There’s no shortage of electric vehicle concepts coming out of automakers’ design houses right now. Chrysler has its Airflow, Mercedes its EQXX, and even Lincoln has one in the works. But these concepts are often same-y blobs of wind-tunnel-tested efficiency, with little thought or care put into the design other than a corporate face and a vague gesture towards “sleekness.” Genesis, with its X Speedium Coupe, appears to have gone another route.
The idea for the X Speedium Coupe came about at a track day, leading Genesis’ design team to the concept of a low-slung sports car. That led to the Genesis X Concept, but the design team didn’t stop iterating with that initial reveal. They kept tweaking, fine-tuning, and pondering the greatest automotive question of all: How long can headlights get?
The result was the X Speedium Coupe, named for South Korea’s Inje Speedium circuit. It maintains the grand touring proportions of the original X Concept, with Genesis Chief Creative Officer Luc Donckerwolke giving particular attention to the dash-to-axle ratio and coke bottle shape, The result speaks for itself — this design is fantastic.
Genesis has always appeared to be a design-forward brand, and the Speedium X concept is the next step in that design language. The headlights now wrap around the front end, forming the same V-shape as the grille used on the company’s ICE cars. Donckerwolke hinted that this may make its way to future electrified Genesis models, as electrification lessens the need for ostentatious front-end openings.
The ducktail spoiler at the rear, inspired by the Shelby Daytona Coupe of all things, may be a bit harder to transfer to models like the upcoming electric GV60 or electrified variant of the GV70. If the rest of this design language can fit a larger shell, however, the next generation of Genesis ought to be a treat to see.