Could an EV be more exciting than a combustion engine car?

For the past few decades, the savvy staff of nearly every major car brand have racked their brains over the electrification of the automotive industry. How are we going to convince all the petrol players to go electric? Could an EV be more exciting than a combustion engine car?

That’s the question we ask four giants in the automotive world. We are talking about John Hennessey, Gordon Murray, Christian von Koenigsegg and Mate Rimac. Do they need an introduction? Oh no? It’s interesting to know how V8-obsessed Hennessey boss and purist Gordon Murray reacts to EVs. You can guess Rimac’s opinion, by the way.

John Hennessey

In a direct line: yes. But in terms of weight, battery technology and fast charging, a lot still needs to be done. You can make short work of everyone in a drag race, but on the Nordschleife it will be a different story.

Gordon Murray

At the moment the answer is still difficult: an electric car cannot give you all those emotional things. For a person of my age, or even in the 30s, 25s, it will never give you the emotional experience of a light power car, with all the noise and all that such a thing can produce.

But there comes a time when people of a certain age no longer exist, and the people who exist cannot remember those things. Electric cars are becoming more common. And developers will create games that still run well, it’s just a matter of time. You can’t draw a line now and say, this is it. It will change.

Christian von Koenigsegg

I don’t think combustion engines will be replaced by electric ones. Imagine if you could drive a car with CO fuel₂negative, there will be no environmental damage. Of course, driving more means more than just less CO₂because you pay an environmental tax when you produce oil.

But that said, it will probably be ten more years before an electric car is lighter than a car with a combustion engine. Is it also more fun and emotional? We will see.

Mate Rimac

In the future, all normal cars will be electric, and the exciting cars will run next to those that are electric, but the internal combustion engine will remain, for those who like it. Future Bugatti will still have an internal combustion engine. You don’t want to hear a diesel Golf on the street, you want it to be quiet. But hearing the V12 is something completely different, I hope it will be around for decades to come.

I think there is room for ‘normal’ and electric motors. Perhaps encouraging to everyone here, I don’t see any law yet preventing us from making internal combustion engines or supercars after 2035 – when it comes to low mileage.