The future of the automobile lies in electricity, and I am stating this as a fact. You may not like it or agree with it, but it's inevitable really. Being a large petrolhead myself, I could not come to terms with the same conclusion for the longest time either. After driving an electric car though and realizing that I was looking at it from a completely wrong point of view, I've had a change of heart.
See, the reason why most people like me hate electric cars is simply because they're not ready yet. For starters, range anxiety is a real thing. In a normal car you can charge up in a matter of minutes and away you go for another 400-500 miles or so. With an electric car, not so much. You have to carefully plan your journey and consider where you're going to recharge the car, which is especially difficult in less developed countries which have little to no charging stations.
You also have to take time into consideration. I know charging points are getting quicker by the day but at the present you'll still need to wait at least an hour to get some juice in the tank. Tesla states that the official charging figures on the Model S are 31 miles of range for each hour of charging on your standard 240-volt outlet, which equates to almost 10 hours of continuous charging to get the full 300 or so miles. With an internal-combustion engine you can fill up the tank in a matter of minutes.
Electric cars lack emotion, and I fully state this after driving one. The most obvious element missing is the noise. Even the dullest most boring cars make some sort of engine noise, and after a while you get used to it. In an EV the most prominent noise is wind noise and in some cases tire noise. It's really odd and difficult to get accustomed to at first, but I have to say that you do get eventually used to it. Don't get me wrong, I still miss engine noise. Even a tiny four-cylinder sounds good to me, let alone a V6 or a V8, but there's a certain tranquility in an EV that's missing in a car with a combustion engine. I'd compare it to an S-Class or an A8, although even Tesla's flagship Model S can't match the big limos in terms of refinement and build quality.
This promptly brings me onto my main talking point: performance. The BMW i3 I drove isn't what you'd call fast, but it is surprisingly quick. The sprint to 62 mph takes 6.6 seconds, which is more than comparable to most hot hatchbacks of today. What really gets you though is the instant response of the electric motor. We've all heard people talking about it time and time again, but until you experience it you won't ever completely believe it. There is literally no lag between the moment you put your foot down and the moment the car takes off. I would describe it like flicking a light switch, it's that instantaneous.
Electric cars are still one trick ponies for me though. The level of acceleration is amazing, but from a rolling start or after 60 mph it slows down significantly. The i3 felt light and nimble but I didn't get a sense of satisfaction from it other than the sheer amazement at how quick it was. At the moment, I don't think EVs can match even the humble Focuses and Golf GTIs in terms of driving dynamics. They're certainly heading in the right direction but they've still got a long way to go.
Lastly, I'd like to finish off by bringing up driver involvement. I'm still an advocate of the good old-fashioned manual with a clutch pedal, but having driven a car with a dual-clutch, I can live without a manual, if only just. I know that I'm probably never going to see an electric car with a manual, but at the current rate, we won't even see one with a semi-automatic transmission. The problem, if you ask me at least, is that people are starting to look at cars predominantly as means of transport. I know that that's what they were mainly designed to do, but there's a large chunk of people who appreciate them for more than that, myself included.
The only thing giving me hope are companies like Rimac who continue to push the boundaries of EVs in more ways than one. Other manufacturers are slowly beginning to realize that an electric car has to be more than just practical and spacious. Like it or not, performance is a big factor, and it always has been. Take a look at modern cars. Most of them, even humble sedans, can top 120 mph without breaking a sweat, but when was the last time you got anywhere above 80 mph on the public highway?
Rather than dragging this article on more than I have to, I'll pick up the story in part two where I'll discuss autonomous cars and the interesting question of whether modern cars are just too fast for their own good. Let me know what you think, I'm really curious to hear more people's opinion on the matter. I didn't mention hybrids in this article because to me they're a transition phase between cars with combustion engines and full EVs. Sure they offer their benefits, but to my eyes, they're rather obsolete. By the time hybrids reach their full potential we'll have already sorted the issues with EVs, and that puts them in a really awkward spot.