The future of the automobile is electric. This is almost a fact. The future of the supercar however, is under debate. Petrolheads are a resistive bunch and don’t take to change easily. They aren’t ready to let go of their flat-plane crank V8s just yet. This is seen in the criticism this year’s Ford GT received for having only a V6, when in fact this car is up there with its peers in pace and dynamism.
This outlook has been further aggravated when it comes to electric power. Until very recently, electric power was associated with dull, drab, eco-conscious family cars like Priuses and Insights. It was only after the effective torch-bearers of petrol power, Ferrari, Porsche and Mclaren, showed with the LaFerrari, the 918, and the P1 respectively, that electric power can also make a car exciting and quick, and be way more efficient while doing so.
What cannot be argued with are the performance figures new electric cars put out. The Tesla Model S, in P100D spec, has a 0 to 96 kph time of 2.5s. A Bugatti Chiron does it in 2.3. This while the Model S is an executive saloon and the Chiron a purpose built hypercar with the most complex road-going engine ever built. Cars like this, and the Rimac Concept 1, a 1000+ hp electric hypercar built by a start-up from Croatia, clearly showcase the benefits this power source has over regular combustion engines.
Electric motors supply all their torque (pulling power) from standstill, this is what gets them the insane acceleration figures. These motors are more compact and far more efficient than regular engines. This allows manufacturers to effectively fix one motor on each wheel. Consequently, these cars put their power down far better and stick to the road better. Another advantage is that battery packs, unlike fuel tanks and engines, can be placed low in the car’s structure, allowing better weight management.
Understandably, this technology is not without its flaws. Battery packs are heavy and still a work in progress. The Tesla, for example, only produces those headline figures when the battery is fully charged. The Rimac to its credit, solves these issues. Another concern is range, even though major progress is being made here, it is still not up there with the mainstream competition. The biggest challenge for fast electric cars however is to recreate or substitute the sensory experience of driving a supercar. Most of this by way of the sound of the engine or exhaust. Electric motors function in near silence.
It is safe to say that the proliferation of the electric supercar will be limited not by technology but by perception. The best brains in the world are working to get an electric car in our driveway, whether we like it or not. What remains to be seen is how traditional car enthusiasts respond to this change. This is like what happened with the manual gearbox. It was never thought that automatics, known to be dull and unresponsive, would make the manual gearbox obsolete. But that is exactly what has happened and even the staunchest critics now agree that a manual cannot hold a candle to any state-of-the automatic out there. Recently, there has been this underlying notion that the supercar will die with the death of the internal combustion engine. This is not true. The supercar will live on and it will be faster and cleaner than ever.
This outlook has been further aggravated when it comes to electric power. Until very recently, electric power was associated with dull, drab, eco-conscious family cars like Priuses and Insights. It was only after the effective torch-bearers of petrol power, Ferrari, Porsche and Mclaren, showed with the LaFerrari, the 918, and the P1 respectively, that electric power can also make a car exciting and quick, and be way more efficient while doing so.
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| Rimac Concept 1 Credits: Manufacturer |
Understandably, this technology is not without its flaws. Battery packs are heavy and still a work in progress. The Tesla, for example, only produces those headline figures when the battery is fully charged. The Rimac to its credit, solves these issues. Another concern is range, even though major progress is being made here, it is still not up there with the mainstream competition. The biggest challenge for fast electric cars however is to recreate or substitute the sensory experience of driving a supercar. Most of this by way of the sound of the engine or exhaust. Electric motors function in near silence.
It is safe to say that the proliferation of the electric supercar will be limited not by technology but by perception. The best brains in the world are working to get an electric car in our driveway, whether we like it or not. What remains to be seen is how traditional car enthusiasts respond to this change. This is like what happened with the manual gearbox. It was never thought that automatics, known to be dull and unresponsive, would make the manual gearbox obsolete. But that is exactly what has happened and even the staunchest critics now agree that a manual cannot hold a candle to any state-of-the automatic out there. Recently, there has been this underlying notion that the supercar will die with the death of the internal combustion engine. This is not true. The supercar will live on and it will be faster and cleaner than ever.
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