, you know, as a production grand tourer. More exciting electric cars, please and thank you.
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