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from the my-whoosh-is-bigger-than-yours dept.
Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
FRANKFURT -- The gleaming white Porsche with menacing black trim took less than 8 minutes to complete the Nurburgring's demanding Nordschleife circuit. The result was respectable but not spectacular for a 600-hp beast that sprints from 0 to 62 mph in a little more than 3 seconds.
Unlike the Panamera production car, which can easily beat its lap time, the Mission E concept doesn't have camshafts, pistons or valves to mix air and fuel in a combustion chamber or a spark plug to ignite it. It runs on a current of pure electrons supplied by a lithium ion battery, and it can almost fully recharge itself within 15 minutes.
The Tesla Model S doesn't come anywhere close to those specs -- which is the point.
Porsche's 1 billion euro ($1.12 billion) gamble to lure Tesla owners from their beloved electric car is just one example of how much premium European automakers are investing to try and match their Silicon Valley-based rival. Tesla's zero-emissions sports sedan has made Europe's finest automakers look woefully behind the times in an area they typically dominate: technology. The question is whether established brands can win back the hearts and minds of car buyers seeking the next big thing.
Germany's best known sports car maker promises its Mission E, which was teased at last year's Frankfurt auto show, will be "an electric Porsche that deserves the name." That means it will be consistently fast over an extended period with no loss of performance despite repeated accelerating and braking. It is supposed to be the first zero-emissions car worthy of being taken to the racetrack.
Porsche, however, will need years before it can mass produce and sell its electric sports car at a decent profit. Meanwhile, Tesla will continue to deliver tens of thousands of its vaunted sedans and SUVs every year to wealthy progressives around the world, most likely at a loss. "I wish we had put that car on the road and not Tesla," confided a senior engineer at Porsche, not a brand typically prone to technological envy. "We have to earn money at the end of the day though."
[...] Moreover, reputational problems may catch up to it. Allegations have been leveled that Tesla tried to hide suspension flaws in the Model S from the public by forcing customers to sign nondisclosure agreements. More recently, a fatal accident has put its Autopilot in a negative spotlight. Also, when the Model 3 eventually debuts, Tesla will target more demanding consumers, who are not likely to be as forgiving when it comes to the inherent trade-offs of an electric car.
A senior automotive executive at Bosch is convinced that sooner or later Musk will not be able to maintain this startup style showmanship over substance: "At some point as they grow customers won't accept this and Tesla will have to adopt a zero-tolerance approach."
(Score: 3, Interesting) by bzipitidoo on Thursday September 08 2016, @12:39AM
I disagree that they've gotten serious about aero. I am pleased to see some grill blocking being done now, and that's interesting that Mazda smoothed the underside on your 2015 vehicle. That's something, but there's still much more they could do. How about skirts for the wheels? Some cars from the 50s and 60s had them, but people didn't like their looks. That's the crucial problem-- these conservative manufacturers are not going to risk alienating the public by introducing a too radical change in appearance, no matter how much better that makes the car. An added advantage of better aero is that it makes the car more stable, which makes it safer. But they're so afraid of public expectations that they still won't do it. Only car I know of in recent times that had wheel skirts was the Honda Insight. For VG, all you have to do is add dimples like golf balls have at the trailing edges. The Corbin Sparrow had such dimples. Plus, there are other VG designs. Truck trailers could use them. But I know what sticks in the mud some people can be about that. I know one guy who won't even think of using VGs because in his opinion they are ugly. I asked him how could anyone care about the "beauty" of an ugly gray box of a trailer? What does it matter if VGs are added to that? He kept on bleating "ugly". I told him that if it saves fuel without compromising in other important areas, it's beautiful.
Check out http://aerocivic.com [aerocivic.com] for an example of how much more manufacturers could do. This guy modified a 1992 Honda Civic which already had excellent fuel economy, and nearly doubled it. Another car that shows what could be done is the winner of the X-prize for a 100 mpg car, the Edison 2: http://www.edison2.com/ [edison2.com]