Electric vehicle makers are also car enthusiasts

Electric cars have entered the culture wars. I think this is normal in these polarized times, where seemingly everything becomes a flashpoint, all framed in “us versus them” terms.

Among car enthusiasts, there are a large number of electric car haters, who feel like they are being forced into electric cars they don’t want by politicians and companies they don’t like. There are legitimate criticisms to be made of electric vehicles, both on a car-by-car basis and in general. But unsurprisingly, this nuance has been flattened.

I’ve been thinking a lot about this. I’m a car enthusiast, and as part of this line of work, I spend countless hours online, observing and participating in “the conversation.” Also, as someone who writes about what automakers are doing, I often write about electric vehicles, because that’s a big area of ​​their investment. It also means I’m talking to a lot of people who actually make these things.

The real advantage of being a motoring journalist isn’t, as you might think, the cars you get to test. Having a free car come into your life for a few days is great, don’t get me wrong, but it pales in comparison to the people you meet. At this party, you can talk to all kinds of interesting people who define the machines we drive, and share your love and fascination with cars.

Lately, I’ve been spending a lot of time with people in the electric car world. That’s the thing about them: they’re just like us. In reality, there is no us versus them, gas versus electricity. We’re all just car enthusiasts who are excited about new technology that’s worth paying attention to in my opinion.

A good engineer is not dogmatic in his approach, he just wants the best possible solution. There is a very good condition for the electric powertrain. Granted, range is limited compared to an internal combustion car, and you don’t have the emotional connection that an engine provides. But an electric motor is much more efficient than any motor could ever hope to be, thermally, in terms of packaging, and in terms of power density.

The late Richard Barry Jones, who was chief engineer at FordHe turned the company into a maker of some of the world’s best driver’s cars, and once said in a speech: “The age of oil will not end because we run out of oil for the same reason that the Stone Age did not end because we ran out of stone. The age of oil will end because we will find a better solution.”

A good engineer is not dogmatic in his approach, he just wants the best possible solution.

This man was an enthusiast of the highest order, a serious rally driver, and serious about making excellent driving cars from the humble Focus on up. A man who was a close friend of Jackie Stewart. And a man whose influence spread far and wide across the industry, with his protégés getting jobs at other automakers and making their cars great, too.

I was thinking about this during my recent trip to Germany for something new Electric Porsche Cayenne. The implication of this was interesting, as it comes at a time when Porsche is moving away from its plans for an electric-heavy future, with customer demand declining. (Coupled with significantly reduced demand for Porsche in China, and US tariffs increasing costs in its largest market).

But I had a great conversation with Marko Schmerbeck, who explained the new car battery with great passion. Later that same evening, he spoke with equal enthusiasm about a previous project he had been working on, the Audi R8. Both are equally exciting.

Schmerbeck isn’t the only one, either at Porsche or elsewhere. I spent a lot of time with Lucid’s engineers and designers back when Gravity was launched, and between them they have a ton of great gas cars, Lotus Elises, BMW M cars, all sorts. (It’s no coincidence that the Lucid Air drives like a BMW E39 5 Series.) Lucid’s lead designer, Derek Jenkins, owns a Lotus Esprit S1, and he’s quick to pull out his phone to view photos.

These people, and many others in the industry, are excited about the possibilities of electric vehicles, but that excitement is lacking versus internal combustion. To the above.

Personally, I love gas cars. Internal combustion is a technological marvel, and one of the joys of life is starting a great engine, changing gears, and doing it all over again. That’s why I bought a 2002 BMW 325Ci five-speed just two weeks ago. Its straight-six engine is a joy to own and use.

But I also had an interesting discovery while driving the electric Porsche Macan this year. I wasn’t trying to be particularly efficient with it, hitting it with the stick on back roads, yet I was still averaging 3.78 miles/kWh, enough for 360 miles on a full charge. I was doing more with less, and there is virtue in that. Even beyond the fact that the Macan produces no local emissions.

It made me realize that I was starting to fall into the trap of gasoline car = good car, electric car = bad. Gas cars are good, even great, but so are electric cars. EVs have their intrinsic value and drawbacks, and if you’re truly passionate about automotive engineering and design, you should be passionate about them.

Many people want to profit from the culture wars. They want you to be suspicious of “others” and view them as enemies. But what I found is that the people who make electric cars are not the enemy. They love cars, and they are open about their technological makeup.

It doesn’t have to be “us versus them” when in reality it’s just “us”.