In real life, the Ford Probe IV was not an EV. It was built in the early 198os, and served to show what an efficient future vehicle might look like. It was built for maximum aerodynamic efficiency, with Ford claiming it was the most efficient practical passenger car built up to that date. The drag coefficient was calculated to be only .15, or barely more draggy than the upcoming Aptera .
But, the Probe IV was otherwise a good predictor of future EV design. The cheaper way to make an EV appear in the 1984 film would have been to just drive a conventional car or some other cooler looking concept car by and add EV sound effects. Instead, they chose an efficient vehicle, likely knowing that EVs were only going to be practical in the future in efficient shapes, due to the cost of batteries and the need for more range.
So weird were the looks of my 2011 LEAF that it attracted stares on the road from many, and nasty particulate matter from the diesel bros who felt threatened by it for some unknown reason . With the statute of limitations long run out, I can also admit to having raced it on a few occasions at lights, embarrassing some rice burners up to 40 MPH, which was bad for their egos due to the somewhat ugly nature of the vehicle.