Electric Dreams: Will electric cars ever be known for their handling?
Electric cars are known for being mind-bendingly quick but can they ever be known for handling?
Electric cars are fiendishly quick from Point A to Point B : provided the points are about a quarter of a mile apart. A Rimac Nevera and Tesla Model S Plaid can do O-60 in less than 2 seconds, 2 seconds! Most of my technology cannot load in 2 seconds.
Collectively, we have now proved that electrically powered vehicles are useful for far more than milk floats.
A milk float - formerly the typical image of an electric vehicle
But this performance comes with a penalty - weight. Most electric cars weigh over 2 tonnes, this weight can (and often does) play havoc with the handling. The lightest ICE cars (looking at Lotus here) often have sensational handling. So is their bulk going to limit the potential enjoyment of EVs?
Probably not, automotive engineers are clever people and are likely to sort this out with traction control systems and sophisticated torque vectoring. In fact some of this is already happening: the Rimac Nevera has a Drift Mode and the Porsche Taycan and Audi RS E-tron GT are widely heralded for their handling.
But there may be another solution. the long-awaited and much hyped solid-state batteries. These are hopefully far more energy dense(and therefore require a smaller battery for the same or more performance) unfortunately they could be 10 years or more away from becoming a reality. So in the meantime clever torque vectoring is the best - and only answer.
What do you think? Will EVs ever be known for handling well? Comment below.
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Comments (25)
They’ll be able to make them handle, but Elise or even MX5 style “agility” will continue to elude them
Handling, yes. The weight distribution and low centre of mass will help massively. A BEV with a light battery will almost certainly handle more effectively and purposefully than an ICE. Soul though? No. They feel like robots as they're so effortless, and will never match an ICE there. That's why they won't work as enthusiast cars.
My Model 3 Long Range dual motor handles like a go kart. Surely the foundation of any racing driver to go through karting, and no one ever complained the Go Kart has a terrible feel, BMW try to recreate this with their Mini, which is a tad bloated compared with the old days. But the skateboard effect of low down batteries and all wheel drive - honestly apart from a slightly firmish ride (due to noise cancelling tyres with foam insert) my model 3 handles fantastically, and as you’re going beyond quick you barely have time to notice anyway!
If it isn't turning like this it's no fun.
Festival of Body Roll and Understeer!
You said everything I wanted to say: car makers can improve on the handling and batteries are getting smaller and smaller. EVs are surpassing ICE in all ways, except of course if you love ICEs.
There’s synthetic fuel and ethanol which can be processed from garbage to things like used cooking oil. You can literally make fuel at home and basically have lower costs than Electric.
Electricity is always cheaper and more abundant. Not to mention cleaner.