Russia has a new electric vehicle concept design from the Moscow Polytechnic University that was revealed on social media earlier this week. It’s called “Amber,” and while we know basically nothing about it from a technical perspective, memes of the… unfortunate looking EV are already proliferating on social media. And they’re pretty, pretty, pretty good.
I want to be clear: We’re not taking any political stance on this vehicle, which is undoubtedly a byproduct of rather severe sanctions on Russia internationally right now. We’re also aware that most of these memes are written in Ukrainian, which is… not surprising! But regardless of geopolitics, I think we can all agree on one thing: This is a very unfortunate looking piece of design. Now, a selection of a few Amber Memes.
There are more over at this Ukrainian news site, and I certainly recommend having a look. There’s also a post covering the news in a less tongue-in-cheek manner at Auto.ru.
More seriously, the Amber is a preliminary design, and apparently the final vehicle won’t appear like this concept. Though, that’s pretty obvious, given the seamless front body panel would be nightmarish to produce and replace. Also, because it looks like a fish dressed up as a bread van for halloween. The final version of the car will allegedly be classified as a “large quadricycle” when it enters production sometime in 2025.
But wow, who thought this even looked good as a concept? Even if you told me it had 500 miles of range and could drive itself using only a Pentium III and an old closed circuit security camera, the Amber is the visual definition of “no thanks, I’m full.” I’m sure there have been uglier cars, but something about the idea of driving this thing around just makes me sad — like opening a can of Pringles and discovering they got all wet and congealed into a vile potato slurry. The Amber is like turning on a TV that only displays interlaced video. It’s like walking into a Mexican restaurant… in Scotland. It’s like getting an email that your FedEx package is ready for pickup… at the distribution center. It’s like biting into a warm Klondike Bar. Ok, ok, I admit: That last one might just be my own personal nightmare.
Anyway, if you’ve ever wondered what a Volkswagen Golf would look like if it melted 70% of the way into a Power Wheels, today’s your lucky day.
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