The EV1, G.M.’s pioneering electric car, and the recently discontinued Insight raised a challenge that designers are still dealing with. How do you signal green to other drivers, and is it for pride or marketing? How do you provide drivers assurance about the novel technology? What does green look like? How do you design a green car? How green do drivers want to appear?
One way to suggest green through design is simply to paint or mark models that have better fuel economy or reduced emissions. Toyota offers the hybrid versions of the Camry in a color called Jasper Pearl, a light, almost luminous, green. When I drove a test model, several people asked if the car was a hybrid, simply because of its strange green paint, I believe.

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The Toyota Prius offers a now-recognizable and characteristic silhouette: a long arc of roof, a short hood and a high, stubby back. It is not lovely and it is not as radically different from other cars as the EV1 or the Insight. But it is different enough to signal that it represents a different kind of car.

While in the traditional visual language of auto design the small hood sends a signal that the Prius is low-powered and ineffectual, its now familiar silhouette speaks of greenness. Of course, Toyota also offers other hybrids whose status is signaled by a badge that reads Hybrid Synergy Drive.
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David Lyon, head of North American interior design for G.M. He is looking for alternatives to leather, a sort of design equivalent to a vegan menu, and for materials that look recycled. Recycled items can become something for drivers to boast of, he said.