Talk Morgan Forums Community Vehicle Talk (non-Morgan) Power insanity

I have been thinking of changing the Jag for a more useful format of vehicle. I find squeezing all our holiday luggage, for 3 adults and a dog, into the XE a bit of a task.
I have to say I now regret, a little, not buying the Alfa Stelvio for about the same as I paid for the Jag. Interestingly the Stelvio has kept a better second-hand value than the Jaguar XE.
With this in mind I went to have a look to see if something new, say a hybrid, was about to be released. What I found shocked me more than a little. Rumours are out that Alfa, with the Stelvio, will be going "all electric" by 2026 with power up to 1,000 CV. This, to me, seems totally insane! What the heck do they think people are going to do with 1,000 CV; pull stumps out of the ground?

In the rest of the article they say that

"if this powertrain were confirmed on the Stelvio, a range of around 720 km. This would be a similar result to the hypothetical electric Giulia, given that Imparato had previously predicted a range of almost 700 km for the future zero-emission saloon.

In fact, Alfa Romeo's idea is to make the transition from thermal to electric versions as 'traumatic' as possible, at least in terms of comfort and usability of the car.

It is very likely that the future Stelvio and Giulia will share electric engines, just as happens now with petrol and diesel engines.

Both could have an entry-level version with a 350 hp single engine, and then rise to the 800 hp of the Veloce. The sportiest variant would remain the Quadrifoglio, with a power output of around 1,000 hp that would almost double the 510 hp of the current models equipped with the 2.9 V6.

Where will the new Alfa Romeos be produced? Imparato hinted that the electric Stelvio and Giulia will be produced at the Cassino plant, but there is no confirmation yet."

I find around 200 CV more than adequate for today's roads, traffic conditions, and speed limits. Just like any of us I like to occasionally give the car a good "boot" of acceleration but I have no need at all for supercar performance out of what I see as the family hack.

I would still consider buying one of the current diesel AWD models before they go stupid and, to be honest, I am sure that I will still be able to run it for the next 10 years. By that time I will be 87, if I am still around, and, if I am still driving, I would probably only need something smaller.

It seems I agree over kill

Since the time that Top Gear began to be required to burn rubber performing power slides in just about every episode, it seemed that the power available even in mundanemobiles had become a tad excessive... ?

As for Hybrid... the idea of the complexities of a modern I.C.E. as well as all the technology attached to hopefully improving EV technology, just seems less than ideal, but then my knowledge is limited and local laws/regs may affect any decision making....

My Tesla works for me, not as appealing to the eye as a nice Jag, but as a transportation device, it is more suited to the old man I have become, it fits my ideals rather well, after circa 8 months of ownership and almost 3.5k miles.

Given my much reduced miles since retirement some years back, I have only ever charged the Tesla at home. At the time of purchase the 270 mile range was thought to be more than adequate... Though Winter usage is likely to see that reduced by some degree.

To date, even requesting that it defrosts it`s self and bring the interior up to temperature selected on a frosty day from my phone before I venture out.... I am unlikely to miss a few miles of range against that sort of advantage in MY normal usage... Selective Luddite indeed....(-:

Each to their own...

PS... might be best to check insurance costs as EV insurance can be...err... expensive...?

I agree, a total unnecessary overkill. Our Son in Law has just taken delivery of a new Volvo XC60 plug in hybrid. Apparently it can deliver over 450bhp and 0 - 60 in just over 4secs. Very useful in today's traffic.

I used to comment that back in the 1980s superbike power was insane on the open road, now cars are going the same way.

The Boxster S has 350bhp, but perhaps more significantly 309 ft lbs from 1900 rpm to 4500 rpm, which means day to day the engine is operating in the peak torque band, so at maximum efficiency. This also helps give a 0-60mph time of 4.0 seconds....not relevant in the real world.

Now, EVs are pushing the limits ever higher, WHY?

The insurance on the Boxster is no more than on the C Class and less than for the Plus 8.
One of the reasons I exited the Tesla was that Insurance was getting unreasonable, with NFU and one other I cannot recall, declining to quote new business and Quoting over £1000 for existing customers on renewal. As with charging, this aspect of EV ownership HAS to change.

It is all somewhat academic for me, the Boxster S has run less than 20,000 miles so it could well be my final car.

As an approximation to save me digging out paprework... The Tesla Model 3 cost circa £900 to insure fully comp. whereas the 991 cost circa £700 to insure fully comp, the 991 valued at circa £20k more than the Tesla at the time.... Both insured on the same day.... Not looking forward to renewal in four months or so..!

Our 4 car multi car insurance has just come up for renewal with Aviva, it's cost an extra £3 per month, and that is with a new EV to replace our Honda e, at that level we can't be bothered to quibble over it, I was fearing 2 -3 times increase on our policy given what other people have faced, so to be fair .

It doesn't always have to be bad news.

Mark, a rare beast the Honda e, how did you get on with it ? Would be interesting to hear

I remember the first car that I had with electric window winders. When I ordered it they offered electric windows as an option and I said that for the price they wanted I could wind my own windows.
When the car arrived it had electric windows and the dealer wanted me to pay the extra. I declined stating that if they wanted I could wait for the vehicle that I had ordered. In the end they accepted the error and gave me the car without the additional charge.
Since then the only car that I have bought that even offered manual windows is the Plus 4

I think there is a good case for saying that a hybrid is a little like the electric windows. Cars these days are largely computer controlled so having a hybrid drive system removes a whole lot of complex mechanical systems. If we were not going down the path to full electric hybrid would probably be the future; in the same way that my then futuristic electric windows once were.

Just a thought

I must admit thatI haven't engaged with the whole new electric/hybrid thing as it has no compensating appeal to overcome my natural laziness .... but my simplistic impression of hybrids is that they have all the complexity/issues of an ICE car with all the complexity/issues of an electric car superimposed over the top ... just seems loads to potentially go wrong to me.

K