Cars are meant to be heard and felt!
Politicians have been touting electric cars as environmentally friendly, fuel-efficient, quiet, and free from jerky gear shifts. All true—but no one asked car buyers what they actually want. The market shows that the transition is particularly difficult for sports car brands. Porsche is now offering an update for the electric Taycan that simulates audible and perceptible gear shifts—even though they don’t actually exist from a technical standpoint. It also includes Electric Sport Sound, a virtual tachometer with an eight-speed display, and shift paddles on the steering wheel. There’s even a Performance Kit for the racetrack. That’s likely to reduce the electric model’s image as a “savior of the world” to absurdity. But the Stuttgart-based company certainly isn’t doing this because they’re bored—rather, because that’s what customers want. Or perhaps they’re hoping that’s what customers want, so they’ll buy a Taycan after all.
The Taycan upgrade highlights the industry’s dilemma. Since electric cars still aren’t selling like hotcakes, manufacturers are trying to appeal to familiar emotions. At no auto show are new electric cars—and we’re not just talking about Porsche here—still being marketed under the banner of environmental friendliness. They’re all sporty, have a range that’s almost as long as gasoline or diesel cars today, and aren’t supposed to feel or sound any different. Behind this is the realization that customers don’t want anything new—they want everything to be just as it always has been. Even AMG-Mercedes makes its E-GT roar like a V8 and simulates gearshift impulses, while Ferrari is following suit with its new Luce. Only Lamborghini isn’t going along with the electric craze for now and is letting its internal combustion engine run wild.
Battery-powered behemoths weighing two to three metric tons on wheels are, after all, only moderately eco-friendly and fuel-efficient. And if they’re quiet, they’re dangerous, because pedestrians can’t hear these rolling wall units approaching. And sports car fans clearly don’t want a smooth ride at all. So you might as well drive a classic car. Loud, jerky, and sustainable—because driving a car longer is more environmentally friendly than manufacturing a new one. It announces its arrival in good time with a chattering boxer engine or a gurgling V8 and, with every gear shift, treats the driver to the sensuality of a powerful engine. You know what you have. You know what you’re doing. You know what you love.
