While electric vehicles still only make up a small percentage of global vehicle sales, they are set to dominate the industry over the coming decade and for car enthusiasts like ourselves, that’s kinda sad.
Make no mistake, there are some phenomenal electric vehicles out there. Indeed, with charging infrastructure improving around the world, we think that affordable electric vehicles are starting to make more sense for everyday consumers than some combustion-powered alternatives. But rapid EV adoption will lead us to miss some of the best aspects of driving. One of them is the sound of a lovely engine.
While recently watching highlights of the 10 fastest runs from the recent Goodwood Festival of Speed, I couldn’t help but feel a tinge of sadness at the difference between the combustion-powered cars racing up the hillclimb and those powered solely by electricity.
Read Also: Why Haven’t You Switched To An EV Yet?
Five of the fastest cars at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed were electric. These consisted of the First Corner FC1X, H24 Green GT, Ford Pro Electric SuperVan, Porsche 718 GT4 Cayman ePerformance, and the McMurty Speirling. While each of these is extraordinarily fast, the high-pitched scream of their electric motors simply doesn’t get our blood pumping like some of the combustion cars that raced up the hillclimb, such as a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, Dodge Viper GTS-R, and Jaguar XJR-12D.
If given a choice between driving the 911 GT3 and the 718 Cayman GT4 ePerformance, we would definitely choose the GT3, even though it’s slower.
So, this leads us to today’s question: will you miss engine sounds with electric vehicles? When it comes to performance-focused vehicles, we definitely will, but for simple daily drivers used to run to the shops, eliminating the noise and vibrations of a small-capacity ICE might not be a bad thing. So, what say you? Do you prefer the near-silent EVs or the sound of a good old combustion engine?
