By John Bozzella
This one is for the car lovers out there.
I spend my time on here writing about emissions rules and fuel economy and supply chains and tax credits and crazy AM radio laws (ugh)… so this will be a nice change of pace.
This essay in the New York Times – Sometimes, to Make an Electric Car Better, You’ve Got to Make It a Little Worse – got me worked up.
Why?
The writer (a Car and Driver columnist, no less) calls electric vehicles… “boring.”
Boring? You gotta be kidding me!
One of the perks of my job is the chance to drive lots of models from lots of manufacturers.
Trust me, EVs have put the FUN back in driving.
We all know EVs are already pushing the boundaries of technology and design. Works of art, in my opinion.
And because EVs no longer have that bulky transmission tunnel, engineers have space for lots of clever packaging and design tricks.
But for me… the performance factor… the sheer thrill of getting behind the wheel and stepping on the accelerator never gets old.
The torque in an EV (basically the ability to move an object from a full stop into motion) is… off the charts.
For 110 years, engineers have tried to optimize the ability of a gas-powered vehicle to get moving as fast as possible – hence all those 0-60 mph statistics.
Enter the electric motor. No gas engine can compete with an EV on torque. Every kid with an electric train set knows this.
EVs go exactly where you point them (and quickly) thanks to a battery pack that runs the length of the vehicle and makes it handle and corner like… a driver’s dream.
Vehicle dynamics experts try to balance a gas vehicle’s high center of gravity to make a car go where you point it, but the electric pickups I’ve driven handle like sports cars thanks to those battery packs.
Safety always comes first (and it does), but the performance factor of EVs hasn’t escaped the notice of regulators. In the halls of NHTSA (in hushed tones) they’re discussing ways to make EVs LESS fun to drive. God forbid.
Is the sensory experience in an EV different than a supercharged V-8 with a clutch?
Look, I love those cars too and have a 6.1 liter, V-8 muscle car of recent vintage with a manual gear box that helps me get my fix.
But trust me on the EV/fun-to-drive question. Better yet, get behind the wheel of an EV and open it up yourself.
John Bozzella is president and CEO of Alliance for Automotive Innovation.