Personally, I'm holding out for the impending move to PHEV sports cars. Slap on 150 instant hp and the convenience of an EV (plus .gov incentives) and I'm in. I'm really interested to see how the E-Ray plays out.

 

Similarly I am following the KIA RM20E project to see what may come out of it since they have been in in co-development with RIMAC to garner their EV supercar tech. After being in a few Teslas lately I have come to grips that ICE cars are quickly becoming antiquated and electric is the next level. The torque they produce is amazing.

 

Razorlab... yeah, I was regretting my Lexus post probably 2 hours after writing it. I think the marketing hype got to me when I was reading the Car and Driver stories.

I liked my Evo most in the earlier years when it wasn't worth that much. In the year leading up to when I sold it, I was nervous driving it because I didn't want to impact it's "value." The GR Corolla sounds most interesting to me right now because it seems closest to the original Evo's roots.

 

I know exactly how you guys feel. Sold my evo 9 and have been looking for a comparable car. After driving friends supra, gt350, and m2 comp. I ended up getting a 718 GT4. One of the rare cars nowadays that checked a lot of my boxes

weight in low 3k lbs
manual
NA motor

 

Agree 100%, however, the GT4 is literally twice as much $ as the other three cars you mentioned, and in this current climate, they are $120k!

 

But there is the other side of the coin; across country they average about 45 mph due to charger stops.

 

oh yeah, the chip shortage and allocation demands makes it very difficult to purchase one at MSRP. I was lucky to snag an allocation for one.

 

That is bound to change as demand increases more. I never drove my Evo across country and wouldn't expect to my EV car. The development in Korea is looking into fuel cell tech for power regeneration. A lot is still in it's infancy but the potential for vehicle performance is greater than what ICE has gained over the last century. Reminds me a little like when E85 came on the scene some 13 years ago. Many nay-sayers. I drove an hour to refill at the nearest station and fill 2 5gal. jugs.

 

That's why I'm thinking PHEV will become the technology that "sports" cars (and others) move toward. At least until another breakthrough in battery technology. AFAIK the way the laws are structured, a PHEV is considered an EV as long as it can do a certain amount of mileage in Electric only mode. To me, this seems like an area that MFG's will operate in to continue to give their enthusiasts ICE engines while complying with regulations. Having your cake and eating it too IMO.

The Electric motor and batteries compliments the ICE nicely too. The motor takes over the roles of the starter and alternator, and the system powers accessories. This removes all these burdens on the ICE to let it really focus on propulsion and reducing unnecessary wear. Maybe you go on short trips and never even start the ICE. I always feel bad when I run my engine to do a short trip or just move the car, and it doesn't get a full heat up cycle. You can run the climate control without starting the ICE, which means indoors in your garage if you wanted. If you live in a community of folks who don't appreciate the sound of your exhaust at 2am, no problem you can drive it out without ever firing it up. Regenerative braking can work in parallel with the brakes to improve performance. Just so many upsides, but it might not happen because the push for full EV is so hard right now.

 

Like you said the quick jump to EV development is passing up hybrid/PHEV tech which is really the perfect interim match. I think it would have really helped convert a lot of lack luster FWD ICE vehicles into something more fun to drive.
I do get bugged as how quiet they are. You can hardly hear them coming but I am also getting way tired of hearing pop/bang tunes flying down the street @ 2 am.

 

I've been following battery tech for a while now, and it seems to me that EV tech, like all tech, consists of a lot of hype. The way you keep reading about all these breakthroughs in battery chemistry etc. you would think it's a done deal. In reality, it's still the wild west when it comes to the energy storage piece of the EV. Take tesla, who has really pushed lithium cobalt tech, and they are now starting to use Lithium Iron Phosphate cells in their vehicles. China BTW has a pretty big head start in lithium Iron Phosphate. Solid state is the holy grail, and supposedly Toyota is the furthest ahead in their R&D. At the same time, Toyota has really slow rolled their transition. Despite having been in the hybrid world forever. There is Hydrogen, which seems problematic on a bunch of different levels, but won't die.

Point is I think batteries will be a bottleneck and the estimates on timetables are way too optimistic. Unless these OEM's can actually bring the next generation tech to market. PHEV gets you most of the benefits of an EV while not really putting any new burden on the end user.

 

That is why I think so many automakers are missing what today's reality is. Heck I know a few Prius owners that have bad battery packs but still drive it on ICE power because they don't want to invest in a battery pack replacement.

 

I'd guess two thirds of the miles on my Evo are highway miles. Everyone is different but I found the Evo to be a great interstate cruiser. One secret is the seats. I can drive all day and be comfortable. That and installing cruise. And I doubt that that is still possible, the last I checked there was only one company left making aftermarket kits and that was some years ago.

As an aside, my wife's Honda has adaptive cruise. I set her car's cruise to 80 and end up following some slow truck doing 65 for fifteen minutes, the amount of time it takes me to realize I am slow. So I pass to get captured by the next slow vehicle. Isn't technology wonderful.

 

reminds me of a Hedberg joke.

 

You mean the weird looking civic crossover hatchback?