Japan’s automakers are keeping sports cars alive in the EV era::The Japan Mobility Show in Tokyo saw the debut of five different electrified sports cars, ranging from production-intent coupes to outrageous concept supercars.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Honda, Mazda, Nissan, Subaru, and Toyota all revealed show-stopping sports car concepts that feature fully electric or hybrid powertrains, with each brand committing to keeping enthusiast segments alive amid the global EV transition.
Electric sports cars from other high-end brands like Audi, Lotus, and Mercedes-AMG are still years away, with no concepts to even give us a taste of what to expect, while supercar companies like Ferrari and McLaren are only just starting to talk about making EVs.
There’s also the Sustaina-C concept, a small hatchback made from recycled acrylic resin, and the CI-MEV, an autonomous microcar for elderly people who can’t walk, drive, or easily take public transit.
A two-door coupe with swan-wing doors, a fixed roof, and what presumably is a liftback glass hatch, Mazda describes the Iconic SP as a car that “embodies the joy of driving.” It’s perfectly proportioned, with wonderfully sculpted, super wide fenders, an extremely sloping hood and low nose, and minimal surfacing frippery.
The Hyper Force’s multitude of screens move around the driver depending on drive mode, shifting colors and showing different information, and when the car’s not in motion, it can be used as a VR gaming setup.
Toyota says it shares a modular architecture and many components with the brand’s other next-gen EVs, including a gigacasted body and new prismatic battery cells that are slimmer and mounted behind the occupants to give it mid-engine weight distribution and handling characteristics.
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Ghastly cars from nissan subaru and toyota. Amazingly ugly. The mazda is inoffensive, but less iconic than the honda e sportscar from a few years back.
Eh, I like the Mazda. It basically looks like what I would have pictured as a “futuristic Miata” a few years back. I will say I’m more interested because of its power train though.
But when I say “more interested” I just mean it’s cool. I’m 6’6, no chance I would fit in it.
Honestly the power train is the #1 reason I dislike the Mazda. They tease bringing back rotary engines, only for them to be a gimmick. It doesn’t look awful, and does stay fairly true to Mazda styling. The back looks like a Ferrari, but overall it isn’t ugly.
I’m a big fan of series hybrids. PHEVs are great for alleviating range anxiety but parallel PHEVs can be sluggish if the battery is depleted. Building a sports car series hybrid seems like a great option to get you the awesome performance off the line of an EV while handling the range anxiety concerns so many people have.
At this point, the differentiator is the inconvient shape, not the performance.
You have very little idea what a sportscar is about if you think that.
TBH that Mazda is hideous and an insult to fans of rotary engines.
My only real car want right now is a small 2 door sports car, but it sure won’t be an EV. They’re not going to appeal to the part of the market who likes performance cars for what they are. And when they fall flat they’ll point to the low sales and say nobody wants them anymore and go back to making SUVs
I would absolutely love an EV Miata. A shit load of torque, perfect, super low placed weight balance with distribution of batteries and power near the wheels. What performance enthusiast wouldn’t love that? That thing would handle like an F1 car.
Combined with the fact that it’s a tiny Miata and the range could be pretty nice as well. Maybe even add AWD with a second motor… Now THAT would be my perfect car at this point.
Honestly I don’t get the love for EVs. They’re not fun to drive imo. Instant power is nice, but it’s flat and boring.
The ICE is such an integral part of enjoying driving to me that without it there’s little to no point. The feeling and sound aren’t replicable by EVs.
They’re great for the environment, horrible for the car hobbyist.
a small 2 door sports car, but it sure won’t be an EV. They’re not going to appeal to the part of the market who likes performance cars
Porsche will be releasing an EV in the Boxster/Cayman class and I think it’s going to prove you wrong by selling like hotcakes
I might be proved wrong, but it’s still never going to change my opinion that EVs are fine as commuter cars, but horrible for performance cars. An ICE is just better in almost every way.
BEVs are currently definitely too heavy to be any good as a sports car, but I think you’re underestimating how good an electric drivetrain is. If batteries get light enough someday so that you can get decent range without the car weighing > 3000lbs, I bet there’ll be a BEV with your name on it
I’ll end up with an EV, but it’ll be something boring as a commuter car. If I want something fun/for the track I’ll stick with a traditional engine. They’re just more fun. The sound and the way they respond is just so much different to an EV.
