Comment by whatever1
10 hours ago
I never got any excitement from driving an electric car, with the exception of the 0-60 of the powerful ones.
But they are the smoothest commuters I have ever driven. Linear acceleration, super snappy for when you want to overtake, you never need a gas-station if have a garage.
I would take an electric over the camrys and crv’s any day.
I find fascinating the difference between people who think of cars as a tool versus a toy. And certainly for some people it simply depends on which car.
For me, all cars are a tool. I don’t really enjoy driving. Driving is a chore I have to do in order to do things I do like.
I don’t yet own an electric car, but I find them very appealing because they would eliminate a chore from my life: going to the gas station.
I do wonder what it would be like to enjoy driving for its own sake.
I'd guess that driving was probably more broadly enjoyable for people in the era of manual transmission. That's not to say manual transmissions are fun, but the greater degree of interactivity, control, and skill made it a more interesting and overall enjoyable experience. Also it was kind of cathartic getting up to speed somehow. Driving an automatic is just boring, outside of like others have mentioned - the insane acceleration in an EV.
Manuals on a bridge during traffic though are... unpleasant.
I learnt to drive in a manual and I drive my partner's manual car frequently.
It's more interesting on an open road but horrible to drive in traffic. Overall both of us hate the experience.
I get my new electric car (a Geely) on Wednesday.
I agree but am curious what difference being on a bridge makes…
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4 cylinder cars killed the joy of driving in addition to the lack of manual transmissions.
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For me it depends on the state of the roads. If they’re empty, I don’t mind driving and can even enjoy it. If traffic is moderate or above, my opinion of driving takes a hard nosedive.
I’m not even a wild driver. Whenever it’s safe to do so I’m in the right lane doing exactly the speed limit. I just don’t like having to deal with other drivers.
Same, I find it especially miserable to drive at night with how car lights have changed to brighter LEDs and people wanting larger and taller cars. Its like getting hit with multiple flash bangs.
In rural areas where car lights are the only illumination, with denser traffic I see continuous strobing and flickering by the adaptive LED and laser headlights.
What I find fascinating is people who have never driven a fun car, then get an EV that has some decent acceleration. Then they talk about how fun the car is to drive and say how its the best thing ever. I see these posts all the time, and I just think... Yep, now you get what car enthusiasts have been enjoying all this time. If you just drive Rav4s and other appliances, no wonder you hate driving.
My EV is less powerful than my former ICE but way more fun to drive, especially in the mountain area I live in.
You are just swapping one chore for another. Now instead of going to the gas station occasional, you have to plug it in, all the time. Or you have to go to a plugging station and sit there for a while.
...I assume that's satire? I plug in our EV once a week at home, it takes like what, 5 seconds? Maybe 10 if I'm distracted. Another 5 seconds to unplug it the following morning.
I also dislike driving; it's just a chore.
Except, it all somehow changes when I pop into the driver's seat of a manual transmission car.
I don't drive in my day to day life but I have enjoyed things like karting or rally driving and I like sim racing video games, maybe try some of those out. Driving for fun at least for me is more about seeing what you can do with a car than anything else.
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Skill issue. Small EVs are the most fun if you know how to handle them.
>>I never got any excitement from driving an electric car, with the exception of the 0-60 of the powerful ones.
I've owned some really powerful cars in the past, and I swear I have never had as much fun as I did when I took our little Volkswagen e-Up to the Lake District for a week, yes it only has 80bhp but only a tonne of weight and instant torque - it was sooooo much fun on these narrow tight roads, you could really push it and just enjoy every second of it. I even drove the Hardknott Pass several times back to back because it was so much fun - I'd take it over my Mercedes AMG any day, yes it was cool to do 160mph past Berlin at 4am in that, but the little 80bhp Volkswagen gives me about 20x more enjoyment in day to day driving.
I don’t miss gear changes and clutch control any more than I miss a manual choke or tuning carburettors. They were fun in a way but they were intermediate goals between me and going fast. EVs skip straight to the fast.
I never got any excitement from driving an electric car, with the exception of the 0-60 of the powerful ones.
Huh? I never got any excitement from driving any car except the powerful ones.
And I gotta say, EV6 GT 0-60 in 3 seconds for $60k with a real suspension (not that Tesla garbage) and active electronic rear differential... get it while you can. Nothing remotely close for even twice the price. Its the NSX of the 2020s.
I'm quite intrigued, but I can't find listings for a $60k EV6 GT anywhere. Can you give me some more info?
I see tons of $35k listings, but maybe they are confusing GT with GT-Line? Or it depreciated by 2x over the past couple years?
The naming is obnoxiously confusing.
The EV6 GT is the fast one, 577hp.
The EV6 GT-Line is barely half that, 325hp.
Whoever invented this naming is a complete moron. But their company makes an amazing car.
So many people swear by Miata! Not powerful, not fast, but a blast to drive !
I drove a Miata for years in the early 00's. It was one of the early models, so dramatically underpowered, but still a blast. I found it fun to drive in the exact same way bikes are fun to ride. I could hit any line around any corner, the stick shift was tight. I even learned how to heel-toe shift (even though I never got good at it)
The 2.0L ND2 does the 0-60 in 6s. Still not fast, but not slow either! Get them before they're discontinued (it is in Europe, I got lucky).
Garbage you say? The Tesla garbage suspension that gets 0.96g vs the EV6 GTs 0.92g? Or were you comparing the $60k top of the line Kia against the $40k base model 3 instead of the performance model (still cheaper at $55k)?
On the track: The Tesla finishes a massive 6.5 seconds faster than the Kia. Despite the EV6 GT's horsepower advantage on straightaways, the Model 3 Performance utilizes its lighter weight (~4,035 lbs vs. the Kia's ~4,800 lbs) and lower center of gravity to carry vastly superior speed through VIR’s demanding technical sections, such as the famous Climbing Esses.
And they had to remove features found on lower trims like electric seats from the GT6 model because weight I guess?
I rented both for a day before buying one. The M3P is more comfortable on the street and more predictable in anger.
But if we can put aside our team spirit, yes, I agree, EVs are the performance car of choice. EVs are the fastest car under 100mph and $100k. An RS3 will beat us over 100mph and a $140k Z06 will beat us all the time. For ~60k, performance EVs can’t be beat.
Quibble - an RS3 is probably never going to beat an M3P. Not quite enough power.
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I'm driving a gas RAV4 while my EV is in the shop, and it's a truly miserable driving experience.
Yeah? What EV are you comparing it to?
> I would take an electric over the camrys and crv’s any day
I think this completely misunderstands why people are buying a Camry or CRV.
Anyone who can't find fun driving in even econoboxes isn't trying. Nearly everyone will run out of skill before they run out of car on the right kind of road.
I think that, fortunately, most people don't consider the road to be a place where you're supposed to find fun driving. Perhaps for a lot of people on the road the realization that they shouldn't be pushing themselves, or their car, at anywhere near the limit kicks in long before any kind of fun starts.
You can have fun without driving dangerously. You don't have to drive near the limits or even that fast if you have a good car.
Fun driving isn’t just limited to the spirited kind.
By right kind of road I assume you mean track.
I thought the old (new) Top Gear episodes with celebrities in a reasonably priced car vs F1 drivers in the same car was very fascinating. The F1 drivers managing to wring that much more out of the little cheap car.
That is correct, I am not trying to have fun while driving to work or driving my kids to school.
I mean, I wouldn't object to having fun while doing it, but I'm pretty sure anything people would use an example of "fun" would massively increase the danger to me and everyone around me.