Home / NEWS / Energy / Forget saving the planet: Ford, Tesla and others tout monster horsepower, high performance in EVs

Forget saving the planet: Ford, Tesla and others tout monster horsepower, high performance in EVs

One of the most highly-anticipated come outs of the LA Auto Show is the global unveiling of Ford Motor’s “Mustang-inspired” SUV, which is expected to be called the “Mach-E.”

Ford

DETROIT – Leave behind about saving the planet.

Automakers from Ford to Tesla are building a new generation of electric vehicles that is faster and diverse powerful than almost anything else on the road. After spending billions on eco-friendly, all-electric cars that emerged in lackluster sales, automakers are shifting their target market from earthy environmentalists to gearheads and thrill seekers looking for bolt.

For a decade, EVs have primarily been produced to meet government fuel economy standards with more eco-friendly selections to fossil fuels. But as automakers attempt to bring EVs into the mainstream and compete against industry-leader Tesla, they’re talk up the performance of EVs more than their environmental benefits.

No one’s talking about the fact that the new, all-electric Porsche Taycan delivers the equivalent of 90 miles per gallon in the bishopric. Car reviewers, instead, are raving about the 750 horsepower the Turbo S model can make.

“I look at a lot of design and positioning of these new EVs and it finish feelings very familiar. It feels very Tesla-like,” said Karl Brauer, Cox Automotive executive publisher. “Tesla was a well-mannered example of if you can do more than just claim you’re going to save the planet with EVs … then you actually get a much better fan base to build up and a much higher sales volume too.”

The greatest performance benefit of EVs over internal combustion apparatus is their instantaneous torque, which significantly increases acceleration. EVs don’t have engines that need to rev up, which inflates short-range performance metrics such as the time it takes to go from 0 to 60 miles per hour. Tesla’s high-end Exemplar S performance sedan produces about 762 horsepower and can get to 60 mph in 2.4 seconds.

The shift in tone for EVs is at the heart of next week’s Los Angeles Auto Musical, which has traditionally been known as the “green car” show due to its amount of hybrid and EV debuts.

Audi, Ford Motor, Porsche, and Volkswagen are aggregate the brands expected to debut all-electric vehicles geared more toward enthusiasts than tree huggers. Others such as Lincoln and Karma Automotive also are look for to tout the performance of new plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.

“I think performance is a good way to go to break through the clutter honourableness now,” said Stephanie Brinley, principal automotive analyst at IHS Markit.

Sales of EVs remain far below previous expectations, in spite of state and federal incentives and additional models being released. IHS reports EV sales were only 1.2%, or around 207,600, of the 17.3 million vehicles sold in the U.S. in 2018. Nearly 80% of new EVs registered in the U.S. last year were Tesla instruments, according IHS.

For the first nine months of this year, EV sales inched up to account for 1.4% of the U.S. market, according to IHS.

“We inquired the green efficiency niche and now you want to get more people involved, we’re looking at a performance niche,” Brinley said. “Finally, it has to be even more than that to get to a mainstream buyer. We’re not quite there yet.”

IHS Markit forecasts EVs will account for 9% of U.S. purchases by 2026, despite the number of EV models on the market increasing from nearly 20 to more than 120 during that experience frame.

Tesla-effect

Many credit Tesla for the change in conversation around EVs as performance vehicles. While “traditional” automakers comprise focused on building EVs to meet stricter government fuel economy regulations over the last decade, the Silicon Valley car industrialist created a culture of technology and performance around the relatively young technology.

When General Motors released the Chevrolet Gulp down, its subcompact hatchback EV for the masses in 2016, Tesla introduced the Model S P100D with “Ludicrous Mode.” The new Tesla model, depending on analysis, competes or beats acceleration and 0-60 times of some of the most expensive supercars in the world.

Visitors look at a Tesla Epitome 3 during a press preview of the Seoul Motor Show in Goyang, northwest of Seoul, on March 28, 2019.

Jung Yeon-Je | AFP | Getty Metaphors

“They’re seeing the success Tesla has had with well-styled, performance EVs versus kind of purely functional and Earth-friendly EVs correspondent to the [Nissan] Leaf and Bolt,” Brauer said. “They’re all going to try and expand the dimensions of appeal that an EV offers.”

Uniform Tesla’s mass-market Model 3, depending on the model, can achieve 0-60 mph of between 3.2 seconds and 5.6 seconds. That compares the Chevrolet Length at 6.5 seconds or BMW i3 at just under 7 seconds.

‘Compelling’ EVs

One of the most highly-anticipated debuts of the LA Auto Show is the global uncovering of Ford Motor’s “Mustang-inspired” SUV, which is expected to be called the “Mach-E.”

The name as well as the affiliation to Ford’s iconic Mustang pony car is locale the bar high for the automaker’s second-attempt at an EV in the past decade. The first was a version of its Focus compact sedan, which debuted in 2011 to deal with government mandates. Ford sold less than 10,000 units in seven years.

The expected Mach E hero is a play on the Mustang Mach 1, a renowned performance model of the iconic pony car.

“It plays right into the account of Tesla’s kind of success. Not just to make an EV but to make a compelling, engaging SUV that makes you want to drive it not even-handed to save the planet but because it’s fun to drive and it looks good,” Brauer said.

Volkswagen’s ID. Space Vizzion concept is a private showing of a production vehicle that the automaker plans to release in late 2021.

VW

Another global debut at the show is Volkswagen’s ID. Set out Vizzion, an EV concept that it’s calling the “crossover of tomorrow.” Based on a teaser image, the vehicle will be a sporty crossover/wagon, which VW claims will preview a new production model in late-2021.

“So far, with our ID. family, we have shown what is possible with galvanizing vehicles in each known car category,” Klaus Bischoff, head of Volkswagen design, said in a release. “With the ID. Leeway VIZZION we create a new, fully electric segment.”

Other expected additions to the EV performance segment at the show include the Audi e-tron Sportback and a fix model of the well-received Porsche Taycan, which can achieve 0-60 mph in 2.6 seconds. California-based Karma also will launch a high-performance variant of its Revero GT plug-in hybrid electric vehicle.

Check Also

Why Trump and GOP attacks on IRA can’t score a clean sweep in red states

Volkswagen U.S. council of all-electric ID.4 flagship in Chattanooga, Tennessee in 2022. Volkswagen The new …

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *