Automobile Enthusiasts
Related: About this forumGas-powered vs. Electric Cars: Which Is Faster?
You're at the red light and the guy next to you revs his engine. You laugh to yourself, though, because he clearly doesn't notice you're driving a Tesla Model S (or he thinks an electric vehicle [EV] is a handicap). The light turns green, you put the pedal the floor and leave him in the dust. Bye, Felicia!
The point of the story is to say that if you want to go from zero to 60 mph (zero to 96.5 kph) as fast as possible, an electric car is the way to go. Surprised? So was the guy at the red light that you smoked in this little made-up story. However, gas-powered cars can still have faster top speeds. So what's the key difference between the two cars? Mostly, the transmission, or lack thereof.
Quick vs. Fast
First, in general racing terminology, "quick" means how long it takes to get from point A to point B, while "fast" means the top speed a vehicle reaches. In drag racing, for example, the "faster" vehicle hits the higher speed over the course of the race, but the quicker vehicle gets to the finish line first.
Electric cars are capable of being quicker than gas-powered cars, but EVs aren't yet capable of going faster. Our little zero to 60 scenario is a good example. Gasoline cars do have a performance advantage when those top speeds are being sustained for longer periods of time.
A 2015 Fortune article featured former Tesla engineer Dustin Grace, who provided a good overview. Electric vehicles generate much more torque than gas vehicles, which is important because torque is what drives the vehicle forward. Furthermore, an electric car's motor eliminates the need for a traditional transmission in many modern designs. The power goes straight to the wheels for instant acceleration, making EVs quicker on the start.
In a gas-powered car, the engine has to route the power first to the transmission and then to the wheels (the components collectively known as the "drivetrain" or "powertrain" ). This process takes longer, wasting crucial zero to 60 potential. Some of the power created by the engine usually about 15 percent is also wasted traveling through the drivetrain, known as drivetrain loss.
Read more: https://auto.howstuffworks.com/gas-powered-vs-electric-cars-which-is-faster.htm
In a zero to 60 mph (zero to 96.5 kph) race, a Tesla Roadster like this one will smoke a gas-powered vehicle every time. TESLA
rusty quoin
(6,133 posts)The McLaren P1 and the Porche 918, that I saw on Top Gear, excited me because they were super car hybrids. I know this stuff is only available to the rich, but the technology eventually ends up in regular cars. And the zero to sixty on just electric is a big part of that.
Motor heads will always be there, like in Star Wars, but the best tech will always win over them. The internal combustion engines will be a thing of the past.
Rhiannon12866
(222,247 posts)My guess would have been that the EV still has a long way to go, but there are ways they are superior - and we need to learn from that going forward. I remember reading awhile back that the price of a Tesla would be coming down within four years, but I'm still waiting.
awesomerwb1
(4,567 posts)Don't get me wrong. I love electric cars....but you can't beat the sound a Ferrari or a Porsche engine for example. I'm old school.
quickesst
(6,302 posts)I don't care how fast electric cars get. There will never be anything like feeling the acceleration off the start line with a V8 gas supercharged engine.
Voltaire2
(14,719 posts)The acceleration of a performance ev cannot be matched by a performance ice.
You could always add sound effects.
quickesst
(6,302 posts)I'm old old old school. They already have fake sound effects, and that's for gasoline powered cars. As I stated earlier I don't really care how fast they make electric cars, there will never be, for me anyway, an adequate replacement for the real deal. Just knowing the sound effects are not real is a huge turn off. Don't get me wrong, I would love to have an efficient electric car for a daily driver, but when it comes to fun, there's no deal like the real deal.
https://m.
crazytown
(7,277 posts)Only NASCAR / F1 vechiles go faster than that.