Is this a vision of the future?

[Mcalvert]

Genuinely surprised to see an apparently standard Tesla Model 3 on road tyres setting faster times than a pair of Caterham R500s at a recent Lydden sprint Here:  Looks like we drivers of ICE cars have got some adjusting of ideas to do?

 

[SLR No.77]

I drive a Tesla M3P daily and can easily understand that in some situations it would be as quick as a fast Caterham, make it a hillclimb without any bends and it'd likely completely trounce an R500.  It's all a bit bland though, I know which I'd really rather be driving ...

[DougBaker]

History has been here before you just have to remember Ettore Bugatti's description of the Bentley as "The fastest lorry in the world" a small light car might not win all events, but it is likely to be more fun to drive.

[krisfl]

Totally agree with #2. I've been looking at EVs recently. Want to go green. Tried a few. (Tesla, BMW, Hyundai, Kia, Ford, MG) Enjoyed the instant torque on the first test. Then that was that. They've all given me nothing. Automotive equivalent of a fridge - just buy on size and price.

Also, its surprising how dirty they are to produce (in CO2 terms) and how many miles I'll have to do to break even on CO2 vs burning dino juice! (see here if anyone wants to see Volvo's numbers) Even my home solar won't take much of the edge of it. Trying to be green day to day so we feel less guilty about sipping a bit of 99Ron in the Seven - but its not easy! 

[john aston]

If MSUK continue with their incredibly prescriptive safety regime for EVs , even Teslas will be a rare sight. This means , at present , that I can drive my 1000bhp/tonne Gould (I wish) up Harewood , but not a Renault Zoe EV, or even my sister's Yaris Hybrid - as hybrids are effectively barred too . But I can drive the latter two to the event on public roads , where accidents are also know to happen. 

EVs are also very adept at short duration sport - look at the fabulous run at Goodwood by the McMurtry Speirling - I assume his grace was able to comply with MSUK rules. 

 

A massive own goal and a PR disaster in the waiting - we all want sustainable motor sport and barring EVs, and PHEVs  is not a good way to be seen to be doing it .

[ChrisC]

Agreed, I just purchased an ID4 (I say just, been on order for a year).  It is an appliance, but at least it's not trying to accelerate 2 tones at warp speed. But it's horses for courses, it's the best family wagon I have ever had, although I have one specific concern with my dogs and the boot floor, but that's a different story.  Green it is not, and I have refused to have the green flash on the number plate.  Strange thing was UK Power Network increased the size my house fuse for free because it's a low carbon initiative, how dose that work???

As for the Seven, I worked out, based on 1 tank every two weeks over summer, push some tanks for the odd track day, that I could offset my carbon locally (not in Indian) with a charity that's planting trees in my county.  It cost less than a tank of fuel for one year.  Conn or not, playing for a tree to be planted, in the name of my years seven enjoyment is fine by me. 

[TomB]

Green it is not

Really depends how you define it.  It is 'green' in respect of emissions at point of use - so no local air pollution, a significant concern in urban area.  It is 'green' if it can be powered by renewables - either domestic solar or green tariffs, or charged over night when base load is provided largely by nuclear and wind. 

True the payback for CO2 emission is slightly longer than the equivalent ICE car, but its still worth doing for reduce pointed source until that time IMO and that huge amounts of energy (read CO2) are not required to drill, transport (and spill), crack crude oil and transport petrol.  

I love my ID3 - it's the best car I've ever driven / owned for 'normal' driving.  The only fly in the oitment for me is the lack of roof carrying capacity for bikes.   

 

 

[Purplemeanie]

I've been driving an ID3 for 2 years now. It's fantastic around town and gives a different perspective to driving long distances. i.e. we have to plan our journeys a bit better. Having said that we find that our range is limited by our bladders these days and so a stop every couple of hours is fine on a long journey.

The instant access to power is intoxicating (even put along side my 420) and is great at hitting gaps in traffic when you're pulling out around town. 

We also find having an EV is like having a Caterham - wherever to park it you end up in a conversation with someone, especially at charging sites. I can also say that the charging network is much better now than it was even two years ago.

There are still the problems of charging if you don't have your own charging point at home - especially for people with no off street parking. But the new super-hubs that are going into the motorway service stations are pretty impressive for the longer journeys. And we're seeing those going into petrol forecourts around here too (Bristol). Charging can still be a pit patchy when you're in Scotland or Cornwall (in our recent experience) though things change very quickly and the situation in Cornwall seems to be improving.

Back to Michael's original post though. I firmly believe that electric will be out performing petrol cars on hill climbs very soon. Surely and electric Caterham will outperform a Tesla given it's lower weight and better power to weight ratio. 

Oh... and watch out for more news from me at the back of Lowflying this month and on Blatchat in the next few days. Very exciting!!!!!... well it is for me at least! 

John