The Chinese EV market is so big that it has room for something sorely lacking in the American EV market: fun. And I don’t just mean “fast,” as fun gets so often reduced to here; I mean actual fun. EVs are bringing more tech into cars than ever before, but the features in Chinese EVs seem downright futuristic. You can find cars with augmented-reality dashboards, massaging seats, in-car projector screens, refrigerators, and customizable emoji headlights.
That… does not sound fun. That sounds like a bunch of shit that I’ll either use once and never touch it, or it will break quickly and I won’t be able to use it.
The fact that this person thinks this is what makes cars fun raises serious doubts about their understanding of cars.
I can see a good argument for having a small refrigerator built-in. My last ICE vehicle had an air conditioning bypass vent inside the glove box so you could keep a drink and a sandwich cold — and an EV could do so much better. I know I could buy a small powered cooler and plug it in, but having it within easy reach while out on a road trip was very useful — and is one of the few things I miss on on old ICE vehicle which has no analogue in my EV.
Yeah, the fridge would be useful in certain types of car. When my kids were little that would actually have been really helpful. But emoji headlights??
I’ve never owned a particularly fast car, but I’ve owned a few that were fun regardless. And I think it has more to do with power-to-weight ratio and cornering ability than anything that was on the dashboard.
This article is most likely paid for by vested interests. Might be wise to disregard.
Was gonna say, this sounds like yet another BYD post/ad. Seems to be a lot of that in this sub.
by the way, BYD is quite conservative
That’s Jason Torchinsky, and he’s fantastic
He’s got a very different definition of “fun” than I do.
Also to your point, yes there are different definitions of fun. Some people are really into power and acceleration but I tend to be more into light and flickable cars myself. Different perspectives are valuable
I can’t read the whole article due to a pay wall but Jason tends to favor the weird, unique, and novel things in the automotive world. These days he’s usually writing for The Autopian or appearing in their YouTube videos. Highly recommended
I was hoping they’d talk about some light weight EV sports car that handles well. Like an electric Miata.
No they want an iPhone on wheels compared to the iPhone on wheels that already are electric cars. The last thing I want in a car is their definition of “fun”.
Like an electric Miata.
Yes! Or an electric GTI. Something small and punchy that can really show off the instant torque. It doesn’t even need to be particularly fast, just peppy. You know, a fun car.
Best option for something like that is a conversion of an existing ICE car.
It looks like in America everything is thought around survival. A car here is so expensive that it must be as risk free as possible.
Out of interest how are the other countries in the UK finding electric cars?
In the UK there was a bit of a boom but that’s slowed considerably. The infrastructure isn’t there. Electric cars are considerably more expensive and electricity is not cheap here. Until they are much cheaper than their combustion counterparts I just can’t see them taking hold. I’d love to go electric but it’s just not viable.
