How much hard driving can EV really handle?
If you love driving hard and fast, your next supercar should be an EV, as electric motors are designed to last the life of the vehicle.
Drive a petrol-powered supercar hard and fast and you’ll require more frequent servicing and likely shorten the life of the engine and other major components. Everything from seals and bearings to valves and transmission components can lose their sheen after repeated hot laps.
Electric vehicles will also experience increased wear to some components, but not necessarily to the electrical ones.
Electric motors are relatively simple items that require no maintenance and are designed to last the life of the vehicle.
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Does hard driving mean hard wearing?
If you love driving hard and fast, your next supercar should be an EV, as electric motors are designed to last the life of the vehicle.
According to Porsche, which sells the fastest EV on sale in Australia, the Taycan Turbo S, its motors have been engineered to regularly deliver supercar acceleration.
Porsche refers to “advanced thermal management” systems that reduce excessive wear and tear.
“As with any powerful electric motor, heat is generated during operation,” said a Porsche spokesperson. “This heat, if not managed effectively, would cause wear and tear.
“In the case of the Taycan, it can effectively regulate the temperature in real-time, making it a reliable and practical choice for performance-conscious drivers.”
The more expensive part of an EV is its battery pack, a component that is also the most advanced and susceptible to degradation. All batteries lose their ability to hold charge over time, with most manufacturers guaranteeing at least 70 per cent of the original capacity after eight years.
One of the main factors with battery degradation is how many charging cycles it has completed and how much power was delivered when charging; higher-powered charging generates more heat, something that can incrementally add to degradation.
Kia points out that the “industry-wide lifespan of a battery is directly related to their total number of charge cycles based on how much the battery has been discharged”.
Clearly a performance car like the Kia EV6 GT being driven hard will be using more energy and, therefore, require charging sooner.
By that simple measure the battery of a performance car being driven in anger regularly will likely degrade slightly sooner than one that has not been charged as much.
But, again, it’s temperature management that is critical to the batteries in a high-performance electric car.
“Modern EVs utilise advanced battery management software and state-of-the-art thermal-management systems, which significantly reduces the stress placed on electric motors during performance driving,” says Porsche, adding that drivers can “experience the performance capabilities of their vehicles without fear of excessive reduction of lifespan or increased maintenance”.
So, the short story is that while high-performance electric cars will ultimately experience increased wear and tear with repeated vigorous driving, the effects are likely to be much less than that same kind of enthusiast behaviour would have on a petrol engine.
So, don’t be afraid to have some fun!
Cars get cheaper as key costs fall Cheaper cars as costs fall
The cost to buy an electric vehicle is beginning to come down, making EVs more accessible than ever, but what does this mean automotive brands?
Can battery metals be sourced sustainably?
What are the environmental costs behind sourcing the metals for the batteries that power our electric vehicles?