Electric Coupes Combining Sporty Style with EV Efficiency
Top 10 best electric sports cars 2024
The crowning achievement of the young Rimac empire is theNevera, which is the follow-up to the Concept One and C_Two show cars,the former having arguably kick-started the electric hypercar trend with its 1073bhp output and 670,000 asking price when it debuted in 2017. Just 150 examples of the Nevera will be made, almost all of which are apparently spoken for. It's appeal has only been enhanced by many by its recent record-breaking EV top speed run, when it topped 256mph.
The hardware is compelling, if somewhat eye-watering. The car is built around a composite tub, and there's an electric motor for each wheel, with independent single-speed gearboxes at the front and two two-speed dual-clutch 'boxes for the back axle. The aim is to ensure the Nevera can make the most of its 1888bhp and, more important, its mountainous 1696lb ft.
With double-wishbone suspension, torque vectoring, and the potential for level four autonomous driving, the car has the works - and an eye-watering 1.8 million price tag to match. It finishes just below the closely related Battista mainly because we've spent more time in the Italian version.
Over the decades, there have been many false dawns for Maserati, but somehow the iconic Italian brand has failed to move out of the shadows of its early-1950s heyday, when its cars were winning Formula 1 world championships on the track and the hearts of enthusiasts on the road. Yet while this recent attempt to reset and go again could ultimately flatter to deceive once more, there are reasons to be hopeful that this time the Modenese maker is finally on the path to success.
First up, there was the lauch last year of the sensational MC20 supercar, then it pulled the covers off a new mid-sized SUV (crucial for sales success) and now there's the all-new Granturismo, a coup that's designed to do exactly what it says on the tin. More importantly, it's the first Maserati to get the all-electric treatment. Known as the Folgore (that's thunderbolt in English), its based on all-new, largely aluminium platform that's designed to work with both ICE and BEV powertrains.
It hasthe raw statistics:with a tri-motor set-up (two at the back for torque vectoring and one at the front), it delivers 751bhp for 0-62mph in 2.7sec and a 199mph top speed. What's more, it's battery (83kWh for a claimed range of 280 miles)has been designed in an elongated H-shapelayout, with the centre section slotting down the spin of the car. Not only does this deliver a lower seating position, butit also centres the masses and helps to give the car greated agilty.
Best electric cars to buy 2024
The result is a claimed battery range of 338 miles dropping slightly to 322 miles if you opt for the all-wheel-drive version. When you do need to top up, the E-GMP platforms electronics will allow you to charge from 10 to 80 per cent in as little as 18 minutes when using a 220kW rapid-charger.
Kia EV6
The Kia EV6 is the sister vehicle to the Hyundai Ioniq 5, so it's a great pick if you love that model's technology, but aren't quite as sold on its retro-futuristic looks. The EV6 is arguably the more conventional of the two, and it's a bit lower and more sporting. This is reflected in its handling, with slightly firmer suspension offering sharper responses.
It's offered either in RWD or AWD form, along with a high-performance GT version, with the entry-level model being our current favourite. Not only does it offer a claimed range figure of up to 328 miles from its 77.4kWh battery, but we also found its 7.3-second 0-62mph time to be quick enough.
MG ZS EV
MGs pitch to UK car buyers is based around value, and the MG ZS EV fits that brand ethos to a tee. While it doesnt stand out in terms of its technology or driving experience, the ZS EV is competent in these areas and a suitable alternative if you arent quite sold on the MG4. The cars real strength lies in its practicality, affordability and long warranty.
Nissan Ariya
As a previous Auto Express Car of the Year award winner, the Nissan Ariya still offers the stellar combination of practicality, quality and refinement that greatly impressed us when it first arrived. The electric SUV market is moving fast and some rivals have started to edge ahead of the Ariya, but it is still well worth considering. Not only does Nissans zero-emission family car claim up to 329 miles of battery range, but its surprisingly enjoyable to drive as well.
Skoda Enyaq
The Enyaq is an all-electric family car that is typically Skoda: that is to say it's practical, well-equipped, comfortable and decent to drive. With top-spec models able to cover over 300 miles from a full charge, it soothes any range anxiety and just gets on with being an excellent family car that just happens to run on battery power.
How to choose an electric car: our top tips
Although some drivers may be a little hesitant about moving to electric power, the selection of models to choose from is only increasing and so are their capabilities. It means theres likely to be an EV with the price, range, practicality and performance to suit most requirements.
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CarBuzz
The term sports car covers a multitude of vehicles that offer exceptional performance and a driving style designed to thrill the driver. From sedans to convertibles and coupes, the sports car has always been a desirable addition to the enthusiasts garage, and with advancements in technology and growing environmental awareness, the sports car segment has changed markedly in recent years. Fully electric sports cars are now prowling the streets sans combustion power, and while some may feel this detracts from the true nature of the performance vehicle, EV sports cars arent going anywhere - except, maybe, onward and upward. With breathtaking EVs readily available in the USA these days, the list of electric sports car models is growing longer. Here is our take on the best electric sports cars of 2024.
- Base MSRP
- $136,000
- Fuel Economy
- 80/80 MPG
- Horsepower
- 509 hp
- Base MSRP
- $90,900
- Fuel Economy
- 79/88 MPG
- Horsepower
- 321 hp
- Base MSRP
- $153,300
- Fuel Economy
- 81/80 MPG
- Horsepower
- 616 hp
- Base MSRP
- $155,900
- Fuel Economy
- 80/78 MPG
- Horsepower
- 616 hp
- Base MSRP
- $106,500
- Fuel Economy
- 85/85 MPG
- Horsepower
- 469 hp
- Base MSRP
- $143,900
- Fuel Economy
- 79/82 MPG
- Horsepower
- 591 hp
- Base MSRP
- $2,400,000
- Fuel Economy
- TBC
- Horsepower
- 1,914 hp
- Base MSRP
- $2,100,000
- Fuel Economy
- TBC
- Horsepower
- TBC
- Base MSRP
- $0
- Fuel Economy
- TBC
- Horsepower
- 760 hp
- Base MSRP
- $0
- Fuel Economy
- TBC
- Horsepower
- 905 hp
Characteristics of Electric Sports Cars
Throwing some electric components onto a chassis isnt enough to warrant a vehicle being called an electric sports car. Here are the things that combine to make up the whole sporty package:
What to Consider When Buying an EV Sports Car
Buying a car is an investment that is best made after careful consideration, and even more so when it involves spending a substantial amount of money. Here are some advantages and disadvantages of electric sports cars to consider before signing on the dotted line:
Pros
- Superior performance figures and instant acceleration
- Excellent handling and a thrilling drive
- Status and bragging rights
- Gas bills are still cheaper than recharging
- Youre being kind to the earth - no emissions here!
- All-electric ranges are improving as tech improves
- Head-turning looks wherever you go
Cons
- A near-silent performance car is taboo to many enthusiasts
- Initial purchase prices are quite high
- Charging takes longer than refueling
- Limited infrastructure for recharging can be problematic
FAQs
Are electric performance cars reliable?
The reliability of a car isnt made any better or worse because of electrification, and while many suggest that fewer moving parts in EVs, as opposed to cars with complex ICE engines, should automatically mean fewer issues, this isnt necessarily the case. Consumer reports suggest that electric vehicles may suffer from problems related to that specific technology, too. Electric components are, however, covered by extensive warranties. American federal law requires automakers to provide at least eight years or 100,000 miles of coverage on EV batteries, with some automakers offering up to ten years instead.
What kind of range can I expect from an electric sports car?
All-electric range varies, but some prominent examples include the latest Porsche Taycan Turbo with a range of 212 miles; the Audi e-tron GT with its 238-mile range; and the Tesla Model S Plaid - the sportiest Tesla Model S on the market - with up to 396 miles of range in certain configurations.
What new electric performance cars are coming out in the near future?
The EV segment is constantly changing with new models being introduced so often that it may be hard to keep up. Some of the most exciting models currently rumored for production include the Audi A6 e-tron, the Polestar 5, and the BMW i7, while Hyundai has promised 11 new electric cars by 2030.
REAL EFFICIENCY OF ELECTRICAL VEHICLES
December, 2023
That article discusses efficiency of Electric car (EV)
There are worldwideregistries of 1,446 billion cars and only 16.6 million EV cars were produced till 2021 plus 10.5 million at 2022 worldwide and 16 million are predicted for 2023. Calculated percentage is 3% for worldwide. That percentage is not used in the calculation and would not affect conclusion of that study.However that percentage will rapidly increase for the next years to come.
Energy to power EV cars comes from an Electrical Grid. So far, most of the world energy is converted from fossil fuel, nuclear and renewable..Next, I will find the Total Efficiency of EV and Gas-powered vehicles by using identical fuel Apple to Apple approach
-The Total Efficiency of EV is a sum of three components: Efficiency of the Refinery plus the Energy supplied by Electrical Greed (power plant included) plus the EV car efficiency orRefinery- to Power plant-to the wheels
-Total efficiency for the gas-powered vehicle is a sum of two components: Efficiency of the Refinery plus the gas-powered car efficiencyRefinery- to the wheels.In both cases the oil supply to Refinery and Refinery efficiency are equal components.
On average, gasoline is producing 124000 BTU per gallon , when #4 fuel oil (used in Power plants) is producing 141000 BTU pergallonA Coefficient of 141000/124000 =1.137will be added in EV efficiency calculation.. The cost of those two products are taken as equivalent as both are by-product of refinery process. Power plant efficiency running onoil is 0.39; it happened to be about the same value as the average world efficiency of power generation (coefficient of 0.40)
Calculating the sum of Total efficiency of the EV based on average Global data: Power plant-to-wheels:
1) For purpose of apple to apple comparison Total efficiency of power plants is taken0.39.
2) Efficiency loss of transporting electricity thru the electrical grid (power lines, transformers) are 7 % 3) Efficiency loss of electrical car battery is 10% loss when is charged. Charging efficiency is 0.9;
4) Efficiency loss of an electrical car battery when discharged is 10% or 0.9;
5) Efficiency loss of an electrical battery when temperature fall below -10cis 0.6
For calculation we will take 0.85 (not everywhere and not all the time is winter.)
6) Efficiency loss of 15% of electrical power for heating up the car or cooling off (air-condition/heater) coefficient is 0.85
7) Mechanical efficiency: transmission (not so complicated as at mechanical car) and all other moving parts including the wheels are only 0.90;
8) Finally efficiency of an EV electrical motor is 0.90 (.80 -.94) ref #6
9) Battery efficiency for 4-5 years old battery is 0.75 (Battery life is 8-10 years). In all published work EV testing provided with a new battery?(4 years old battery with 100000 km should be used!) 12 years is average lifespan of the car in America.
10) EV Charging invertor from AC to DC has 0.95 efficiency.
NOW WE CAN CALCULATE THE TOTAL EFFICIENCY OF 5 YEARS OLD ELECTRICAL CAR (WINTER TIME), BASED ON OIL POWER GENERATION. (Apples to apple approach)
0.39x1.137x 0.93 x 0.9 x 0.9 x 0.85 x 0.85 x 0. 90 x 0.90 x 0.75 x 0.95=0.14In most studies the EV efficiency is calculated for the range between 0 to 100 km/h when only in very few studies you may find theadditional energy of 25% more than gas-powered car will require to rich the speed of 120-140 km/hour. That means that EV efficiency on higher speed will drop even farther. But those losses will be compensated by the loss of energy of gas-powered car during parking and idling. Using the same approach for a new EV at ideal conditions without using A/C or heater efficiency may rich 0.25 Conclusion (coming back to reality as it is calculated):based on the fossil fuels used for both cars calculated efficiency for a 5 years old EV is 0.14 at the cold winter or hot summer vs. Gas-powered Car new or 12 years used and at any seasons well to wheel efficiency is0 .20 0.30 (Wikipedia). It looks that gasoline powered car today is a bit more efficient device than EV when is driven by using the same oil fuel. However those results are theoretical and are based on the average efficiency by world power plants. Power Plant efficiency is variable and it is depend what fuel is used. When electricity is generated using hydro, nuclear and renewable the EV efficiency will be much higher and with lesser CO2 emission. However there are substantial disadvantages of EV when plugged to the Grid powered by fossil fuel Power Plants. The EV CONS are: high initial cost of the vehicle, batteries production cost, additional weight of
Total worldwide electricity production consists of 27% renewable, 10% of the nuclear energy and 63% of fossil fuel. 37 % of non-fossil fuel consist of 11% (total) of renewable from other sources, 16% of hydro plants build 10-70 years ago and 10% of nuclear. It took more than 20 years to get to 11% generated by other resources . The new project is to convert worldwide remaining 63% of fossil fuel generation to renewable for 20 -30 years! Entire Electrical Grids would be completely rebuilt and also expended to generate additional electricity to operate EVs. 6 out of 8 billion peoples are inhabitants of the relatively poor countries. They would not be able to contribute funds for such project. All western countries are responsible for 25% CO2 emission. For the next 20 years a HYBRID vehicle would be a better choice. Hybrid car is more reliable with lower CO2 emission. It will take another 10-15 years to produce a reliable EV car with a better charging system. EV battery is very expensive to produce and dispose. EV Battery last about8-10 years or 200000 km with a loss of the efficiency to 0.6 on the end of battery life.(See ref #2).Cost of the EV battery is 12000 CAD. Production of EV battery is adding 9-12 ton CO2 to the atmosphere.
In the future EV market will be divided by two groups: one being able to afford a new expensive EV and another group would be left to buy used EVs with replaced aftermarket battery. The life of the car body shall withstand 20 years in adequate condition. So far the industry is in process to find a better battery. The cost of changing the battery after 8 years is equal to the same cost as changing the engine with the transmission together on the gas-powered car.
CONCLUSION: My TAKEfor the future (20 years) of auto transportation is: The larger part of transportation sector should be taken by HYBRID vehicles, next it will be shared by EV and HYDROGEN vehicles. The rest will be left for vehicles with high efficient gas-powered engines as well. However in some countries the last approach could be reversed. Gasoline distribution stations are already in operation which may absorb the need of hydrogen distribution. New construction of electrical charging stations will become a very high expense due the high demand of electricity. Replacing and upgrading of high voltage power lines, adding and reconstruction of transforming stations would be the part of that task. There are 280 million registered vehicles in USA and 1.44 billion cars worldwide.A single FAST charging stationfor the trucks (250 KW) may cost above 50,000$ per charger with additional cost to Electrical Grid connection; EV would require 50-100 KW per one charger. Fast charging station requires 4 -5 times more energy demand from the Grid than SLOW charging stations. When 20% of all registered vehicles in USA converted to EV will require one charge during one day, 2.8 million Public charging stations would require for that task. Slowcharging stations require lesser energy supply. Fast-charging approach can damage electric car batteries starting from 25 cycles. Batteries may be improved in the future but Peukert Law is constant for any batteries.
https://www.imeche.org/news/news-article/fast-charging-can-damage-electr...
Crude Oil is a part of most important human necessities. As a result, the initial refined products are responsible for production of 6000 essential various products. Starting from asphalt, bitumen, jet engine fuel, plastic, drugs and so many others that it is not possible to list them all; only 40% as a by-product is gasoline. It should be used up! One of very feasible usage would be fuel for Hybrid cars and for high gas efficient vehicles.
In spite of all difficulties auto industry, supported by politicians are trying to persuade that EV is one of the best solutions to reduce global CO2 emission, bombarding customers with false information.
All calculations are made without adding of 9-12 metric ton of the CO2 emission as result of manufacturing the lithium-ion batteries. It adds 20% of CO2 to the EV. REF# 4
Reference #1 file:///C:/Users/hviva/Downloads/Comparing_Apples_to_Apples_Well-to-Wheel_Analysis_%20(1).pdf
Reference # 2https://www.geotab.com/blog/ev-battery-health/What can 6,000 electric vehicles tell us
Reference #3https://www.ieso.ca/en/Learn/Ontario-Supply-Mix/Ontario-Energy-Capacity
Reference #4 https://www.ivl.se/download/18.34244ba71728fcb3f3faf9/1591706083170/C444...
Reference #5https://www.wri.org/blog/2019/10/everything-you-need-transport#:~:text=Emissions%20from%20the%20transport%20sector,emissions%20from%20burning%20fossil%20fuels ref #6 https://x-engineer.org/automotive-engineering/vehicle/electric-vehicles/...
#7 IEA international energy agency.
ACTUALLYTRANSPORTATION SECTORIS CONTRIBUTING 11.9% TO THEGLOBALCO2, (
#6https://ourworldindata.org/ghg-emissions-by-sector
Electric cars are only as clean as their power supply.
PAGE 3TOTAL EFFICIENCY COEFFICIENT RESPONSIBLE FOR CO2 EMISSION .
1)ONTARIO, CANADA:29%OF THE GENERATION IS PRODUCED BY FOSSIL FUEL (OIL AND GAS, ABOUT 50/50). THE CO2 EMISSION COMES FROM 29% OF FOSSIL FUEL. EFICIANCY OF POWER PLANT BURNING OUT OIL IS 0.38 IN ONTARIO; WHEN EFFICIENCY OF THE GAS FUEL PLANT IS 0.45. THE BLEND OF THOUSE FIGURS ARE (0.45+0.38) : 2 =0 .415
THE PERCENTAGE OF NON- FOSSIL FUEL USED ON ONTARIO IS: NUCLEAR 34%; HYDRO 23%; WIND-12; SOLAR- 1%. EMISSION OF CO2 COMES ONLY FROM GAS/OIL FUEL GENERATION ONLY. 41.5% IS GENERATING ELECTRICITY WHEN THE REST OF 58.5% ARE JUST RELEAST TO ATHMOSPHERE.
FINALLY THE ACTUAL TOTAL EFFICIENCY OF THE GAS/OIL FUEL RESPONSIBLE FOR CO2 EMISSION IS29/0.415 = 69.9 % , THE FINALTOTAL EFFICIENCY COEFFICIENT RESPONSIBLE FOR CO2 EMISSIONWILL BE: 1 --{69,9 x 100 : (69.9 + 100 29)}=50.4 In some Ontario literature it is stated as 51%. (k = 0.51) That means that EV in Ontario is emitting by 49% less CO2 than a gas powered car. PLUG IN HYBRID car would be a better choice than EV in ONTARIO. Whoever EV car in Ontario would not make any CO2 improvements vs. HYBRID, but will reduce the LOCAL pollution, transferring it to the power plant pollution with added EV maintenance cost.
That Study is purely engineering and does not discuss the benefits of any incentives in Canada. Whoever there are no zero-emission vehicles in Canada, the CO2 and all greenhouse gasses not emitted by EV would be emitted by power plants supplying electricity for the EV cars with an additional loss when A/C or heater is used. EV older than 5 years will add additional loss due the battery degrades. 2)California: 46.54% electricity is generated by natural gas; the efficiency of that generation is 0.45. The negative coefficient responsible for loss to the atmosphere is 1-0.45= 0.55Total amount of used up fuel is 46.54 x 100 :45=103 ORTOTAL COEFFICIENCY COEFFICIENT RESPONSIBLE FOR CO2 EMISSION IS 45.54 x 100/45 = 103
103 x 100 : (103 + 53.46) = 66% ork= 0.66. That means that EV in California is emitting on 34% less CO2 than a gas powered car. PLUG IN HYBRID car would be a better choice than EV in California.
Nuclear Power Must Be Part of the Energy solution. It looks that EV in France will counted as a clean car. So far the largest world emitter of CO2 is China 28%, and the largest world emitter per capita is USA.
