I’ve been ‘crashing’ into a local Porsche and Ferrari meet-up with a notebook in hand. The monthly owners’ meet-up is a mile or two from home. My goal? To find out what the world’s most loyal gasoline fans really think about the future of EVs.
Even though most electric cars aren’t invited to this show* the Porsche and Ferrari drivers have been incredibly welcoming. It turns out, there is a massive amount to learn from these devotees about EVS, if we stop and listen.
Here are some ideas from interviewing owners at these cars shows:
1. Performance is no longer the USP: For decades, high-end brands sold “speed.” But now that a family sedan (like a Tesla or a Lucid) can out-accelerate a supercar, these enthusiasts are looking for what’s next. It’s no longer 0-60 times because the EV as exceeded their gasoline car.
2. EVs are Everyday Cars: The gear-heads, as I call them, are curious about electric vehicles. Surprisingly, many of them are already driving electric today- or have bought one for their spouse. This tends to an affluent group that own multiple cars, stored in multiple garage berths. So, keeping an electric car around suits the daily driving needs. More often than not, they pick a Tesla as a daily driver- they like the ubiquitous charging network and the high-tech response of the vehicle.
3. EVs are Soulless: The Tesla (and other E.V. models) do not deliver a driving “thrill”. The Porsche owners like to hear the sounds as the car accelerates, and the roar from the exhaust. “Piping” in the sound, as Ford tried, does not cut it. The Porsche owners worry about losing the emotional connection that comes with a manual gear shift or the sound of a V12. A few mentioned they liked the smell of oil and gas.
4. EVs have some Cool Features: The opposite of the noisy car is the quiet one. A Lamborghini owner, businessman, and musician- praised his Tesla EV for music fidelity. Listening to the stereo in his Tesla was reminiscent of the sound quality he achieved with noise-cancelling headphones or f playing a vinyl record.
5. Road Rally: Those who took long road trips had mixed feelings. For a regular, daily commute, they lauded Tesla charging network. Beyone 300 miles, a few were proud to tell their buddies that they met with no problems. They cited how the (Tesla) vehicle planned the charging stops, and led the car to find stations with open plugs. The skeptics wanted to travel longer range without 30 minute bathroom breaks.
6. Confirmation Bias: It seemed like the owners who were more current with EVS also had a younger person in tow. Young people said that t ICE drivers don’t take the time to understand EVs. SOme mentioned that the older group is uninformed because their information is out-dates; e.g., range, winter charging, and manufacturing defects.
7. Regulation: To stay neutral, I don’t ask whether there should be subsidies or government policies that favor electric vehicles. Some ICE drivers volunteered that the gas station on every corner tis their built-in infrastructure. No one mentioned the Clean Air Act and the changes it brought to fuel composition. One gear head did say that California should have annual safety checks (e.g. brakes and lights) for cars, not smog. The sentiment to force regulation for air pollution was ok, but the government should not “force EVs down the throat” of drivers (to quote one).
8. A Visceral Experience: It doesn’t have to be an old Porsche or Lamborghini to get the attention of other owners. There was happy talk about a forthcomingTesla Roadster. One guy bedazzled his friends with stories of his Cybertruck, which he uses as a fleet purchase. He told stories of shining the Cybertruck’s aluminum body so it shone like a mirror, and the option to add a black wrap that made it invisible. What seemed to be ‘killer’ stories were the daily use of bi-directional charging and Elon Musk’s Starlink telecommunications network.
9. Old School: An observation made by two or three people was that for the future only cars made by dedicated EV companies, like Tesla or Rivian, counted in the engineering realm. They expected companies that straddled both gasoline and EV manufacturing to end up on the dead-end path, like Kodak and Polaroid.
10. *Electric knockoffs: like the Maycan and Taycan are invited to the show but short in number. Owners of exotic Porsche and Ferrari models do not stay with these brands. Vehicles with limited runs and head-turning ability, like the Tesla roadster and Tesla Cybertruck, are likely the cars they will bring for future shows.