The official definition of the word "evolution" is: "The process by which different kinds of living organisms are thought to have developed and diversified from earlier forms during the history of the earth."
Obviously this isn’t a science website, but cars evolve too. Just look at Henry Ford’s earliest creations to the all-new Ford GT, as one example. Like living organisms, vehicles adapt to changing surroundings but humans are the ones calling the shots. Not nature. Cars adapt every year with never-ending technological advancements.
Look at how, in only a few years, carbon fiber, once a relatively exotic lightweight material reserved for only the best and most expensive supercars, has become fairly commonplace. While nature didn’t directly cause carbon fiber advancement, the reason for humans to develop it was definitely influenced by Mother Earth. Think about it: The lighter the car, the less fuel it’ll consume. And now Mother Nature is forcing humans to develop alternative powertrains, specifically EVs. If you were to tell us five years ago that Tesla and not Fisker would become the powerhouse it is today, we likely would have laughed.
Fisker, it seemed at the time, had the best formula for building a large, luxurious, and fuel-efficient sedan packed with new tech. The small gasoline engine-battery combo seemed the way to go. It wasn’t, and Tesla has proven us, and anyone else who doubted it, wrong. Supercar companies, such as Ferrari and McLaren, have been observing all of this and they’ve already responded with the LaFerrari and P1, respectively. These are two state-of-the-art hypercars, both featuring large battery packs working in conjunction with large and powerful gas engines. The evolutionary stage of hypercars moving to pure EV setups is already underway.
In fact, both cars, along with the Porsche 918 Spyder, might even be considered somewhat out of date by the automakers behind them because the technology was developed a few years ago. Imagine what’s been created since. McLaren, for example, hasn’t been shy about its intentions to develop an all-electric supercar that’ll be placed in its Ultimate Series lineup alongside the P1. If McLaren is doing it, then so is Ferrari, and so is Porsche, etc... The writing is on the wall. Will gasoline or gas-hybrid hypercars still be around in 10 years? Probably. In 20 years? Less likely. What about 30 years? Do you have to ask? EV tech is advancing rapidly and it’s exciting to see that happen.
What will be even more interesting is observing how these sports car brands innovate new ways to make sure EV hypercars are still drivers’ cars. With a conventional engine being replaced by battery packs, the cars’ center of gravity will be different. Tesla solved this by placing those packs in the dead center of the vehicle, underneath the floor. Based on our own experience behind the wheel of the Model S, we have no qualms about that. If EV evolution continues at this pace, there’s no doubt Ferrari, McLaren, and Porsche will come up with ways to make it even better. They are the industry leaders when it comes to driving passion. Tesla may have made the EV mainstream with the Model S, and affordable with the upcoming Model 3.
The companies that build our favorite supercars are already working hard to ensure that these future high-po EVs will be fun to drive. That’s supercar evolution for you. Welcome to the next decades of the 21st century.
