Has the switch to car electrification turned you off?
Discussion
I have always been a petrol head and have been fortunate enough to own a lot of petrolhead cars. All of them powered by ICE.
Being old now, my daily driver is a Bentley. Again petrol. Bentley has been trying for some time to sell me a new one, probably a hybrid, and I am just not interested. It's the electric part. It leaves me cold.
I browse Auto Trader daily, but as soon as I see that a car is electric or hybrid I move on. I am only interested in the ICE models.
My current feeling is that I will stick with fossil fuels until I am done with "nice" cars. I am old enough that it will probably be possible.
Am I alone, or is anyone else turned off by any element of electric power in a car?
Being old now, my daily driver is a Bentley. Again petrol. Bentley has been trying for some time to sell me a new one, probably a hybrid, and I am just not interested. It's the electric part. It leaves me cold.
I browse Auto Trader daily, but as soon as I see that a car is electric or hybrid I move on. I am only interested in the ICE models.
My current feeling is that I will stick with fossil fuels until I am done with "nice" cars. I am old enough that it will probably be possible.
Am I alone, or is anyone else turned off by any element of electric power in a car?
I like the idea of hybrid. Makes it cheaper to run and gives the engine a bit of a boost. PHEV means you can even run it at ultra low cost if you do a lot of short journeys (and saves the engine). I also like the sound of a decent exhaust note. It's part of the driving experience. I'll happily stand at the exit at a car meet listening to the different sounds as people accelerate away. 
Furbo said:
I have always been a petrol head and have been fortunate enough to own a lot of petrolhead cars. All of them powered by ICE.
Being old now, my daily driver is a Bentley. Again petrol. Bentley has been trying for some time to sell me a new one, probably a hybrid, and I am just not interested. It's the electric part. It leaves me cold.
I browse Auto Trader daily, but as soon as I see that a car is electric or hybrid I move on. I am only interested in the ICE models.
My current feeling is that I will stick with fossil fuels until I am done with "nice" cars. I am old enough that it will probably be possible.
Am I alone, or is anyone else turned off by any element of electric power in a car?
As per other comments, that is the view of many, myself included.Being old now, my daily driver is a Bentley. Again petrol. Bentley has been trying for some time to sell me a new one, probably a hybrid, and I am just not interested. It's the electric part. It leaves me cold.
I browse Auto Trader daily, but as soon as I see that a car is electric or hybrid I move on. I am only interested in the ICE models.
My current feeling is that I will stick with fossil fuels until I am done with "nice" cars. I am old enough that it will probably be possible.
Am I alone, or is anyone else turned off by any element of electric power in a car?
Not in the least.
Boring cars will always be boring, regardless of what is under the bonnet.
I'd have thought that a Bentley owner would welcome electrification for that brand. It's not as if the engines have ever been the main attraction there, in terms of driving character anyway. An extremely smooth and torquey EV powertrain would seem to suit a Bentley down to the ground.
Boring cars will always be boring, regardless of what is under the bonnet.
I'd have thought that a Bentley owner would welcome electrification for that brand. It's not as if the engines have ever been the main attraction there, in terms of driving character anyway. An extremely smooth and torquey EV powertrain would seem to suit a Bentley down to the ground.
No, I'm far more interested in (a) how a car drives and (b) does it meet my current needs than what particular means it uses to generate it's power.
PS: You might have started yet another thread where some PH-er wraps themselves in the metaphorical ICE flag and declares it as their hill to die on (YAWN) but I have to give you props for the punny title, bravo sir!
PS: You might have started yet another thread where some PH-er wraps themselves in the metaphorical ICE flag and declares it as their hill to die on (YAWN) but I have to give you props for the punny title, bravo sir!
I understand that many don't want to drive a full EV; some of them are very clever but they too leave me a bit cold. But I don't really see the downside of a hybrid, especially the ones that use the electric power not only for tootling around town, but to give additional power on top of the ICE engine. Seems a benefit rather than a downside?
No the shift to downsized farting turbocharged engines at ever level, the focus on Top Trumps figures to the detriment of all else, the complete lack of interactivity and feel, and the obvious decline in interior quality in high end cars has turned me off though.
EVs are preferable to 99.9% of the ICE powertrains we have today. People act like EVs are killing off the likes of the great AMG engines, the JLR 5.0, screaming NASP M engines, and the bonkers stuff VAG made but they're not because they're already dead. They're killing off laggy bloated turbos and those drab 4.0 Hot V TT hand grenades everything uses, and I just can't care about that.
EVs are preferable to 99.9% of the ICE powertrains we have today. People act like EVs are killing off the likes of the great AMG engines, the JLR 5.0, screaming NASP M engines, and the bonkers stuff VAG made but they're not because they're already dead. They're killing off laggy bloated turbos and those drab 4.0 Hot V TT hand grenades everything uses, and I just can't care about that.
MrBen.911 said:
I understand that many don't want to drive a full EV; some of them are very clever but they too leave me a bit cold. But I don't really see the downside of a hybrid, especially the ones that use the electric power not only for tootling around town, but to give additional power on top of the ICE engine. Seems a benefit rather than a downside?
TBH Bentley has loaned me a number of cars, a hybrid Flying Spur included. For that car, the electric part was great. When you're driving in town a silent car is ideal.I enquired about battery life and replacement cost. I don't recall the exact answer but it was something like eight years and £25,000,000.00 "but why would you want to keep a car more than three years Furbo, we'll have sold you two new ones before it needs a new battery"
I think that's a part of it. Being a Bentley I like the idea that a man in overalls with a leather belt around them might, in twenty years time, remove the engine from my Bentley and rebuild it. I don't see that happening with a battery.
Furbo said:
Being a Bentley I like the idea that a man in overalls with a leather belt around them might, in twenty years time, remove the engine from my Bentley and rebuild it. I don't see that happening with a battery.
I think those people are smarter than you give them credit, and quite capable of learning to do that. For me, it more centres around newer cars holding very limited appeal - I can probably name only half a dozen that have grabbed my attention and thought “That could be a bit of me”.
One of them is a Toyota GR86, which I bought, then sold a couple of years later as while great at some things, it was a little disappointing in others.
Another couple that pique my interest are the new Renault 5 and Dacia Spring.
I don’t think I can be accused of being a Luddite with that cross section, more of valuing simplicity!
One of them is a Toyota GR86, which I bought, then sold a couple of years later as while great at some things, it was a little disappointing in others.
Another couple that pique my interest are the new Renault 5 and Dacia Spring.
I don’t think I can be accused of being a Luddite with that cross section, more of valuing simplicity!
It's not turned me off cars overall but I've not really seen a new car which has made me go, "I'd love one of those one day". That feels to have dropped off around 2017ish probably a bit later.
There's a few EVs that do look interesting, the new R5 looks like a funky little city car for example. I've driven a modern performance hybrid which was undoubtedly quick but didn't make me want one.
I suspect I'll end up with a daily car which is an EV or the family car will be in years to come and the weekend/fun cars will be petrol. I suspect that applies to many on here so hardly news haha.
There's a few EVs that do look interesting, the new R5 looks like a funky little city car for example. I've driven a modern performance hybrid which was undoubtedly quick but didn't make me want one.
I suspect I'll end up with a daily car which is an EV or the family car will be in years to come and the weekend/fun cars will be petrol. I suspect that applies to many on here so hardly news haha.
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