Electric vehicles have gotten wrapped up in the culture wars. I suppose that’s natural in these polarized times, where seemingly everything becomes a flashpoint, all framed in "us vs them" terms.
Among car enthusiasts, EV haters are legion, feeling like they’re being forced into electric cars they don’t want by politicians and corporations they don’t like. There are legitimate criticisms to be levied against EVs, both on a car-by-car basis and in general. But that nuance, unsurprisingly, gets flattened.
I've been thinking a lot about this. I am a car enthusiast who, as part of this line of work, spends countless hours online, observing and taking part in "the conversation." Also, as someone who reports on what automakers are doing, I’m often writing about EVs, as that’s a huge area for their investment. That also means I'm talking to a lot of the people who actually create these things.
The real perk of being an automotive journalist is not, as you might think, the cars you get to test. A free car coming into your life for a couple of days is great, don’t get me wrong, but it pales in comparison to the people you meet. In this gig, you get to talk to all sorts of interesting people who define the machines we drive, and share in your love of and fascination with cars.
Lately, I’ve been spending a lot of time with people in the EV world. Here’s the thing about them: They’re just like us. In fact, there is no us vs them—gas vs electric. We’re all just car enthusiasts, and they’re excited about a new technology that is—in my opinion—worth being excited about.
A good engineer isn’t dogmatic in their approach—they just want the best solution possible. There is a very good case for an electric powertrain. Sure, range is limited compared to an internal-combustion car, and you don’t have quite the emotional connection an engine provides. But an electric motor is so much more efficient than any engine could ever hope to be, thermally, in terms of packaging, and in power density.
The late Richard Parry-Jones, who, as chief engineer at Ford, turned the company into a builder of some of the finest driver’s cars in the world, once said in a speech, "The oil age isn't going to end because we've run out of oil for the same reason that the Stone Age didn't end because we ran out of stones. The oil age will end because we will have found a better solution."
A good engineer isn't dogmatic in their approach—they just want the best solution possible.
This was a man who was an enthusiast of the highest order, someone who was a serious rally driver, and serious about making excellent-driving cars from the humble Focus upwards. A man who was a close friend of Jackie Stewart. And a man whose influence spread far and wide across the industry, as his disciples took jobs at other automakers, and made their cars brilliant, too.
I was thinking about this on a recent trip to Germany for the new Porsche Cayenne Electric. The subtext of this was interesting, as it comes at a time when Porsche is moving away from plans for an EV-heavy future, as customer demand has fallen. (Along with Porsche’s China demand falling significantly, and US tariffs increasing costs in its largest market.)
But I had a wonderful conversation with Marco Schmerbeck, who explained the car’s new battery with great passion. Later that same evening, he spoke with the same zeal about a previous project he worked on, the Audi R8. Both are equally exciting.
Schmerbeck is not the only one, both at Porsche and elsewhere. I spent a lot of time with Lucid engineers and designers on the launch of the Gravity earlier, and among them, they own tons of great gas cars, Lotus Elises, BMW M cars, and all sorts. (It’s no coincidence the Lucid Air drives like a BMW E39 5 Series.) Lucid’s lead designer, Derek Jenkins, owns a Lotus Esprit S1, and he’s quick to pull out his phone to show pictures.
These people, and so many others across the industry, are excited by the possibilities of electric cars, but that excitement doesn’t exist in opposition to internal combustion. To what’s come before.
Personally, I love gas cars. Internal combustion is a technological marvel, and one of the joys in life is revving out a great engine, shifting gears, and doing it all over again. It’s why I bought a five-speed 2002 BMW 325Ci just a couple of weeks ago. Owning and using its naturally aspirated straight-six is a pleasure.
But I also had an interesting revelation driving a Porsche Macan Electric this year. I wasn’t trying to be particularly efficient with it, caning it on backroads, yet I was still averaging 3.78 miles/kWh, good for 360 miles on a full charge. I was doing a lot with a little, and there’s virtue in that. Even beyond the fact that the Macan produces no local emissions.
It made me realize that I had started to fall for the trap of gas car=good, electric car=bad. Gas cars are good, great even, but so too are electric cars. EVs have their own intrinsic value—and shortcomings—and if you’re truly passionate about automotive engineering and design, you should be excited by them.
A lot of people want to profit off the culture wars. They want you to be skeptical of “others,” see them as an enemy. What I’ve found, though, is that the people who make electric cars aren’t the enemy. They love cars, and they’re open-minded about their technological makeup.
It shouldn’t be "us vs them" when, in reality, it’s just "us."
