5 Awesome EVs That'll Make You Question Your Allegiance To The Internal Combustion Engine

1. Porsche Mission E

Here’s what a Porsche of the future could look like, and if the final product ends up looking even half as wicked as this then we can’t wait for it to become a reality. It’s Porsche’s answer to the Tesla Model S, and has 590bhp and a range of 310 miles. That makes it a bit slower, but with slightly more range than its American rival.

Why should you be excited about a Model S rival, when Tesla’s car has been around for ages? Well, for a start, Tesla interiors aren’t fantastically put together, whereas Porsche excels in this field. More importantly for petrolheads, however, is the fact that this car will almost certainly be an absolute blast to drive - Porsche is marketing it as a sports car, featuring tech from its Le Mans-winning race car and an 800-volt battery, which results in shorter charging times and weight benefits elsewhere in the car. This thing’ll be a hardcore electric car, the likes of which won’t have been seen before.

2. Volkswagen Phaeton

In the wake of Dieselgate, the VW Group is pushing electric technology as a way of redeeming itself for pumping toxic gases into the atmosphere. Well, more specifically, more toxic gases than it’s supposed to. Before the scandal hit, we’d mostly seen EV power in the likes of the VW Golf and Audi A3, however we’re now starting to see it creep across VW’s range, particularly towards luxury cars using smooth, silent battery-powered propulsion.

Volkswagen is likely to have a new Phaeton on sale by 2020 based on the Audi Q6 e-tron. It makes sense; right now luxury cars make do with tonnes of heavy sound-deadening to provide the kind of sumptuous silence luxury car owners desire, most of which could be ditched with the noisy ICE. Furthermore, EVs can provide a smoother power delivery than our traditional powerplant. Premium cars will continue to make the switch over to electric power, and in a sector where silence is everything, it’ll be a welcome transition.

3. Honda CRZ

It won’t be long before the hot hatch scene becomes very different to how it looks today. With tighter emissions control comes downsizing and fewer inspiring engines. These days manufacturers are managing to make the most of teeny 1.6-litre engines thanks to forced induction, but the tipping point between strangling engines for all they’re worth while keeping that all-important practicality is coming fast.

Enter Honda’s CRZ EV concept. The Japanese manufacturer is currently assessing the feasibility of this car, but it’s all fully working already and it sounds like brilliant fun. It has an electric motor at each wheel providing all-wheel drive performance - currently it’s making 250bhp but the target is 350bhp. Part of the appeal of a hot hatch is that you get a performance car without the associated running costs, and it’s here that an EV is especially useful. As more hatchbacks switch to electric power, expect to see highly tuned versions spring up.

4. Aston Martin DBX Concept

Yeah, I know this is a crossover, but don’t let that put you off. What this really is is the start of something new for Aston Martin. Earlier this year, AM CEO Andy Palmer confirmed that the future of his company is electric. So that is the boss of a high performance car manufacturer that’s famous for its evocative exhaust note admitting that the future of their cars is in silent acceleration.

The performance potential of an electric car, in particular accelerative performance, is incredibly impressive. As we’ve already seen from the Tesla Model S, sub-3sec 0-62mph times are easily achievable even in bigger luxury cars. Imagine what Aston will be capable of producing with the DBX crossover, let alone once it turns its attentions to EVifying its performance models.

5. Toroidon 1MW Concept

One of the most intriguing aspects of the modern automotive landscape is the proliferation of low volume car manufacturers, built up by someone who’s spent years studying the automotive world (or, at the very least, has deep pockets to employ other people who have) and reckon they can do better than what’s gone before. What you usually get is an old crate engine plonked under the bonnet of something with questionable styling and absolutely zero likelihood of seeing production.

If you think that because there are such few moving parts involved in EVs that that would stifle creativity, you’d be wrong. Instead of oily old men in converted sheds, we’re now looking at blokes in white coats staring at computer screens hoping to shake the car world up. While Porsche and Tesla are faffing about with triple-figure power outputs, this Finnish team has put together a bonkers electric-powered hypercar.

The 1MW Concept by Toroiden is so-called because it has a 1 megawatt power output. That’s 1341bhp. Sure, we’ve seen bigger numbers from hybrids like the Koenigsegg Regera, but this car is pure electric, and most impressively, this is early in the life of electric cars. Just imagine what sort of power outputs we can expect a decade or so from now.