Would You Drive An EV Tesla?

[Mimosa]

The McMurtry Speirling is what I'm hoping trickles down to us mere mortals eventually. The sound that this thing makes is visceral. The sound of speed, motor whine, downforce, and that damn fan!



I'm glad that more companies are getting EVs out there on the road. The Kia EV6 (seen a few in my area) and the Genesis GV60 look amazing. The Polestar 2 also looks amazing in person. It's just nice to see nicely stylized EVs that don't look as sterile as previous EVs out there.

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[3TMagnetMan]

The McMurtry Speirling is what I'm hoping trickles down to us mere mortals eventually. The sound that this thing makes is visceral. The sound of speed, motor whine, downforce, and that damn fan!



I'm glad that more companies are getting EVs out there on the road. The Kia EV6 (seen a few in my area) and the Genesis GV60 look amazing. The Polestar 2 also looks amazing in person. It's just nice to see nicely stylized EVs that don't look as sterile as previous EVs out there.

If the Supra was an EV like that car I am all for it

 

[Heavy Foot]

My wife's getting a Tesla model 3. She's always driven stick shifts her whole life, but she's willing to transition into the electric world.

 

[Thill444]

My wife's getting a Tesla model 3. She's always driven stick shifts her whole life, but she's willing to transition into the electric world.

Which trim level? I can tell you the Performance model is one of the best all around cars I’ve ever owned. Actually it’s the best. The instant torque at any RPM is pretty fun.

 

[Evolution]

I just got an electric SUV. Never thought I would but gas prices suck and are only going to get worse. Its a different driving experience but that instant TQ is fun. For a daily, it works great. Not sure I could live without a fun ICE car though.

 

[gixxersixxerman]

For a daily, it works great.

I think right now for most people EV's work perfect for a daily. Most people don't travel more then 50 miles a day for work and errands. In those cases, EV's are perfect. If I HAD to trade my Supra in right now and it wasn't unobtanium then id jump in a full loaded Lightning today. My fiancé drive is maybe 1.5 miles to work. It's hard on a car and fuel mileage suffers due to it. I think we are going to trade her 19 Mazda 3 in for a KIA EV6. It would work perfect for us, it could get us to SoCal without issue. Where both our families live.

All that said I don't think EV's work for everyone. People that do a lot of traveling and long-distance driving may not fit their lifestyle. I think a lot of push back is the "being forced" into it and majority of Americans don't want to be forced into anything.

 

[Fuji808]

sure, i would drive a tesla...if they ever build it.
i put down a deposit for the tri-motor cybertruck in march 2021.
last time i checked.....i was order # 2,000,000 plus.

 

[White Shadow]

I'm glad that more companies are getting EVs out there on the road. The Kia EV6 (seen a few in my area) and the Genesis GV60 look amazing. The Polestar 2 also looks amazing in person. It's just nice to see nicely stylized EVs that don't look as sterile as previous EVs out there.

The Audi e-tron GT RS is stunning. Finally saw on on the road just yesterday and it has amazing road presence.

 

[MYA90SUPRA]

I probably will down the road. I drove my brother's limited edition ev6 and it seems like a nice vehicle.

I just want a little bigger boost on energy density so more options are available.

 

[MyCorolla]

This will get some attention.

https://www.motortrend.com/news/meet-dodge-charger-daytona-srt-ev-thatll-kick-hellcats-ass/

 

[kaj]

This will get some attention.

https://www.motortrend.com/news/meet-dodge-charger-daytona-srt-ev-thatll-kick-hellcats-ass/

I love the look but figure I'd be disappointed when I went to drive it. Subconsciously, I'm thinking of it with a sweet-sounding V8. I have to remember it's an EV.

 

[Andrew4Supra]

No interest.

 

[MVJ1975]

If someone makes a reasonably priced, reasonably small/light EV sports car, I'm not opposed to owning one. But nobody has, so here we are.

 

[reroute]

I have nothing against EVs. Yeahhhh they're not as fun, but my main gripe is this transitional phase with them having fake engine noises and shit since most people want an ICE. I'm sure I'll get used to it, especially once EV designs again get out of this transitional phase with the hideous EV look that companies are stuck in right now.

 

[KahnBB6]

I have nothing against EV cars. Yeahhhh they're not as fun, but my main gripe is this transitional phase with them having fake engine noises and shit since most people want an ICE. I'm sure I'll get used to it, especialy once EV designs again get out of this transitional phase with the hideous EV look that companies are stuck in right now.

I 100% agree regarding fake engine noises, hideous looks and giant bodies dictated by today's underwhelming lithium-ion battery pack technology.

The Dodge Charger Daytona concept above, however, does have good looks (if you already liked the looks of a 1968 Charger two-door coupe... which personally I do) and very interestingly they don't seem to be faking their drivetrain noise-- they're excessively amplifying what sound the motors naturally make and running it through a kind of resonator tube system that is sort of like a traditional exhaust as far as the sound goes.

And they've given it a multi-speed shiftable transmission which allows for decoupling the electric motor (or twin motors in the AWD versions) to allow you to free rev it. This being able to free-rev an electric motor in neutral is not new for the DIY EV conversion hobbyists and speciality EV conversion shops but it seems to be a first for a major manufacturer.

It's not the same as an ICE Hemi V8. Nothing will be the same as that. However it's a hell of a lot more interesting than the bland and sanitized soulless experience you get with, say, a Tesla Model S and it's a step up in uniqueness from the Porsche Taycan.

This transitional phase to EVs that we're now in needs three major changes to get away from boring EVs being the only EVs:

1.) A big leap in battery technology over lithium-ion. This should begin to show improvements when solid state battery pack designs become the norm which themselves will eventually give way to the next technological leap in cell technology beyond that.

2.) There needs to be more room again for fun and engaging EVs rather than 1-speed soulless, whisper-quiet being your only option. EVs need to amplify their own natural sound, maybe augment it just a little but they need to get away from 100% fake generated noise-- barf.

3.) Further, super tough and strong (to handle massive torque) multiple speed transmissions may not be the most efficient approach but they sure can make for a fun approach. Or... cleverly designed multiple motor setups that allow for more engaging driveline feedback than today's 1-speed wonders provide. Few EVs are 1,500-2,000hp EV hypercars.

Beyond that, this trend of everything becoming a crossover or SUV needs to stop. Sure, they are needed to pad an automaker's bottom line because the majority of people seem to love hideous looking vehicles but there still need to be sedans, coupes, convertibles, mid-engine *style* (even though there is no ICE) cars, small roadsters, compact performance hatchbacks, etc. but that isn't an industry trend limited solely to EVs as it's been going on since the late 1990's.

To that end, since today's conventional lithium-ion pack technology is still the norm for now some of these fun cars need to be designed with some compromise to ultimate driving range so as to allow the size of the battery pack to not dictate what the vehicle's shape ultimately looks like.

Conventional battery cell technology won't always be as be inferior, slow to recharge, as easily overheated and depleted under hard driving, and as extremely heavy and physically large for the given power density and voltage they provide as they made are today. A lot will change in that area over the next 6-8 years let alone over the next 10-15 years.

....

For now though, since lithium-ion packs are only as good as they are, they need to be scaled down a bit for the specialty enthusiast cars so as to make a car that integrates a battery rather than it being the other way around with a battery integrating a car around it. The latter approach seems to be what is driving Tesla and a couple other manufacturers pursuing "structural" battery packs which ultimately make for a highly disposable rather than long term rebuildable vehicle in my opinion.

That approach makes it hard to consider any vehicle with a "structural" battery pack a potential classic in the future when it's very possible that such a battery pack might not even be made any longer in 15-30 years' time. And even if some special EV with a structural battery pack did hypothetically become a grassroots classic car on the used market such that an aftermarket battery were available for it with much newer/superior/smaller/lighter/more power dense cell technology... how then would a far lighter "structural" battery pack serve as part of the structural frame of the car again unless a specialty shop were to custom weld up a strong steel or aluminum frame in its place?

I'm going to stop from going down that specific rabbit hole any further but I hope my point on that is clear: especially for the future classic and enthusiast cars that stand the test of time, the CAR and its characteristics has to be envisioned first and today's very compromised conventional battery technology has to bend around that vision... not the other way around.

Again, I think that EVENTUALLY coming improvements in battery cell technology will make this a moot argument and eventually get things far closer to the point where you can build something like a lightweight MR2 or Lotus Elise powered by a superior and physically small battery that is at least the dimensions of a conventional gas tank with similar weight.

But that's not where our mass produced volume battery technology is at in 2022. Give it some more time and that will undoubtedly change.

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