I was both amused and encouraged this week to see Ferrari product development boss Gianmaria Fulgenzi dismissing the power arms race among new electric car brands.
He described 2,000bhp EVs as “not difficult” and “elephants” due to the size and weight of the battery and powertrain needed to provide their power. And his point is valid, not only for the brands (primarily from China) that see big numbers as a way to grab attention, but also for those from closer to home.
A 400bhp family SUV sounded farcical just a few years ago, but that’s what we’ve got, and it’s entirely unnecessary. I’m picking on Volvo because it was among the first to make one, but I could easily be talking about many other makers’ ‘normal’ models with the pace to hammer sports cars off the line. They have ridiculous straight-line speed, but not the full performance-car makeover. Probably because, as an engineer once told me: “Power is cheap in an EV”.
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