From the glorious sound and rumblings of the combustion engine, to the powerful yet silent power units of the modern day. Cars have come a long way in just a few short decades. We’ve barely gotten the very best form naturally aspirated and turbo-charged engines before we have not officially entered the hybrid era. We may not be in an era where turbos and batteries are jointly sharing the responsibility of powering cars but, fully electric cars are the future.
That’s why brands are trying to push forward with their models that purely have batteries and no other form of power. And we all know that’s the future anyway. Anyone who imagines what the future of cars will look like in a few years, knows that electric-only is the way to go. But where these types of cars will take off is not in the sports car market. It’s actually the humble family car that’s holding the banner and making the charge.
Best of Britain
There’s one brand in the UK that has always been head and shoulders above the rest in road car technology. Even in racing, Jaguar performed the best any other brand has done apart from Lotus. Now, this amazing brand has taken the giant step required to making a fully-electric family car. And they could not have done so at a better time since the crossover popularity is still at its peak. The Jaguar I-Pace is an SUV family car, powered by a 90 kWh battery and capable of ranges between 234-300 miles on a single full charge. It can quick charge back up to 80% in just 45 minutes. It’s power equates to around 400bhp, but crucially it has 516lb-ft. Bear in mind, it’s all-electric so the power delivery is instantaneous. A family crossover, it’s more than capable of seating 4-5 people comfortably.
A green American
Let’s be honest, for a long time the most modern polluting underpowered and underperforming cars have come from America. Although they have great technology and driver aids, they have always been lackluster with regards to power. But the Tesla Model 3 changes all of that. It’s one of the more affordable all-electric cars on the market. It can reach 0-60mph in 5.3 seconds and has a range of around 250-330 miles. Put into the hottest setting, it can reach 60 from a standing start in 3.2 seconds. It has the latest technology to help the driver navigate through cities as well as offer you an app to help you better understand your driving patterns. It does weight 1,800 kg so you’ll feel that during corning.
Small and simple
The Nissan Leaf is something to consider if you’re in the market for a cheap and cheerful all-electric family car. It’s got the smallest battery of the three with 62 kWh. It has 230 mile range in it’s sedan configuration. It’s reasonably spacious and is the lightest at around 1,600 kg. Nimble, simple and performs just about every task well.
All-electric cars are the future and it seems like they’re going to be making an early entrance. For Jaguar they chose the right time as the crossover SUV train is still chugging along nicely.