Vehicles are available in various designs and forms, and the automotive market has established several distinct categories of car types over time. Electric vehicles (EVs) are no exception, adopting a range of body types traditionally associated with internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.
In our specifications, we describe a vehicle’s body type by focusing on three primary attributes: the type name, the number of doors, and the seating capacity. These criteria collectively provide a comprehensive overview of the vehicle’s design.
The number of seats in a car is straightforward, but when counting doors, it’s important to note that a sedan’s trunk is not considered a door, whereas the rear hatch of a hatchback is counted as one.
Popular body types for EVs include:
- SUV (Sports Utility Vehicle): This type merges characteristics of regular passenger cars with off-road vehicle traits, like increased ground clearance and occasionally all-wheel drive.
- Hatchback: A car with a rear door that opens upwards, allowing access to the cargo area.
- Coupe: A car with a sloping or shortened rear roofline.
- Sedan: A car with a distinct three-box configuration, segregating the engine, passenger, and cargo spaces.
- Crossover: Essentially a blend between a hatchback and an SUV, built on a unibody frame and often sharing a platform with passenger cars, sometimes referred to as “car-based SUVs.”
- Minivan: Known in Europe as an MPV (multi-purpose vehicle) or people carrier, designed primarily for passenger transport with multiple rows of reconfigurable seating, featuring characteristics like a higher roof, flat floor, sliding rear doors, and elevated seating.
- Estate (or station wagon): A sedan variant with an extended roof over the rear passenger/cargo area, accessible through a rear door or liftgate, transforming the standard three-box design into a two-box layout with additional rear pillars.
