Ever since the Telsa Model S first debuted, it seemed as if BMW was caught sitting on its hands a bit. The Bavarian brand, well known for being one of the most technologically-advanced brands in the world, was seemingly without a competitor to Silicon Valley’s newest Wunderkind. Sure, there was the BMW i3 but that was a tiny hatchback with nowhere near the range of the Model S. And this absence in BMW’s lineup has lasted years. Until now. Sort of. The BMW i Vision Dynamics is Bavaria’s answer to the Model S…eventually.

See, the BMW i Vision Dynamics is just a concept car, a vision (pun intended) of what’s to come. So it doesn’t actually exist as a working production car. However, its design language and styling is likely to be similar to whatever production car does indeed come from it. So how does it look up against the Tesla Model S? Let’s take a look.

From the front, the first thing that stands out is that the BMW still has some semblance of a grille. The Model S did away with a pseudo-grille awhile back, as electric cars don’t need one. However, we think that was a mistake. Sure, a grille on an electric car is about as useful as using an umbrella in a submarine, but grilles actually do more than just funnel air to radiators. They actually give cars faces, which make them look far better. The grille-less Model S looks like Keanu Reeves in that no-mouth scene from The Matrix.

The sort of fake Kidney Grilles on the BMW i Vision Concept keep the brand’s heritage and give the car a face so, if you as us, it’s the better looking car. It’s also far funkier and more futuristic looking. The Model S isn’t bad looking, and has some pretty nice headlights actually, but it’s just a bit bland.

In profile, it’s no contest, though. The BMW i Vision Concept is the better looking car. I stayed away from saying prettier there, because it isn’t that. It’s just far more interesting. The biggest knock against the Model S’ styling is that it’s boring. Take the Tesla badges off and you would be forgiven for mistaking it for a Toyota Camry. It’s just blah. The Vision Concept is weird and isn’t exactly good looking but it’s futuristic and strange and if you’re buying a car like that, why not have it look as futuristic as its tech is?

Overall, I think the BMW i Vision Dynamics Concept is the better looking car, despite not loving it. The Model S is just so nondescript that it ends up being boring. I’ll take weird and interesting over decent and bland any day. It’s like the new Honda Civic. It looks odd and almost off-putting but I’d choose that over a Toyota Corolla everyday of the week. Interesting is more fun and the i Vision Dynamics concept is more interesting.