Electric Torque Is No Replacement for a High-Revving Engine
"The Model 3, which in its current pre-production form looks like a cross between the first-generation Nissan Stanza hatchback and the unlamented 1999 Mercury Cougar, is supposed to have all sorts of surprise-and-delight features like a heads-up display and special doorhandles. If some of the early scuttlebutt is to be believed, it's also likely to be quite quick, at least from 0-60. "
"So why aren't enthusiasts flocking to electric cars the way they're clogging up dealer waiting lists for Hellcat-powered Chargers and Challengers? Sure, a Model S isn't exactly the perfect trackday car. In the hands of Nurburgring resident Robb Holland, it could only manage a "bridge-to-gantry" lap time of
approximately 10 minutes.
Given that I've run a 9:15 bridge-to-gantry in a 163-hp Mercedes-Benz SLK200 rental car, I can't say that I'm impressed by that time. I'm also not surprised. Electric cars face some real issues with heat dispersal when they're asked to haul ass for any significant length of time. "
"The electric motor, whether it be DC brushless as in the Prius or AC induction as it is in Teslas,
is strongest at low revs. The faster it spins, the more friction and other factors combine to rob it of its mojo. Fearsomely puissant at rest, the performance-oriented electric car becomes feckless and overheated at high revs, "
"Don't believe it. Your heart and soul know the truth. Something important will be lost the day that the last fast-spinning gasoline engine leaves the showroom. There is music in the royal roar of the supercar or sportbike that cannot be duplicated by stators and inverters. Music, and spirit. The electric motor might start off strongly, but a brilliant gasoline engine, like a brilliant story, doesn't start off with a bang and then trickle out to irrelevance. It encourages you to keep your foot down, to hold out for that rush to the corner exit or the finish line, in the certain knowledge that the best is yet to come. "
As a current Model 3 reservation holder, and owner of many high-rev N/A high performance coupes. I can confirm the facts and opinion expressed by the author of that article were spot-on.
EV has its uses, for me it will be for commute and doing chores like getting groceries, and use AP when stuck in traffic etc. it will never replace my high-rev N/A high performance coupes, b/c, well, it can't.
