Electricity has been making its way into the way auto industry, extremely quick in fact. In the last ten years, electrification has seen an unprecedented uprising not just in the technological aspect but in the context of our culture as well.
I know we have all heard it a million times by now, but Tesla’s role as a world leader in the electric car market simply cannot be understated.
The tech that this company has developed was years ahead of its time. The keyword there is “was.” When the Tesla Model S was put on sale in 2012, electric cars were more of a theory. They were not largely in production, and everyone thought the idea of electric cars was years away.
However, nowadays, the industry has nearly caught up. The Porsche Taycan has rivaled every trim level of the Tesla Model S. All eyes are on the rivalry between the Model S P100D; the ultra-high-performance version with one of the quickest 0-60 mile per hour times of any production car today. And the Taycan Turbo S offers something that the Tesla cannot even dream of, amazing handling, and exquisite build quality.
This epic rivalry is the stuff of legends. For once, we have an electric sports car that can raise eyebrows at more than one thing. The Taycan drives like a Porsche, something that is the benchmark for how something should drive. Whereas the Model S can accelerate mind-numbingly quick, once, and only after it has heated the batteries for nearly 20 minutes.
This brutal acceleration is shared by both the Porsche and the Tesla. The only problem is that it is nothing more than a fancy party trick. Also, it only works once, after that most testers feel so sick and shaken up from something so unkind to the human body they simply want to get out.
Additionally, something that is more of a foreign phenomenon to us here in the states, is electric city cars. Companies like Honda and Volkswagen, as well as companies that are not on sale in America like Peugeot and Renault, have invested massive amounts of money into electrifying their many small cars.
Easily the most exciting of the bunch in the Honda city E, a small unashamedly cute city car, about the size of a Mini Cooper. The most interesting thing about it is that it is designed to live almost exclusively in cities, as it only has a mere 130 or so miles of range.
Which paired with real-world conditions and driving habits, drops to about 100 miles of range.
I suspect that the reason these are not sold here in America is that we are so hung up on our ridiculous idea that bigger is better.
As a result, pickup trucks and SUVs make up the vast majority of new car sales and we simply sneer and turn our nose up at anything even related to the concept of efficiency and fun in a small package.
This is a real shame because we yanks are in desperate need of something new, refreshing, and dedicated to simply putting a smile on our faces. The Fiat 500 Abarth, Ford Fiesta ST, Focus ST, and RS, all of which are small fun hatchbacks are no longer for sale brand new in the U.S.
An ideal situation would be something like an electric Mazda Miata. A small, light, two-seater convertible, with a manual transmission and barely any power, but brilliant suspension and the sole purpose of making you smile so much your cheeks are sore.
However, it seems as if the industry is looking in the opposite direction. Electric pickup trucks are currently all the rage, which is a bit odd since there are currently not any electric pickup trucks on sale anywhere in the world right now. Although there are currently seven or eight companies currently promising to deliver an electric truck…eventually.
There is near-as-makes-no-difference a billion dollars worth of investing going on between them because the truck market is a thriving sector of the industry that is showing no signs of slowing down.
My take: keep your eyes on the new Hummer; it looks menacing and seems to have the best chance to come to fruition as it is built by General Motors, not some Tesla copycat startup nobody has ever heard of before.
Another aspect of electrification in the auto industry is the talk surrounding the infrastructure that will serve the electric cars and the people that drive them. That is currently people’s biggest fear, right behind range anxiety of course. Charging these cars takes a while, around a half-hour, and into then into the stratosphere.
However, there is hope. Several years ago, it was common for electric cars to talk over 12 hours to complete a 100% charge. With that rate of progress, it seems as if charging times will continue to decrease.
However, electric cars have some demons.
The mining of the rare metals used to construct the batteries and motors is a filthy business. One that results in forced child labor, acid rain, and an incredible amount of environmental damage.
Several years ago, a study came out about how much better electric cars are for the environment, in their totality than conventional automobiles.
Meaning how much damage was done to the Earth through the building of the vehicle until it cannot run anymore.
The study found that the normal electric and hybrid cars, at the time, did more environmental damage than a V8 Range Rover.
Until we can exorcize these electric demons, the electric car may not be that revolutionary after all.
Photo was taken from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tesla_electric_cars_lineup_DCA_08_2018_0282.jpg