ELECTRIC SPORTS CARS ESSAY
14 AUGUST 2019 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 39
like science fiction it’s not: there
are already at least three that
have been shown with outputs of
1900bhp or more and which are
now being readied for production.
The cattle grid rattles under the
c a r. T he r e ’s no c lut c h t o k ic k nor
even a paddle to pull, let alone a
stick to shift. There is no decision-
making process because there’s
nothing to do. Except put your foot
down. You can still do that. So the
car now tries to transmit 2000bhp
plus all that attendant and instant
torque to the road. Of course it has
four-wheel drive, but that’s still a
911 GT3’s worth of power per tyre.
O f c ou r s e it c a n’t du mp it a l l
on the Tarmac, which is perhaps
a s w e l l. F u l l t h r ot t le i n a Bu gat t i
Ve y r on i s a pr e t t y b e w i lde r i n g
experience and these cars have
double the power. I wouldn’t be
able to guarantee the security of my
breakfast under such an assault.
I ’d w a nt t o k now my pa s s e n ge r w a s
in good nick, too, before springing
such a surprise. Perhaps a disclaimer
on the passenger door, you know,
l i k e t he one s t he y put ne x t t o t he
more vomit-inducing rollercoasters.
Involuntary acceleration-induced
myocardial infarction: the legals
would be interesting.
But that doesn’t happen. The
systems kick in and you are hurled
forward only at the rate at which your
chocolate slicktermediate tyres can
handle – which will still be enough to
make you feel uncomfortably giddy
and your passenger really rather ill.
Is that fun? Maybe for some.
But what then? Well, and just as an
example, Lotus says the Evija will get
f r om r e s t t o 186mph i n fe w e r t h a n
nine seconds. Well, you’re not going
t o r e a c h t h at s p e e d i n publ ic a nd y ou
won’t start from rest. So just how
lon g do y ou t h i n k y ou’ l l b e a ble t o
bury the throttle – which, remember,
is the only thing this car requires you
to do to save steer and brake – before
some sense, common or survival,
makes you lift? How long can this
extraordinary but potentially
somewhat disquieting experience be
enjoyed? Or should I say endured?
Not long. And then what? Slow down
and do it all over again?
Perhaps. But with nothing to listen
to and nothing to do save f lexing a
hoof, I think the novelty might soon
wear off, and that’s just for the driver.
I am being mischievous here,
because I’m clearly not comparing
like with like. We have already
reported that the 2022 Cayman will
have a fully electric powertrain at
least as an option, but it’s not going
to have 2000bhp and the car won’t
cost £1.7 million-plus. But I’m doing
it t o i l lu s t r at e a p oi nt , n a me l y t h at
ju s t b e c au s e it ’s e a s y t o pr ov ide
e le c t r ic c a r s w it h hu ge p ow e r do e sn’t
mean it’s the right thing to do. But I
understand the temptation. How else
do you present electrification as ◊
The Taycan (^) shows that
Porsche’s future is
inevitably electric
Evidence of just how thorny a problem
designing a purely sporting electric
car can be is found in the fact that, to
date, only one person has tried. And
they didn’t get very far. One of the
most trenchant critics of the original
Tesla Roadster is none other than
Elon Musk himself, who loved his so
much he shot it into space.
The truth was that while the
Roadster was interesting, it just
didn’t work in reality. It was quick but
prohibitively expensive, had a deathly
dull sound and at least in its early
days was at times more than a little
lacking in the reliability area. Worse
was the decision to base it around the
platform of a Lotus Elise. For a start
i t r e q u i r e d s o m u c h m o d i fi c a ti o n th a t
M u s k d e s c r i b e d i t a s l i ke d e c i d i n g to
do up your house and ending with
just one basement wall of the original
structure still standing. It sat on a
slightly lengthened wheelbase which
would not have helped agility, but
worse – far worse – was the fact that
it weighed around 1300kg, or at least
half as much again as the Elise.
I drove one once, briefly, found
the exercise of academic interest
alone and wondered then as I do now
how an electrical architecture can
be adapted into providing a truly
inspirational powertrain.
THE FIRST (AND ONLY) SPORTS EV
Electric^ Lotus^ Evija:^
0 - 186 mph^ in^ less^
than^ nine^ seconds