What If the E-Type Went Electric? A Student Designer Might’ve Just Nailed It

By Team Dailyrevs  

What If the E-Type Went Electric? A Student Designer Might’ve Just Nailed It

There’s a quiet kind of brilliance in design that doesn’t announce itself with wings, scoops, or visual theatrics. Instead, it leans into restraint—the mastery of form, the harmony of surfaces, and the courage to leave well enough alone. That’s exactly what Melvin Bille’s latest digital concept achieves. Though, the concept was not intended to be an EV, we think this design would be ideal for Jaguar's future direction considering the fact that they have decided to go full electric! 

The Swedish car enthusiast, known for sharing sleek and thoughtfully composed renders on his Instagram and recently on Reddit, has reimagined a front-engined sports coupe that feels like a whisper from the past and a suggestion for the future. And while it’s not explicitly labeled as a Jaguar concept, its proportions and presence unmistakably echo one of the most iconic shapes in motoring history—the Jaguar E-Type.

Image gallery feautring the work of Melvin Bille is featured at the end of this article. 

A Familiar Profile, Rebooted

Viewed in side profile, Bille’s concept shares the same visual DNA as the E-Type: long bonnet, rear-set cabin, and tapering tail. But rather than falling into the trap of retro fetishism, the design is unapologetically contemporary. Clean shoulder lines flow uninterrupted from front to rear, with surfacing that relies on subtle light play rather than sharp creases or busy detailing.

The wheels—turbine-style, large-diameter, and flush with the fenders—lend a modern stance that avoids period-correct mimicry. There’s no chrome, no vents-for-vent’s-sake, no callouts to another era. It’s a design that respects the past without reenacting it.

Front and Rear: Cohesion Over Complexity

From the front, the car presents a unified, sculptural face. A single horizontal light strip replaces traditional headlights, seamlessly integrated into a full-width glass panel that curves down into the fenders. The lower grille, minimal and blacked-out, suggests performance capability without visual aggression.

Around the rear, Bille keeps things equally understated. A similarly slim LED light bar defines the tail’s width, and twin exhaust pipes peek through the lower diffuser—currently the only element tethering the design to combustion-era conventions. Remove those, and you have a body shape that could convincingly host an electric powertrain.

Image gallery of 2024 Jaguar Type 00 Concept

No Rear Window, No Problem

Like Jaguar’s own Type 00 concept, Melvin Bille’s design skips the rear window entirely—and the car’s better for it. Without it, the rear takes on a sculpted, uninterrupted presence that feels bold and modern.

It’s part of a growing trend, seen in cars like the Polestar 4, where digital mirrors replace glass, freeing designers to focus on form over function. Here, it gives the coupe a cleaner, more cohesive silhouette—one less concerned with tradition, more with purity.

Image gallery of 2024 Polestar 4

Comparing with the Original E-Type

The E-Type is often referred to as one of the most beautiful cars ever made, and not without reason. Its proportions, penned by Malcolm Sayer, were mathematically graceful and sensually aerodynamic. What Bille has done is preserve those principles while shedding their vintage skin.

The tapering tail, the cab-rearward stance, and the uninterrupted form language all mirror the original—but in a way that suggests evolution, not imitation. In fact, this may be one of the rare reinterpretations that does justice to the E-Type without dressing up in its costume.

And Then There’s Today’s Jaguar

Juxtapose this concept against Jaguar’s current design language—particularly their recent Type 00 concept—and you see the divergence. While Jaguar’s in-house direction has leaned heavily into sharp geometries and muscular surfacing, Bille’s approach is about restraint and poise. There’s no branding visible, yet you don’t need a badge to place it emotionally.

This isn’t a critique of Jaguar’s path, but rather a gentle nudge toward an alternate one. One that embraces simplicity over statement. One that suggests maybe the next great Jaguar won’t need to “wow”—just to breathe.

Why It Resonates

Melvin Bille’s design works not because it tries hard, but because it doesn’t. It’s a reminder that in the age of design overreach—where every crease screams intention and every light signature demands recognition—there’s something timeless about simplicity. Something that can connect eras without shouting across them.

Whether this design ever leaves the digital world is almost beside the point. What matters is that it captures something many OEMs are still chasing: emotional clarity.

A Future Jaguar E-Type?

If Jaguar ever chooses to revisit the E-Type legacy for the EV age, it wouldn’t need to start from scratch. Concepts like this one already show the way forward. Delete the tailpipes. Integrate an electric skateboard platform. Keep the stance, the restraint, and the purity.

What you’re left with isn’t just a car that looks like an E-Type—it’s one that feels like it. And in design, that’s a far rarer achievement.