Power Plant: Esther Haase and Eduardo Ramírez

Ms. Haase, what was your first thought when you saw the IONIQ 6?

Esther Haase: My first thought was: It’s really fast and it’s got real power. And if a woman drove it, it would have to be Catwoman.

What do you think about electric cars in general?

Haase: Even as a child, I always wondered why we have these noisy, dirty machines everywhere. I was a big fan of The Jetsons, and everything there was wonderfully quiet and electric. They could fly, and everything was so clean and tidy.

And what was it like when you got in the IONIQ 6?

Haase: What I find so fascinating about this car is the contradiction between the exterior and the interior. From the outside, as I said, it looks incredibly fast, you expect a real sports car. But once you’re sitting inside, you have this incredible amount of space, a place to simply enjoy – or work, if you have to.

Ramírez: That’s certainly a possibility.

Haase: I could bring my tea kettle.

Ramírez: You could. Or an espresso machine. There is a power outlet.

Mr. Ramírez, the IONIQ 6 looks as it was drawn in a single stroke of the pen. Where did you get the inspiration for this car?

Ramírez: When we first started talking about the streamliner form, we were able to draw on clear references from the past for inspiration. There are several examples in automotive history that express this very clearly. The original Saab, for example. It was designed by aeronautical engineers when the aircraft manufacturer decided to build cars in the late 1940s. It is a very free interpretation of the first-ever submarine. You can see the teardrop shape or streamliner form very well and can imagine how the air glides along almost without resistance.

What other features are important to you in car design? What story do they tell?

Ramírez: We genuinely want our design to be about our clients. To design well, we need to understand their desires and ambitions. Only then can we design for them. In a way, we are telling the story of our clients.

And those are different stories? There are quite some different designs in the IONIQ family.

Ramírez: The choice of a car is an expression of one’s own personality. That’s why we treat each car differently, depending on the purpose it is meant to serve.

What about self-driving cars? Would that be something for you, Ms. Haase?

Haase: That would take a lot of faith on my part. [laughs] But honestly: Could you really sit back, close your eyes and let the car drive you? I don’t know if I would want to do that. For me, driving is also about independence. Do self-driving cars mean more freedom? 

Ramírez: I like to compare it to flying. As a ­passenger on a plane, I can’t control the pilot either.

Haase: Okay, I sometimes like to let myself be ferried from here to there as well. But just as much, I like being in control of how I travel. Though it is a tricky topic. On the one hand, driving yourself is about personal freedom. On the other hand, it requires your full concentration and attention. But still, I don’t want to become completely dependent on machines. 

But the other day you called me while driving because you were stuck in traffic and were able to pull out in just the right place to make a phone call in peace. And we realized that a self-driving car could actually be very practical...

→ Read the whole story in ramp #60 »Too Cool to Handle.«.