Whine and whir: The electric car shiver
By Straight-Six, published on 25 February 2011
Apart from fulfilling its role as a comfortable, spacious and smug-green family ride, there is nothing particularly redeeming about Straight-Six’s 2nd gen. Toyota Prius. Indeed, The Prodigal Fool likes to kick it as often as he can. Quite literally.
But many overlook a small button sporting the letters “EV” against the backdrop of a leaf-like car to the left of the Prius’ steering wheel. Pressing this button to activate Electric Vehicle mode means the Prius emits no pollutants, makes no noise and consumes no petrol. Oh, and it also makes everything else on the road appear instantly obsolete. It’s that dramatic, trust us.
Like it, or not, folks, it’s the future of motoring. So, while we adore the instant torque and seamless urge of the electric vehicle, not to mention the environmental benefits depending on where your juice is coming from, we’re left asking ourselves whether electric cars really provide us with the thrills and spills of a combustion engine. In other words: can it be fun?
Enter Alois Ruf and the Electric RUF concept, or eRUF. RUF Automobile GmbH has long been known as the world’s most serious and sophisticated modifier of Porsches. So great is his skill and so deep the transformations undertaken that he has an official manufacturer status in Germany. He earned his stripes, and the respect of the auto world, in 1987 when his CTR “Yellow Bird” – a modified Porsche 911 with 476 horsepower – smashed the production car top speed record by hitting 324 kph.
Closer to our hearts, Mr. Ruf almost managed to make Straight-Six soil his Spiderman Y-fronts during a 300 kph+ run on the autobahn several years back in a CTR2. The run was done in the afternoon and little Six was squeezed into the back seat given Mrs. Ruf occupied the front passenger position. So, having thoroughly dominated the rarefied world of modified combustion-engined sportscars, Mr. Ruf turned his attention elsewhere: electric power.
RUF has been developing electric cars on the 911 platform since 2008, partnering with engineering giant Siemens in the process, and will shortly unleash ten green vehicles for field tests. Get this: at least two of the eRUF models to be tested can hit 100 kph in 5 seconds, and power on to a top speed of 220 kph. Driving range is approximately 200 km. These are the kinds of numbers that start to get us hot under the collar, folks. Even better, they look pretty much like standard 911s!
So, the skeptics amongst you will point out that the amount of time it takes to charge these babies is still a major weakness: It takes too damned long. Well, that’s where the thought-power and expertise of Siemens comes into play, as they’ve recently announced that they’ve cut the charging time of an average electric vehicle in half. That’s an astounding 50% leap.
Sure, there’s much to be done and perfected, but the examples above show that we’re getting closer all the time to a whiz and whir that’ll surely rip our driving toupees clean off.
Whine and whir: The electric car shiver
Straight-Six gets his Spiderman Y-fronts in a twist over RUF’s electric 911s. At least two of the eRUF models to be tested can hit 100 kph in five seconds, and power on to a top speed of 220 kph.
4 Responses to “Whine and whir: The electric car shiver”
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Ivan Y
26 February 2011
Are you guys turning into Autoblog Green?
And I don’t want to hear anything from Europeans about slow charging times — it’s twice as slow down here in the US due to use of 110V instead of 220V. They have special 220 or 240V chargers that can be installed, but that’s a couple of grand.
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Chris I
2 March 2011
“Well, that’s where the thought-power and expertise of Siemens comes into play, as they’ve recently announced that they’ve cut the charging time of an average electric vehicle in half. That’s an astounding 50% leap.”
Clearly Straight-Six thinks TPF readers are math challenged.
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Straight-Six
3 March 2011
Not you guys, ME!!
dublo
25 February 2011
That post was electrifying.