Yep. It seems like for this application you'd want a larger one, a few feet across, with a nice shiny metal foil coating for the radar to bounce off. So, not a $1 balloon.
And in some jurisdictions, there are "incentives to scrap older, more polluting cars in exchange for a grant or discount towards a newer, cleaner vehicle"
The selling point of electric sports cars is more "the acceleration is amazing" and less "it makes a loud noise".
e.g.
> a 0–100 km/h (62 mph) acceleration time of 2.36 seconds, and a quarter mile (402 m) drag race time of 9.78 seconds. ... unofficially the fastest production car in the world
Acceleration is about the only selling point of a sports EV.
They're so ungodly heavy because of the batteries that they handle like barges. They need giant tyres and so much ESC and software control because these things weigh almost 2000kg or more. You can try and work around it but there's only so much that can be done to make 2000kg take a corner.
Looking at where sports cars will be in 10 years with ICEs being regulated out of existence makes me very sad because it seems like we're about to see the death of the lightweight sports car.
I think if you look at e.g. Model 3 Performance it's not quite so hopeless. 80kwh packed into an EV roughly the same size, weight and performance as a contemporary BMW M3. Even with today's technology (0.2kwh/kg, 3-4 miles/kwh) a Miata-sized 250hp, 2500lb, 200 mile EPA EV is possible. Whether that would be a compelling driving experience and anybody would buy such a thing is another question.
The McMurtry Spéirling is under 1000kg. Battery technology will only improve and so I expect to see under-1500kg sport EVs generally available eventually.
Under 1000kg for a reasonable price probably means building your own electrified exocar.
The McMurtry is a race car so it's not surprising it's that light. However it still pays a price compared to its contemporaries (go look at the weights of various LMP1 or LMP2 cars, even old cars like the Mazda 787B was ~850kg iirc). The only number I've found so far is "under 1000kg" so I assume it's probably quite close to that 1000kg number.
The weight of the batteries isn't going anywhere anytime soon. I expect car makers will prioritize range. I think the engineering to make an EV truly light like an old Integra Type R (1100kg) will be obscenely expensive and sacrifice so much on practicality it just won't be a viable product as a road car.
The car would be so compromised to be that light nobody will make the car, at least at an affordable price. You'll end up with a limited range, limited power, uncomfortable car for a price way out of line with what you're getting.
I think you could make a ~150kw-180kw EV pretty light, but considering the ongoing power pissing contest in modern cars I'm not sure how well it would market test.
So I expect the market will stick to heavy cars with big power because it's easier to build and easier to sell.
FYI, the Wikipedia article has a little more data on this vehicle as an EV:
4 motors, 1,113 horsepower, an 880 V platform, 122 kWh of battery, range 330 miles (531.1 km).
Not clear yet on the exact charge speed or launch date. Or what the 0-100km/h time is, but expect a low number, of course. That number has to be eye-catching.
Problem is that in an EV world the raw figures are really not going to be that impressive. Plenty of Chinese EVs have 1000+hp at far lower cost, and likely as good or better acceleration that whatever Ferrari can deliver, since EVs seem to be reaching a point where the limit on acceleration is the tires rather than the motor. So don't think Ferrari can deliver anything truly eye catching in those terms. Differentiation needs to come in other domains.
You're right, it's going to be hard to beat the Chinese EVs on pure price vs. specs.
They have to have specs in the same league though, and then differentiate. e.g. the 880 V platform indicates that the charging speed may be up to this year's benchmark for "good".
This teaser for the interior design will be part of differentiation campaign.
> supply lines thousands of miles long, between two countries that are separated by 80 miles
I think this one is particularly important. IIRC, it's usually phrased something like "if the USA sends aircraft carriers across the pacific, then China has an unsinkable aircraft carrier 80 miles away: the mainland". It's a huge home turf advantage.
The USA seems to have a very low appetite for helping allies against bullies at present too. And no appetite for taking US soldier casualties.
YMMV. I found Anora quite tiresome - all of the people depicted were awful and stupid, and the point that it made was so basic that it could have been made in 10 minutes flat. I'd call it "preachy" but that's overselling it.
Fair enough, not everyone needs to like the same things. In fact, I had a rather negative view on Shawshank Redemption, but it's been too long since I saw it that I barely remember why.
YMMV. I found EEAAO to be engaging but shambolic. It was an experiment that kinda worked, kinda not. The chaos of it can't be cleaned up, it's intrinsic to the concept.
It's not going to a template for lots of similar films. It's more of a one-off.
But anyway, that was several years ago, it stretches the meaning of "recent".
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