The coupé SUV is an oxymoronic niche that remains inexplicably popular. Brought to prominence by cars like the BMW X6 and Porsche Cayenne Coupé, you’ll find fastback versions of standard SUVs across all spectrums of the market. By creating a sloping rear roofline, designers were deliberately sacrificing practicality for style. Car buyers went for it in droves.
Enter the Aehra electric SUV
Aehra’s forthcoming electric SUV takes this awkward premise and somehow makes it good, thanks in part to the flexibility its EV platform and an ultra-long 3m wheelbase (allowing it to accommodate ‘four full-size NBA players’, no less). Pitched at the ‘ultra-premium’ market, the Italian company was co-founded by Sandro Andreotti and Hazim Nada, both keen aviation fans, as the country’s first all-electric car brand.
The SUV proudly bears the Italian flag
The car the Aehra brings to mind is Spyker’s ill-fated D8 model, the so-called ‘Paris to Peking’ concept. Shown all the way back in 2006, the D8 was one of the first ultra-luxury SUV concepts, created by the on-again/off-again Dutch company to accompany its successful mid-engined supercars. Spyker (which took the name of a 19th-century carriage builder) disappeared in 2014, only to resurface in early 2022, apparently supported by Russian money. As a result, one can only assume it has disappeared once again.
The Aehra SUV features rear-view cameras instead of wing mirrors
Aehra has nothing whatsoever to do with its Dutch predecessor, apart from a shared sense of drama. The newcomer still has a few years to go before its cars reach buyers – 2025 is a suggested delivery date – but on the basis of these renders, this debut electric SUV will certainly be desirable. In addition to the lozenge-like exterior, the interior promises a number of configurations, including home theatre, lounge and meeting room modes.
A vast, tilting screen transforms the SUV's interior
These arrangements are made possible by a vast monitor that spans the width of the dashboard and extends up to cover the windscreen when the car is parked. On the move, it folds down to form the driver information screen, as well as show images from the rear-view cameras. Aehra’s chief design officer Fillippo Perini has also announced that the SUV will be followed by a sedan concept in a few months’ time.
Other key design components are the yoke-like steering wheel (a style recently deployed by Tesla) and four gull-wing doors that provide graceful access to the spacious interior. Aehra still has a long way to go before it can call itself a true competitor, but the SUV design shows the company’s ambition is underpinned by true style.
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