I feel like, in the near term, this has created a bit of a ‘buy a v8 while you can’ mentality with negative environmental effect. It’s part of why I just bought a 500hp SUV that averages 9 mpg when my foot gets heavy. (I do feel a little guilty.)
A model X has about that same power, goes faster for it, and you can put a dead body in the front where the engine isn't.
I do think that electrical vehicles have a lot of potential, but there are certainly lots of things that should be addressed.
However, i also fear that more and more electrical components will eventually make cars harder to maintain and operate. For example, a Nissan Patrol was an exceedingly simple car (had a 3rd generation one). I fear we'll never see that sort of simplicity again.
Once it deteriorated, workable electric infrastructure should be there.
Appeasing that mentality is not the solution.
Further, when saying ‘created,’ I am talking more about a market effect on a larger section of the population.
I own two vehicles, One is a cheap base model Kia Soul that I got used for very little. I also own an F-350 Dually Super Duty King Ranch edition. I used to use the truck to tow my house (42 foot fifth-wheel). It's somewhere in the 500HP range, but I needed it for what I was doing at the time. Got about 8 MPG highway pulling the fifth-wheel.
Nowadays I use the cheap Kia for almost everything, because I don't need 500 ponies under the hood and parking that monster sucks as well.
I get that a cheap Kia maybe isn't a fun car for most people, especially when they can afford a lot more car, but you don't need to get a giant SUV just to spend a lot of money on a nice/fancy car.
Do you have literally any specific need for that vehicle other than the fear you won't be able to get one later? I just don't get it. It isn't like electric is lacking in power either.
Environmental issues aside, this sounds like a comically impractical vehicle.
The Model S Plaid features Tesla's first-ever triple-motor system, producing a staggering 1,020 horsepower and 1,050 lb-ft of torque.
https://www.motortrend.com/cars/tesla/model-s/2021/2022-tesl...
I got a Volvo XC60 T8 last year, a plug in hybrid. Rated at 400bhp total. Silly amount of power, way more than anyone needs. But.....I very rarely use it. The electric range of about 25 miles means I complete 95% of my daily journeys on electric power alone. My long term efficiency is about 120mpg(imperial). But that power is still there if I need it - it had absolutely no problems accelerating to and going 140mph on the autobahn, it was great for a 800 mile drive across Europe. It's spacious, comfortable......and the fuel economy is great in daily use.
But I feel like I grew out of a stage where a supercharged Range Rover V8 or a GLE63 AMG would have been the dream - my next car will be full EV if anything.
(And of course we need to blame the regulators that allow this, also knowing fully well what is happening.)
Where I live they're almost exclusively leased for a period of 12 months or less and are used mostly in large cities.
I can only speculate that it's a status symbol, which for some is more important than small details such as miles per gallon.
Pray tell why you think that I “would eventually kill someone”.
The only situation where I see fast acceleration being dangerous is where other cars are pulling out and seeing you are traveling slowly but not expecting you to accelerate fast. They are likely to pull out on you. I think if you're accelerating hard you have to be aware of this and not do it before junctions or be prepared to ease off.
I would honestly like to understand.
What’s difficult to understand?
I currently own a 2007 diesel station wagon, mostly by accident. It's a hand-me-down from my parents. Fuel consumption is 4.25l/100km (~55 mpg).
It's plenty comfortable to me. It has the safety features that matter (ABS, airbags and whatnot). I've never ended up in an unsafe situation due to a lack of acceleration either. It's got plenty of cargo capacity on its own. In the unlikely event I need more, I can easily hook up a trailer. Which is exactly what I plan to do on the way to the holiday house this summer. Plenty of rather rough unpaved roads there, and yet hardly an SUV to be seen.
All of this fits well with a personal strategy: - frugal. I try not to spend more than the median unskilled labourer reasonably can. - political. I try to make sure as little as possible money goes to Russian (48%), Saudi (~20%) or other middle eastern (~5%) oil firms of vey questionable ethical reputation. Just thinking of Mohammed Bin Salman is stomach turning enough for me to lower my speed to the fuel efficiency optimum. - ecological. Used car, fairly clean burning engine, using it as little as possible, driving it at optimal speed ~90km/h (~56mph) .
My significant other is on board with this. The tradeoff was between owning a car or not. She absolutely wants one. I absolutely want what we own to be frugal, aligned with our political choices and ecological.
I can really appreciate the engineering that went into a massive engine, very much so. Same for a friend's custom leather car upholstery rework. True work of art. An acquaintance of a friend's converted an old Volvo 240 to run on wood (!) [0]. To me, the comfort and fun you described sound bland, hollow, empty even in comparison.
Why go with the boring highly polluting v8 when you can get something similarly boring with more positive externalities instead?
I enjoy translating poetry from Japanese and Spanish. I enjoy playing classic and modern music on piano-- I played violin in an orchestra when I was younger. I enjoy learning to read various writing systems. I love watching films new and old, including those of Kieślowski & Roy Andersson. I have fallen in love and been loved. I have eaten a Liège waffle in a park watching the sunset. I have arrived in Paris at 6pm and walked around with a camera until my train left at 10am. I have sat on the grass outside a Mexican airport drinking beer with other travelers and employees waiting for the massively delayed single flight of the day. I enjoy sailing, swimming, cycling.
In addition to those other bland, hollow and empty pursuits and experiences, I also have a passion for driving and autosport.
Every trip I make by car requires me to, from a stop sign with no ramp, enter or cross a 65 mph divided highway that is often busy. It's happened many times where I've pulled into an empty lane and a car going faster than 70 switches to my lane and closes in at a dangerous rate behind me as I'm still accelerating. Sometimes cars accelerate spontaneously after I've entered a gap that is normally plenty of room. Other times, drivers behind me rage with horns or dangerous maneuvers if I don't enter when they feel it's safe. All those are solved (save for errant hypercars) with a simple sub 4 second 0-60 time and the stability of all wheel drive.
In addition, on road trips, I can close the exhaust valves, raise the ride height and soften the suspension. Then, I can talk to other people in the car without shouting, and I don't have tinnitus ringing in my ears for hours after. Those two things are definitely not boring.
Hooking up a trailer ramps up the inconvenience significantly if you're just driving to a beach condo or attempting to park in a normal lot. That said, my vehicle can tow around 4 US tons if I wanted to go that path.