I loved flipping through LPs at the record store and would usually go through everything at my favorite stores. The flap-flap-flap of the cardboard sleeves was so soothing.
There actually is a science for this: it's called accessibility. WCAG guidelines would be extremely useful in determining how colors should be combined and applied to meet contrast guidelines.
It would also be useful to create usage contexts to guide additions to the palette. for example: text + background, ui (border, icon) + background, background + background.
These would help identify common situations and ensure that you're adding the colors you need and avoiding future bloat.
Since companies are now being sued over a11y issues, it's definitely something that should be incorporated into the design process from the beginning.
You can buy a VW e-golf since at least 2015. It's a great car, but by no means a Tesla competitor. It retails for close to $30k, I got mine for under $20k after the federal rebate.
IIRC, VW only really got into the electric car game as a condition of their emissions cheating settlement. FWIW.