The Asian Tuk-tuk gets an Electrified Upgrade and a Slick Design Makeover

Referred to as the Tuk-tuk in parts of East Asia and the Auto-Rickshaw in India, Montra Electric is giving this ubiquitous trike the design and tech upgrade it’s needed for decades. Most auto-rickshaws (or called autos for short) run on either LPG or CNG, but Montra Electric is shifting them to an electric powertrain with a respectable top speed of 55km/h (34/1mph) and a range of over 150 kilometers (93+ miles) on a full charge. Designed primarily for last-mile commutes, these rickshaws and tuk-tuks can be found dotted across the Asian landscape, helping passengers (and even cargo) get from points A to B.

Designer: Raghavendra Acharya (Montra Electric)

The vehicle’s design sticks to its familiar format, but turns up the sleekness with chiseled surfaces, a distinct forward-leaning silhouette, clean lines, and a unique front fascia disrupted by a central black graphic. The rear features cute-looking circular taillights and a downward-opening tailgate for boot storage. On the inside, the auto-rickshaw seats three (or even four) including a driver in front who operates the vehicle using motorbike-inspired handlebars. The handlebars are now surrounded by a redesigned dashboard featuring an OLED display that elevates the entire vehicle’s driving experience. Unlike most rickshaws and tuk-tuks, the Montra Electric Rickshaw also gets secure doors for both the driver/rider as well as the passengers behind, along with redesigned seats featuring higher backrests and extra legroom. All this, while maintaining a judicious balance between aesthetic opulence and an affordable price point of $3,700 USD.

The redesigned auto-rickshaw is also accompanied by a new rider experience in the form of an app that helps them monitor the status of their vehicle, track their daily earnings, and even digitally store all their important documents and IDs.

The Montra Electric ‘Super Auto’ is a Winner of the Red Dot Award: Design Concept for the year 2023.

The Porsche 619 E-motorbike is a Slick Speed Demon with a Monolithic Minimalist Frame

If you told me the Dodge Tomahawk went electric and showed me the above photo, I’d probably believe you. However, this clean, mean machine is the Porsche 619 electric concept by Jackson Zhang, an automotive designer and CGI artist based out of California.

Designed as a response to Porsche’s goals of going electric by 2030, the 619 gives the automotive giant its first proper electric motorcycle (even though Porsche has experimented with e-bicycles before). Its unique design quite literally puts Porsche’s automotive DNA in the backseat, while starting entirely afresh. The key, for Zhang, was to create something minimalist, geometry-driven, and iconic. The result is an eclectic beast that borrows a limited amount from Porsche’s design semantics, but pretty much charts its own journey with a bold, blockish form factor that’s still comfortable to sit on and ride around in. The segmented LED matrix headlight boldly reinterprets the one seen on the Taycan, while the taillight wraps around the seat, complete with the word “Porsche” integrated into the outer cover.

Designer: Jackson Zhang

The Porsche 619 concept was made for the enthusiast, not the functionally-driven user. Everything about it screams speed, enjoyment, and luxury all wrapped around in one giant parcel. It isn’t designed to be hyper-aerodynamic like Porsche’s four-wheelers, but has the wheels of a motorbike that means absolute business.

Zhang designed the 619 in two distinct variants – a slightly plan version above with a leather seat and a rear cargo rest, and a more luxurious variant below that has a fuller seat, although still designed only to seat one rider. The lower variant with the cargo rest appeals to a utility-driven audience, but ditches the iconic branded taillight. The higher-end version, however, comes with all the bells and whistles, including Porsche branding on the sides as well as on the taillight, and even LEDs built into the spokes of the wheels, creating a dramatic light show while you blitz down the tarmac.

Zheng attributes the block-ish design to the presence of a large battery unit that drives the 619. A charging port on the top lets you juice the battery, while a hatch right in front lets you disengage the battery and remove it for charging externally or swapping out with a fresh battery set. Power from the battery is guided to a rear-wheel motor that’s connected to the main motorbike’s body using a generatively designed rear wheel fork. Zheng’s pursuit for minimalism led him to rely on generative/parametric design to create a fork that has a high strength-to-weight ratio. The rear wheel also has a single shock that attaches to the underside of the seat, giving you a comfortable ride even on rough terrain.

Although conceptual, the Porsche 619 is certainly a looker. It does for the car brand what Motorrad did for BMW, and what Ducati did for its parent companies Lamborghini and Audi. While Porsche hasn’t made any explicit plans to branch out into motorcycles, the Porsche 619 concept is wishful thinking and desirable aesthetics at their best!

The GMC Safari Gets Resurrected As A Gorgeously Slick Electric Van Concept

It’s as if GMC’s classic vehicles met Polestar and Canoo!

The GMC Safari (also marketed under GM’s sub-brand Chevrolet as the Chevy Astro) was easily the most iconic van of the 90s, not just as a passenger minivan but even as a cargo transport van. Known to an entire generation as the ultimate carrier of goods and humans, GMC and Chevrolet gradually phased out the vehicle in 2005 following dwindling sales – some of which get attributed to the fact that the car was known to be such a durable work-horse it just lasted long enough for people not to end up buying new models.

However, nearly 20 years later, vans are clearly making a comeback. Volkswagen, Canoo, Ford, and Toyota have all jumped on the electric bandwagon (or should we say van-dwagon!) and now couldn’t be a more perfect time for GMC to issue a redesign for the Safari… after all, VW did exactly the same with its ID.BUZZ microbus.

Designer: Jordan Rubinstein-Towler

This modern-day GMC Safari is just as reliable and spacious as its predecessor but comes with an electric heart in its rib cage instead of a gas-powered one. The 2023 GMC Safari concept comes from the mind of automotive designer Jordan Rubinstein-Towler, who decided to modernize one of the most iconic vans of yesteryear, reviving it as a contemporary electric vehicle that can handle the demanding cargo and performance conditions of the spacious van category.

The updated van concept features a slick, no-nonsense design that borrows its essence from the original Safari series. Smooth paneling gives the van an incredibly clean look, setting it up perfectly against its urban utopia. Edge lines on the side enhance the van’s dynamism, and a trailing roof and rear bumper overhang ever so slightly from the back, making it look like the car’s creating a motion blur. The lack of visible pillars reinforces the motion-blur aesthetic too, and just to drive home the reliable robustness of this secure van, the doors come with shield-shaped cutouts.

The car’s modern overhaul is also expressed through its redesigned front, which features more sleek, streamlined headlights as well as taillights, along with a glowing GMC logo against a flat panel where the Safari would originally have its radiator grill. The absence of the grill is almost a defining symbol of electrification, a symbol that the Safari wears proudly. The glowing GMC logo, however, feels a little too similar to the DMC logo seen on the DeLorean. Finally, the van ditches conventional rear-view mirrors for innovative, razor-thin rear cams that beautifully emerge from the base of the A pillar.

The rear is filled with interesting details too. The vertical bar headlights from the original get a minimalist makeover, featuring a continuous light-strip that goes from the left to the right. A roof taillight adds to the car’s safety, ensuring that everyone sees the lights flash when the van slows down or brakes.

Designer Jordan Rubinstein-Towler even detailed the van’s interiors, focusing on a futuristic driver dashboard with a digital speedometer as well as a sprawling infotainment system. The rear of the car, given that it’s a van, is designed to be incredibly spacious too. Jordan mentioned that the Safari would feature a front-facing battery unit, allowing the van to have a lower floor in the rear, giving extra head-room for people as well as for storing cargo. Compact dual rear motors placed at the outer widths of the vehicle also help provide a larger space at the back.

It’s a commonly known fact that GM would often market similar models with slight tweaks in design under its different sub-brands. The GMC Safari had a twin in the Chevrolet Astro, which was sold in other parts of the world as well as in America. Notably, the Astro had the same chassis and design, with a few cosmetic changes. Given that the Safari and Astro were soul-siblings, designer Jordan Rubinstein-Towler decided to redesign the Astro too. Shown here as a cargo van (as opposed to the Safari passenger minivan), the Chevy Astro features the same design details but with an updated pair of headlights, a Chevy logo on the front as well as the wheels, and the lack of rear windows.