Soul, Noise And Drama Means That Hybrid Hypercars Have Reached A Technological Plateau
The highest levels of performance are now going hand-in-hand with electrification. The McLaren P1, Porsche 918 Spyder and Ferrari LaFerrari wouldn’t be the cars they are without hybrid technology, in various guises. For these three it’s a symbol of their status, of their unwavering commitment to speed.
But each of them still has a big engine that makes all the right noises, both literally and metaphorically speaking. Big power outputs, huge torque, astronomical top speeds – these are not things that electricity is wholly responsible for. If you take the hybrid systems away, these three would still be pinnacle supercars; the cream of the automotive crop. The same goes for the Koenigsegg Regera, for example.
Hybrid systems, then, add technological intrigue, extra marketing angles and a multi-dimensional driving experience, as well as better fuel efficiency and the emissions-lowering message that EU lawmakers want to hear.
Maybe you could even go as far as to say that battery and motor assistance is the key, defining aspect of the very best, fastest and most desirable cars on the planet. So far, all the biggest and best hypercar makers have gone electric, to a point, and both Mercedes and Aston Martin are looking to join the fray within the next couple of years
But if speed and drama are always going to be prerequisites for the best supercars in the world, electrification faces a couple of problems. First of all, speed on its own isn’t enough. The more electric that cars get, the more passion and raw pulse-racing excitement they lose. Take the noise away and you destroy the car’s soul, which means that hypercar makers can’t afford to go much further with electricity than they already have.
The second problem is the Huracan Performante. The argument over the authenticity of its Nurburgring lap time will rumble on and on, but if it really did mash the 918 Spyder’s record time with nothing but an old-school V10 and some clever aero, where’s the prestige in electricity?
The question we have to ask is this: we know electric cars are going to be common soon enough, but will hypercars be leading the way, or will they be the last to hang onto internal combustion? They’ve moved to hybrid power because, right now, it’s a new and mighty technology that has more benefits than drawbacks, but can a hypercar ever really maintain that tag without a big, loud engine behind the seats?
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Hybrid hypercars have paved the way for smaller, lighter, cheaper hybrid sports cars, but while technology can keep advancing and everyday machines will turn electric without causing us too much lost sleep, the poster cars of the future have already reached a plateau, of sorts, before they’ve even been designed. If they go electric, we’ll lose interest. It can’t and won’t be the same, and I think McLaren, Ferrari, Porsche, Mercedes, Aston Martin and Koenigsegg know that
Unless legislation forces manufacturers to abandon internal combustion at the highest level, hypercars are going to stay more or less as they are; hybridised powerhouses with big IC engines. Even if every Mercedes C-, E- and S-Class ends up running on electric power; even if the Porsche 911 goes electric, I just can’t see European hypercars doing a Rimac. The need for internal combustion runs too deep.
Comments
But I thought the mclaren p1 was a widow maker?
“we know electric cars are going to be common soon enough”
False premise. We don’t even have infrastructures in the most advanced places in the world that could sustain 10% of cars being electric, and that’s after 90 years of having them.
Hybrid IS our future…
For now yes, but if we look, for example, 10 years in the future, where wind and especially solar energy will be more common, then electric cars will be pretty common. You DO NOT neccessarily need to take electricity from infrastructure; you can produce your own using a solar panel and big battery.
Hybrid is the immediate future as the infrastructure and technology for full EV’s improves.
‘After 90 years of having them’
Sure, but only 7 years of having an actual demand for them
Hydrogen Fuel Cell cars
If this was already happened. I promise that I will cry whole day because I will miss vtecs, RB, SR, LS, EJ, HEMI, and eargasm exhaust notes that it will not exist in the near future. By the way, street racers will have a big day racing through the streets because they can be quiet so the police wont bother chasing us if they dont mind eating their donuts. Well some electric cars will be noisy due safety on pedestrians.
I do believe there will be a day when last supercar existing will turn electric.
Question to you, CTzens: Would you prefer honest electric engine and gearing high-pitch non-dramatic sound or artificial soundtrack made on pc to sound like a petrol car?
God no artificial sounds no. Electric motors could have a dramatic sound to them, nothing as nice as an ice sure, but I’d rather they’d try not to be something they aren’t. It’s the same reason I hate artificial sound tracks through the speakers (cough cough new r8) or fake exhaust pops.
whine > GT6 sounds
Can we stop with the fearmongering for a bit? ICEs aren’t going anywhere in the next 50 years. Even after we’re out of fossil fuels (who knows when), we’ll develop sustainable alternatives.
Used gas cars will be around for a looong time, but manufacturers will likely start going full electric within a few decades.
And all these awesome cars wouldnt be here if it wasn’t for this
Well, they’d still be there. They just wouldn’t be hybrids.
The Prius
Wait… the prius wasnt ugly in its first gen?! the 2nt gen got the sh!tty owners though so… what can ya say.
Im not worried at all of what will become of hybrid hypercars. The manufacturers will always find a way to keep us entertained and in love with them.
Hey guys….. PRIUS….. HAHAHA HAHA
No such thing as a technological plateau. That statement is never true.
“Technological plateau” is an oxymoron.
Batteries are the problem. The Regera’s hybrid system adds an extra 90kg, and that’s despite the lack of the 90kg transmission, meaning the hybrid adds 180kg in total. Nissan has made a 400-horsepower inline-three that weighs just 40kg. I’m sure the Regera would be faster if they replaced the hybrid system with four of these Nissan engines (leading to a grand total of around 2700 horsepower). This is just a crudely-calculated example, but hybrids need to get lighter before they take over completely in performance cars.
That’s why you get old-school, pure engines only.
You do realize that battery technology is a field that is being heavily invested in research? Batteries are getting more power dense and charging faster every year.
In a decade, we will probably have electric cars with 1000 miles of range and a 30 second charge time.
I firmly believe that plug-in electric cars like the Tesla, Chevrolet Bolt, etc. will never last. My guess is that hybrids, hydrogen, and biofuels are our future. And who knows what new technology will be coming out next as far as internal combustion engines and such are concerned? Technology is advancing very fast in our time and that may mean there’s a very strong possibility that gasoline will hang on longer than we may expect.
Electric cars are here to stay. Battery tech, unlike engines, is a field that is being researched by tech companies from Samsung to Tesla. Why? Because every portable electric device needs batteries. This leads to huge amounts of research being poured into battery tech. In a several years, we will likely have electric cars with a 1000 miles of range and charge times of 30 seconds to 5 minutes.