gravi

It was with mixed emotions I read the announcements from the governments of France, Norway and the UK that they are planning to ban all sales of conventional gasoline and diesel engines by 2040. I guess this will curtail air pollution although carbon footprint will still be similar as battery production still requires fossil fuels. I may be gone by 2040, but felt a twinge of sadness for future generations. If this comes to fruition they will never know the thrill that auto enthusiasts have enjoyed for over a century. I guess by then electric cars will have progressed enough to surpass current performance (Tesla already has) and people will find enough to tweak in those cars to enjoy their passion.

James Cole

Im happy for that... ICE cars have overcomplicated tech that is incredibly unefficent and crappy... yeah it make some "exciting" sounds on the great minority of cars.

Im happy for the death of these engines they are not worth it.

mplsbrian

I've recently started racing high performance electric gokarts at a local indoor kart racing place.

They are just as fast (maybe faster?) as the gas kart place they compete with a few miles across town. I'm talking 45mph top speed, Snell-helmet required karts: these things rip, and they're quiet enough that you can not only feel but hear the tire "talk" to you in the corners.

I welcome the future of electric cars and cannot wait for the infrastructure to be in place where gas stations are today, and for supercapacitor/battery technology to make charging take no longer than filling up a car does today.

Frankly I'd have bought a gently used Tesla over an S4 if that infrastructure and tech was alredy in place...but although Elon Musk would like you to believe otherwise, as it stands ski trips into the mountains require a great deal of logistical planning in a Tesla whereas I can just gas up my S4 and go straight up there after work on a random Friday.

njspeedfreak

I wish the day would come sooner. Would you ever go back to the days of manual typewriters and adding machines? Telephones that were attached to a wall by a cord that only allowed you to walk a few feet away? The electric car of the future is going to be so much better than the ICE cars of today, just like the ICE cars today are better than those of the era I grew up in.

Imagine what kind of performance you can get out of a car that can instantly vector boatloads of torque to each individual wheel, and then make adjustments to that torque thousands of times a second. They will make our S cars look like Model T's in comparison.

Also - 2040 is still a long way away.

seven-six-two

We have reached, or in some cases, passed "peak ICE".

Porsche is already all-turbo and even 4 cylinder with the boxster/cayman. I suspect we won't see the big V8's from Ford/Chevy/Dodge for much longer. In fact a GT350R may be the last epic V8 ever made outside of extreme exotica. Wave goodbye to the V12's and V10's.

I drove a Tesla P100D, and a 90D recently. Yes, they were all super quiet, amazing acceleration off the line, but so will every other EV be if the appropriate motor(s) and current/voltage handling is put in the car. I was not impressed by the handling at the limit, and the "payback" on cheaper fuel/servicing and lack of tech (partial self-driving does not entice me and no HUD in a Model S is a bit sad) And paying $60K for an S4 instead of $100K (or more) for a Tesla just didn't make sense to me.

In the future, every electric motorvehicle will essentially be the same, with a "skateboard" battery, dual motors, and software programming of the performance level you have paid for. Nobody will worry over engine characteristics. Nobody will marvel at an awesome slushbox, DCT or PDK. You'll simply decide range, acceleration, size, tech toys, and interior and for the most part will have no emotional attachment.

Kind of like when you decide whether to buy a new Whirlpool, Samsung, Bosch, or "whoever" dishwasher. You won't really care what it is when using it.

Maybe I'm being too depressing, but I don't see the emotion and engineering delight with EV's. They will become appliances.

And by 2040, we probably won't be allowed to drive as Autonomous driving will become mandatory.

*sigh*

Talbot

I really, really hope we can start to get serious about the infrastructure. I'm more worried about our capacity to create the electricity needed to power the cars - whether we store it in the car or deliver it directly. It is a fantasy at this point, but the real future of electric vehicles won't be batteries or capacitors; it will have to include an induction delivery system in the roadbeds.

Here's just a taste of that: The All-Electric Car You Never Plug In - IEEE Spectrum

njspeedfreak

I disagree. I think there are plenty of ways for car makers to differentiate themselves in an era of electric vehicles. Just in the same way car makers do today. None of that changes when ICE goes away.

Self driving cars on the other hand - that's the real death knell. There will be no need for a performance car when all cars are driven in the same exact autonomous style. The only differentiation there will be in the luxury of the interior.

Sam Giancana

I've always thought about what that day will be like. Even if an electric car does 0-60 in .2 sec there's just something about the sound and feel of pistons firing that make it special. I've never enjoyed riding in an electric vehicle and I hope I never own one. I'm not sure the carbon footprint is that much small either. The energy still has to be generated somehow and Tesla is a long way from having solar panels lined up across every vacant spot of land in the country.

JohnEnglish

I like ICE because I'm fascinated by all the engineering that goes into all the mechanics. I love the complexity. To me electric cars are just like a toaster. You push a button and they work.

JohnEnglish

Give me a S Class, 7 Series or S8 over a Tesla any day. A couple of my friends have a Model S and other than fast straight line acceleration they aren't impressive at all. They're luxury cars in name (and price) only. Compare a Model S interior to a S Class, 7 Series or S8 and it's like night and day.