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Telegraph
09-08-2025
- Telegraph
Sports cars in the EV era: Can the traditional formula for driving pleasure survive?
There's an adage that racing improves the breed, but sports cars do, too. Twin-camshaft cylinder heads, improved gearboxes, disc brakes and fuel injection developed to win silverware on the track also debuted in road-going sports cars. But where are we in the new world order of EVs? A world where everyday drivers eke out the available range to get to the next charge point, where batteries add up to half a tonne to dull the car's responses to the major controls – but also where maximum torque at zero revs means that even the most humble EV hatchback can take off like a scalded cat. Is that how cars are going to be from now on? Colin Chapman's giantkilling Lotus 11 of 1956 weighed only 450kg, the 1958 Austin Healey 'Frogeye' Sprite was 667kg, the first Mazda MX-5 in 1989 weighed 940kg. For comparison, the 2023 MG Cyberster, one of the few EV drophead sports cars currently on sale, weighs 1,885kg. Of course, there's much more safety in the construction of a modern car, larger wheels and tyres as well as a plethora of advanced driver aids that all add weight, but a battery adds a lot of weight and inertia. Besides, the super-rich are turning their backs on a range of super EVs being offered as Mate Rimac, CEO of Rimac, maker of the Nevera EV supercar, admitted at a Financial Times conference last year. 'We started to develop the Nevera in 2016/2017, when electric was cool, [now] we notice that as electrification is becoming mainstream, people at the top end of the sector want to differentiate themselves.' It's a bit like expensive mechanical watches versus the more accurate and convenient digital timepieces with vastly more functions; the rich prefer hand-built analogue movements over digital ubiquity. Premium makers scale back EV plans As a result (in the premium markets at least) car makers are scaling back EV model plans. While Ferrari is revealing an all-electric model in early October, we understand plans for a second model are on hold. After poor sales and residual value issues with the Taycan, Porsche is putting back EV model plans, as are Lamborghini, Bentley, Maserati and Aston Martin. There doesn't seem to be a difference between Italy, Britain or America, EV is not acceptable to a certain strata of buyers. Speaking to The Telegraph earlier this year, Adrian Hallmark, the chief executive of Aston Martin, tacitly acknowledged the failing market for expensive EV sports cars saying: 'There's nothing a wealthy person likes less than being told what to do.' Yes, there are some amazing sporting EVs, from the track-only 100kWh battery McMurtry Automotive Spéirling Pure fan car, or the cute Callum Skye, a 42kWh off-roader, but no one has successfully addressed the issues of weight or desirability. Varying approaches There are two distinct approaches. The first, of throwing technology and artificiality at the car, is typified by the latest Mercedes-AMG concept GT XX. This 1,341bhp, 114kWh tri-motor orange monster launched in June has slippery bodywork claimed to have a record-setting coefficient of drag of 0.19Cd. There's no word yet about its weight, but despite the aluminium and carbon-fibre body it's unlikely to be much less than two tons. And so technology has been applied to compensate. The electric motors are axial-flow units like those in Formula 1 cars, the lithium-ion battery is oil-cooled for efficiency and the two-seat cockpit evokes endurance racers, with the driver assailed with artificial recreations of the sound and vibration of a high-performance V8 engine, along with simulated gearchange sounds such as those in the Ioniq 5N. Speaking to Autocar magazine at the AMG's launch, Markus Schäfer, Mercedes technical director, admitted that 'bringing hardcore V8 fans to an electric vehicle is something that is a challenge'. He said that the artificial sounds and vibration system has 'to touch the emotional side of you [and] if it doesn't, it doesn't do the job'. At the other end of the scale is a valiant battle to reduce weight (a bit). The Caterham V, a 2023 concept EV coupé mooted for production this year, had a target weight 1,195kg; with a total immersion 55kWh battery pack, this 268bhp electric motor, rear-wheel drive 2+2 had a target range of 249 miles. Yet it seems to have disappeared without trace. In the here-and-now is the Abarth 600e Scorpionissma. A master in the art of tuning small cars, Abarth is owned by Fiat, but is a surprisingly directed and singular marque. Its marketing boss Francesco Morosini admitted that the £39,000 Scorpionissma is unashamedly developed for track use. Its 280bhp front motor drives through a Torsen limited-slip differential and provides terrific performance and handling. Unfortunately the 54kWh lithium-ion battery can only muster an official WLTP range of 207 miles, which I reduced to 132 miles when I tested it. Morosini said his team had fulfilled its brief of providing 'the most simple and affordable way of going fast'. Don't you just love the Italians… Power versus range He said that if the 600e had a larger battery, it wouldn't have been as enjoyable to drive and while that's true, if you drive this car hard you'll have to take your enjoyment in small doses due to the impact of performance on range. As you can see there's a tradeoff. Tyrone Johnson, managing director of Hyundai Motor Europe Technical Centre, is the head of the team that developed the Ioniq 5N, one of the best sporting EVs. He also sees my point before I've made it… 'So, what you are describing are the two extremes,' he says. 'On the one hand you have a car with bugger-all range [Abarth] and on the other something so unique and special that only about three customers can pay for it [Mercedes-AMG].' He's clear that Hyundai has its feet firmly on the ground building sporting cars based on production models. But what are the technologies that will help reduce the drawbacks? He picks up on tyres. Most tyre development in EVs has been about lowering rolling resistance to achieve a better range, but further development in rolling resistance 'is not the right way to go. There are other areas that we should focus on a little more in terms of energy consumption'. In-wheel electric motors could provide a significant reduction in sprung weight but, as Johnson points out, they increase unsprung weight, which adversely affects a car's ride and handling. In any case, they aren't yet ready for production cars. Adding a nimble feel It's the perception of lightness which Johnson is keen on and enacted in the Ioniq 5N, stiffening an existing bodyshell and in particular the suspension mountings, so that when you turn the steering wheel you get close to the instant reaction of a lightweight sports car. 'There are two problems with EVs,' he says. 'One is the mass of the car; the other is the amount of energy you can carry in the batteries. And they are kind-of linked, because more energy needs more mass [and] it gets to a point of diminishing returns. 'Weight is very important [but] it's also very challenging, because modern cars have such a huge variety of requirements that have to be fulfilled; safety as an example. Cars don't get heavier because the manufacturers want them to, they become heavier because the outside demands are such that you have to do things to meet these demands and regulations. 'The answers to those challenges are typically to add something, so it becomes a challenge to try to find where can you take something out and where do you have to keep things in.' Effectively this requires more thinking, clever solutions (preferably not bolt on), but it also means that legislators need to allow car makers leeway in reaching goals, whether that's a low-carbon car that isn't an EV, or using individual in-wheel motors which can substitute for conventional brakes. But does any of this matter? Aren't sporting cars just a forgotten development byway and best waved goodbye? Sports cars: A British speciality Even if you think so, Britain has specialised in such cars over the years and the small manufacturers that produce them are important contributors to employment and the balance of payments. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) reckons that last year the UK's Small Vehicle Manufacturers (SVMs, producing fewer than 2,500 units a year) built only 31,000 cars, with 90 per cent of that £5.4 billion's worth of sales exported. According to the SMMT report The UK's Small Volume Automotive Manufacturers: An Enduring British Success Story, SVMs employ more than 15,000 directly and 60,000 in the wider supplier base, paying wages averaging £43,000 a year, with thriving apprenticeship schemes and an important role in developing lightweight technology, aerodynamics and safety systems, which are often adopted by the wider automotive industry. That will be the manufacturer of sports cars, then. So perhaps we have more to thank them for than you might think.
The Guardian
26-07-2025
- The Guardian
UK and Australia sign Aukus treaty to build nuclear submarines as Lammy downplays US doubts
Australia and the UK have signed a 50-year treaty to cement the Aukus pact to design and build a new class of nuclear-powered submarine. Australia's defence minister, Richard Marles, and the UK's defence secretary, John Healey, signed the deal – dubbed the 'Geelong Treaty' – in Geelong on Saturday, with Marles saying it was among the most significant treaties between the two nations. It came as the US, which is not a party to the treaty, wavers on its own role in the trilateral Aukus agreement, after the Trump administration launched a review to examine whether it aligns with his 'America first' agenda. A joint statement released by the UK and Australia said the treaty would enable cooperation on the SSN-Aukus submarine's design, build, operation, sustainment, and disposal, as well as workforce, infrastructure and regulatory systems. The SSN-Aukus is intended to incorporate technology from all three Aukus nations. It will be built in northern England for the UK Royal Navy, and Australia plans to build its own in South Australia for delivery to the Australian navy in the 2040s. The treaty is yet to be released publicly and will be tabled in parliament next week. Marles told reporters the treaty will underpin how the UK and Australia work together to deliver the submarines. He said there were three parts to the treaty, including training in the UK for Australian submariners and other required roles, and 'facilitating the development' of infrastructure at the Osborne Naval Shipyard in Adelaide. 'And finally, what the treaty does is create a seamless defence industrial base between the United Kingdom and Australia. This project is going to see Australian companies supplying into Great Britain for the building of submarines,' he said. 'It will see British companies supplying to Australia for the building of our own submarines here in Adelaide. Healey said the treaty would support tens of thousands of jobs in both Australia and the UK. 'It is a treaty that will fortify the Indo-Pacific. It will strengthen Nato and we're the politicians signing it today. But this is a treaty that will define the relationship between our two nations and safeguard the security of our country for our children and our children's children to come,' he said. Marles said the deal was 'another demonstration of the fact that Aukus is happening, and it is happening on time, and we are delivering it'. 'It's a treaty which will last for 50 years. It is a bilateral treaty which sits under the trilateral Aukus framework.' As part of the existing Aukus agreement, Australia will pay about $4.6bn to support British industry to design and produce nuclear reactors to power the future Aukus-class submarines. It will pay a similar amount to the US to support America's shipbuilding industry. Under the $368bn Aukus program, Australia is scheduled to buy at least three Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines from the US from the early 2030s. Earlier on Saturday, the UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, appeared at an event in Sydney run by the Lowy Institute. Asked by the presenter if the UK was 'coming to the rescue because America is losing interest in Aukus', he said that wasn't the case, and that the deal was about '20,000 jobs between our two countries' and a secure partnership well into the future. Lammy dismissed concerns over the Trump administration's Aukus review, saying it would 'flush out any issues for them'. He said both the UK and Australian governments had also undertaken a review of the pact. 'All governments do reviews, and should do reviews, particularly when they involve big aspects of procurement and defence,' he said. Lammy said the world had entered a 'new era' of instability and that 'investing in defence is an investment in peace' because opponents 'realise that you are armed and capable'. The Trump administration's review is being headed by the Pentagon's undersecretary of defence policy, Elbridge Colby, who has previously declared himself 'sceptical' about the deal, fearing it could leave US sailors exposed and underresourced.
Reuters
26-07-2025
- Reuters
Australia, Britain sign 50-year AUKUS submarine partnership treaty
SYDNEY, July 26 (Reuters) - Australia's government said on Saturday it signed a treaty with Britain to bolster cooperation over the next 50 years on the AUKUS nuclear submarine partnership. The AUKUS pact, agreed upon by Australia, Britain and the U.S. in 2021, aims to provide Australia with nuclear-powered attack submarines from the next decade to counter China's ambitions in the Indo-Pacific. U.S. President Donald Trump's administration announced a formal review of the pact this year. Defence Minister Richard Marles said in a statement that the bilateral treaty was signed with Britain's Defence Secretary John Healey on Saturday after a meeting in the city of Geelong, in Victoria state. "The Geelong Treaty will enable comprehensive cooperation on the design, build, operation, sustainment, and disposal of our SSN-AUKUS submarines," the statement said. The treaty was a "commitment for the next 50 years of UK-Australian bilateral defence cooperation under AUKUS Pillar I", it said, adding that it built on the "strong foundation" of trilateral AUKUS cooperation. Britain's ministry of defence said this week that the bilateral treaty would underpin the two allies' submarine programmes and was expected to be worth up to 20 billion pounds ($27.1 billion) for Britain in exports over the next 25 years. AUKUS is Australia's biggest-ever defence project, with Canberra committing to spend A$368 billion over three decades to the programme, which includes billions of dollars of investment in the U.S. production base. Australia, which this month paid A$800 million to the U.S. in the second instalment under AUKUS, has maintained it is confident the pact will proceed. The defence and foreign ministers of Australia and Britain held talks on Friday in Sydney on boosting cooperation, coinciding with Australia's largest war games. As many as 40,000 troops from 19 countries are taking part in the Talisman Sabre exercises held from July 13 to August 4, which Australia's military has said are a rehearsal for joint warfare to maintain Indo-Pacific stability. Britain has significantly increased its participation in the exercise co-hosted by Australia and the United States, with aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales taking part this year.
