When do you think you will buy a 100% pure electric vehicle?

[MeowingCows]

You may be right that electric super cars will never find their market, but I also think that Tesla and other manufacturers being able to offer super car performance in an affordable sedan is going to lead to the death of super cars over the next couple of decades. You can't sell the nostalgia of the old school driving experience to younger people who won't care about it. So if they can't find a way to adapt to electric you're going to see the death of companies like Ferrari in our lifetime.

Now that's entirely possible, I just view it as a separate conversation. The issue with this case remains that if people later on don't care about the supercar or exotic car experience anymore, then it doesn't matter if Ferrari and Porsche make an EV or not. They won't make one comparable in price and ideals to a Tesla, or a Mach E, etc. They don't target the same consumer base; they'll die on the vine either way. I can definitely see that reality happening in a generation or two.

 

[FinalFourCy]

You just explained why they shouldn't make an EV in your own post:
* Companies struggle to make EVs that look normal. Look is a massive part of these companies.
* EV typically don't have the handling and driving response that expensive sports car buyers are looking for. Typically a lot heavier, tougher suspension to support it, meaning affected feel and response.
* Ultimately, it's not about speed. Ferrari and Porsche don't make the fastest cars on the planet. They make a driving experience attached to an identity. The driving experience of an EV is vastly different from existing ICE cars.

Sure, they can make them, but sales will be dismal for brands that are already low-volume sellers. I've seen little to no evidence that their actual customer bases are interested in buying these products. Like I said before, if you want the fastest EV around, Tesla already did that and has been doing it for years.

As for a 911, again, that's the driving experience attached to a small, highly-powered, relatively-light and nimble car. An EV will have a tough time replicating that with current technology. I'm not an anti-EV person at all -- I simply don't think they make sense for this particular segment of buyers. These people are not focused on practicality or being the Jetsons, as you said.

We need to distinguish between super cars and sports cars.

EVs are well suited for super cars. The torque is there, and neither super cars or evs look normal. Handling and suspension may or may not be there in both

As for sports cars, I would not say elite sport cars look normal, but their look can be difficult to achieve in a high range EV (with current EV technology)

But anyone that has driven the original Tesla roadster would disagree with you on whether an EV can be an elite sports car. It was basically a go kart. I assume the new one even better. The EV Mini is more fun than a lot of sports cars without even trying

Right now they can’t be both- sports car and long range commuter, but very few in the segment are ever asked to meet both objectives

 

[TitanClone]

We need to distinguish between super cars and sports cars.

EVs are well suited for super cars. The torque is there, and neither super cars or evs look normal. Handling and suspension may or may not be there in both

As for sports cars, I would not say elite sport cars look normal, but their look can be difficult to achieve in a high range EV (with current EV technology)

But anyone that has driven the original Tesla roadster would disagree with you on whether an EV can be an elite sports car. It was basically a go kart. I assume the new one even better. The EV Mini is more fun than a lot of sports cars without even trying

Right now they can’t be both- sports car and long range commuter, but very few in the segment are ever asked to meet both objectives

The new Roadster is billed as both. 0 to 60 in 1.9s and 620 mile range. That should sell better than any other $200k car.

 

[MeowingCows]

We need to distinguish between super cars and sports cars.

EVs are well suited for super cars. The torque is there, and neither super cars or evs look normal. Handling and suspension may or may not be there in both

As for sports cars, I would not say elite sport cars look normal, but their look can be difficult to achieve in a high range EV (with current EV technology)

But anyone that has driven the original Tesla roadster would disagree with you on whether an EV can be an elite sports car. It was basically a go kart. I assume the new one even better. The EV Mini is more fun than a lot of sports cars without even trying

Right now they can’t be both- sports car and long range commuter, but very few in the segment are ever asked to meet both objectives

The distinguishing factor is that the typical sports car costs a hell of a lot less than a typical Ferrari performance vehicle. They compete for supercar buyers, not Tesla or Mini or Miata or Corvette or Hellcat or GT500 or Mach E buyers. Those guys aren't cross-shopping with Ferraris.

Again, this is why I'm just not seeing where the actual market for that vehicle is at this point in time, and possibly never. If they just have money sitting around to play with, then by all means, swing for an EV home run. It's just not what I expect from extremely-low-volume sales brands to do. Don't mistake it for being "anti-EV", that's not it.

 

[MeowingCows]

The new Roadster is billed as both. 0 to 60 in 1.9s and 620 mile range. That should sell better than any other $200k car.

Which means it'll also outsell whatever Ferrari tries to put out into the same space. Why pay more for less, if this is the idea someone committed to buying?

 

[FinalFourCy]

The new Roadster is billed as both. 0 to 60 in 1.9s and 620 mile range. That should sell better than any other $200k car.

It’s billed that

I hope they deliver on it,

The original lotus based model was eye opening to what EVs could be

 

[mramseyISU]

The distinguishing factor is that the typical sports car costs a hell of a lot less than a typical Ferrari performance vehicle. They compete for supercar buyers, not Tesla or Mini or Miata or Corvette or Hellcat or GT500 or Mach E buyers. Those guys aren't cross-shopping with Ferraris.

Again, this is why I'm just not seeing where the actual market for that vehicle is at this point in time, and possibly never. If they just have money sitting around to play with, then by all means, swing for an EV home run. It's just not what I expect from extremely-low-volume sales brands to do. Don't mistake it for being "anti-EV", that's not it.

Buying a Ferrari is a little different animal than buying any other sports car though. It's like buying a Rolex or any of those other super high end watches. You go into it buying a used one and you have to build up a purchase history before they let you get one of the high end models. At a certain point they give you a call and give you the opportunity to buy the new hotness and if you decline you might not get another chance. Ferrari being Ferrari I could see them telling those customers that if they don't buy one of these monstrosities they don't get a chance to buy the next V12 monster.

 

[MeowingCows]

Buying a Ferrari is a little different animal than buying any other sports car though. It's like buying a Rolex or any of those other super high end watches. You go into it buying a used one and you have to build up a purchase history before they let you get one of the high end models. At a certain point they give you a call and give you the opportunity to buy the new hotness and if you decline you might not get another chance. Ferrari being Ferrari I could see them telling those customers that if they don't buy one of these monstrosities they don't get a chance to buy the next V12 monster.

I did wonder that also, they could totally use the EV as fodder to lead towards bigger purchases. That alone doesn't make the EV desirable, it's just a roadblock at that point, but their sales charts don't care about that difference.

 

[BryceC]

Now that's entirely possible, I just view it as a separate conversation. The issue with this case remains that if people later on don't care about the supercar or exotic car experience anymore, then it doesn't matter if Ferrari and Porsche make an EV or not. They won't make one comparable in price and ideals to a Tesla, or a Mach E, etc. They don't target the same consumer base; they'll die on the vine either way. I can definitely see that reality happening in a generation or two.

Honestly I think in my lifetime just the driving experience in general people will stop caring about.

If we get a fleet of Waymo’s in DSM that are pretty cheap and I don’t have to wait more than 5 minutes for one, I’d probably just sell my car.

 

[bos]

Honestly I think in my lifetime just the driving experience in general people will stop caring about.

If we get a fleet of Waymo’s in DSM that are pretty cheap and I don’t have to wait more than 5 minutes for one, I’d probably just sell my car.

Agree. I dont LOVE driving like some folks. Especially in town stop and go stuff. I really like the FSD (supervised) idea right now because I can still control what and when I need to, but I can also look around and enjoy a bit of scenery with my family.

Side note: We bought a couple of segway ninebot scooters a couple of years ago. So far this summer I have been riding to work every day using the trail system. Takes me right to my office about 12 minutes (@22mph) away. Its been awesome to get outisde and enjoy the fresh air while simultaneously not having to throw gas into our Pilot for 70+ bucks. If I finally bite the bullet on a Y this summer, seems likely, I should save a ton there as well. Maybe dabble in FSD a bit to just drive me to work on rainy days. Depends on how it does and whether Im willing to pay for it once the trial is over.

 

[FinalFourCy]

The distinguishing factor is that the typical sports car costs a hell of a lot less than a typical Ferrari performance vehicle. They compete for supercar buyers, not Tesla or Mini or Miata or Corvette or Hellcat or GT500 or Mach E buyers. Those guys aren't cross-shopping with Ferraris.

Again, this is why I'm just not seeing where the actual market for that vehicle is at this point in time, and possibly never. If they just have money sitting around to play with, then by all means, swing for an EV home run. It's just not what I expect from extremely-low-volume sales brands to do. Don't mistake it for being "anti-EV", that's not it.

Call me a purist, but Ferrari isn’t really a super car imo, although some are getting there by price. They compete more with high end sports cars.

Your list lumped a lot of cars that cross segments and buyers imo. Some of your “typical sports car” aren’t even sports cars imo

I don’t see the EV side falling out of bounds for what those in the segment are looking for. it’s by definition a small demographic of people looking and able to buy outlier cars at outlier prices. EVs in these brands fit that. It is conspicuous consumption, in which a lot of the desire is in its rarity and niche, if not simply price. Which is why Ferrari has the barriers to entry that it does

Very few buy these based on experiencing the actual upper limits of performance, and when they do, the most common one is torque.

 

[motorcy90]

Lol! "some countries" = every country but dumbass America.

I mean we sell more cars in a year then a majority of markets combined still.

 

[motorcy90]

Am thinking of an additional car this summer as we added a new driver in the house. We have a 2025 Subaru Solterra and my wife wants me to get an ICE car. Instead I am seriously considering getting another EV. The Subaru Trailseeker is bigger and has better range than the Solterra (man, the range on the Solterra kinda sucks. The range on the 2026 Solterra is better), and Subaru is releasing the larger Getaway EV this fall with even better range. I do wish the new VW Bus had better range otherwise I would be all over that.

Since we've owned the Solterra my wife has complained that the low range prevents us from taking it to Chicago or whatever. We took it to the Twin Cities last weekend and even she said the experience was better than she thought it would be. The only real issue was there was no charging infrastructure near the hotel, so we had to find a fast-charger nearby. Wasn't ideal but not horrible, but I would have loved to charge it right there at the hotel. Funny thing is taking it to the Twin Cities was much easier than taking it to Dubuque from Ankeny. There isn't much for charging infrastructure on Hwy 20.

Hybrid maverick. But yeah central Iowa to Chicago and back I had a trip there to Ohare Saturday afternoon in 5 hrs, and a trip back Monday afternoon in about the same time. Still about 30 mpg at 80 mph most of the way in my Buick. Nothing for charging on hwy 30 across there, and of course nothing immediately around ohare I could see for chargers.

 

[motorcy90]

We need to distinguish between super cars and sports cars.

EVs are well suited for super cars. The torque is there, and neither super cars or evs look normal. Handling and suspension may or may not be there in both

As for sports cars, I would not say elite sport cars look normal, but their look can be difficult to achieve in a high range EV (with current EV technology)

But anyone that has driven the original Tesla roadster would disagree with you on whether an EV can be an elite sports car. It was basically a go kart. I assume the new one even better. The EV Mini is more fun than a lot of sports cars without even trying

Right now they can’t be both- sports car and long range commuter, but very few in the segment are ever asked to meet both objectives

Most older corvettes will embarrass sports cars all over and still get mid to high 20 mpgs hwy easily. A family friend put it best years ago with his Dodge Magnum with a Hemi, it cost $20 more in gas compared to his daughter's Toyota Corolla down to Daytona Florida from Cedar Rapids and back, but he could run with most cars down there in anything fun compared to her Corolla.