Are cars getting too fast?

[cuke2u]

At some point, a pensioner will destroy a supermarket by mistaking the accelerator for the brake pedal.

At some point, and a greater chance of, a teenager will get into one after just passing their test and kill someone..

 

[Terminal_Boy]

I remember when 0-60 in 8.5 seconds was considered a decent GTI ( Golf MK 2 1.8 16v )

People wont have the skill to match these supercar fast EV`s and plenty will die in them losing control.

A lot of driver’s run out of talent in first gear in a Fiesta.

Of course, one of the safety advantages of a manual gearbox with the gear lever appearing from the centre console is that it rather limits how fast the vehicle hits things when the car or the driver fails.

 

[Adam_151]

especially for reversing ?, where you need sensitivity for parallel parking manouvers, so moving your foot a few mm's wouldn't want a exponential power increase.

I should imagine that will be down to the quality of the software, I would expect that if it sees you are in reverse and moving at a a very slow speed it won't give you access to big jumps in power, its likely the challenge is making it appear seemless so it doesn't feel jarring when driving it.

Though I generally find when parking my Ioniq that all I have to do is switch off auto-hold function (I'm not actually sure why EVs creep forward in the same way ICE Autos do, I suspect it is done purposfully to match that behavior) and just let off the brake while manouvering to park with little need to apply any acceleration at all

 

[Drangueos]

This is why a lot of EVs are difficult to insure.
I was talking to a mate about this the other day. He's recently bought a Jaguar I-Pace and was complaining that it was mega expensive to insure compared to the XE he had before. I pointed out that it has 400bhp which only a few years ago was the power of a BMW M3. He saw my point.

I think the main reason for EVs insurance to be high is because of the battery, in case of any damage to the battery, even a small ding, they have to replace it or total the car.

 

[Terminal_Boy]

At some point, and a greater chance of, a teenager will get into one after just passing their test and kill someone..

Young lads killing themselves shortly after turning 17 is why you can’t have a 250cc motorcycle on L plates anymore.

Always thought that was slight unfair given that lads with deep pockets (or parents with same) could put themselves in a hot hatch at 17 on L plates if they had a mate with a full licence riding shotgun.

 

[Simon]

If EVs reduced the available torque and had less impressive acceleration, would that increase the range?

Not really. Aero and drag is the key for range

 

[TheVoice]

I can easily imagine we'll see more "regular" people (i.e. those who wouldn't normally drive like they stole it) gradually taking more risks once they know they've got instant torque and acceleration available compared to whatever ICE manual family car they had before. Dangerous overtakes and running amber/red lights could become far more common than they already are simply because the only user input required is to plant your foot.

 

[Jonnycoupe]

If EVs reduced the available torque and had less impressive acceleration, would that increase the range?

Not really, cap the power and you get less regen too.

 

[Simon]

Until you try and overtake another ev and they don’t like it. Eventually it will be back to normal

Instant torque is available on ICE too remember.

 

[sovietspybob]

The vast majority of EV's are still fairly sensibly powered though, like sub 200bhp which is still a lot for most normal drivers but i don't think Maureen from HR is going to sign up for a Ioniq 5N blindly, she'll be getting the regular 160bhp version.

 

[MissChief]

At some point, a pensioner will destroy a supermarket by mistaking the accelerator for the brake pedal.

Or perhaps crash through a wooden fence into a school and kill two children? I know, not an EV and the driver had a medical issue but a two tonne car went through that fence like it wasn't even there.

 

[mid_gen]

My trouble with this is EV should be the reset where cars are focussed on efficiency as the number one priority, less power, less weight better aero they should be taxed on efficiency with anything other then the best made hideously expensive. Instead they are just getting bigger, fatter and squarer and faster!

I don't know that more power = less efficiency when it comes to electric powertrains, not the same way as ICE. Although I'm not an engineer!

I would imagine that an electric powertrain capable of 500hp can tootle around very efficiently where a 500hp ICE would still guzzle fuel.

 

[rare]

I think so, and there seems to be a lack of consideration for other drivers. EV’s booting off roundabouts and so on, something I’ve witnessed many times.

I certainly don’t need a car with that much power.

 

[Jokester]

At some point, and a greater chance of, a teenager will get into one after just passing their test and kill someone..

They can do that easy enough at the moment.

The consequences of people in car parks losing control of a 2 ton vehicle that can accelarate to 60mph in 3s essentially doesn't exist now for the majority of public.

 

[Bear]

I think like anything, the more you up the performance the more the efficiency drops (in terms of range) and life span of the parts.

Not if you derate everything suitably, if you do then life span wouldn’t be any different than something more mundane.

 

[Scania]

Fairly recently, a high end truck had far more power than even super cars, these days you'll find trucks top out at roughly 770bhp - and that's a rarity to be honest - kind of says a lot by comparison to some pretty mediocre cars we get now...

 

[a1ex2001]

I don't know that more power = less efficiency when it comes to electric powertrains, not the same way as ICE. Although I'm not an engineer!

I would imagine that an electric powertrain capable of 500hp can tootle around very efficiently where a 500hp ICE would still guzzle fuel.

The power must inevitably impact efficiency as the motors need to be bigger and therefore heavier, all the parts in the drivetrain need to be uprated to handle the torque etc etc. it might well tootle around more efficiently than a 500HP ICE but it’s still sacrificing efficiency for performance that is unnecessary in road car.

 

[Jokester]

I think smaller motors will be limited in their topspeed in an ungeared EV, so whilst you could go with motors delivering 100-150hp, the higher end acceleration and top speed will be severly limited. You could then put a gear box in, but the added weight and complexity of that blows away any benefits of the smaller motors.

 

[Simon]

I think smaller motors will be limited in their topspeed in an ungeared EV, so whilst you could go with motors delivering 100-150hp, the higher end acceleration and top speed will be severly limited. You could then put a gear box in, but the added weight and complexity of that blows away any benefits of the smaller motors.

They will be? They are already in terms of top speed. 200hp cars with a 100mph top speed

 

[Jokester]

They will be? They are already in terms of top speed. 200hp cars with a 100mph top speed

That's exactly my point - there's a trade off between acceleration and top speed when you don't have a gearbox and why electric cars are much higher power, even for much lower top speeds due to the performance curve of the motors.