Welcome to

For as long as I can remember, cars have been all about performance. The quote above might have been uttered by Lightning McQueen – Piston Cup champion and all-round good guy from the ‘Cars’ film franchise – but the reality is that going fast in a car is not confined to the track. For some drivers, whether they are commuting, out for a Sunday afternoon drive, or going to or from a meeting, the adrenaline of accelerating behind the wheel is a constant. I guess it’s why speed awareness courses are a (very popular) thing…

Maybe it’s just me, but electric cars seem to have changed that. Whether it’s to do with the lack of a distinctive engine note, or merely the fact that I’m getting older, I don’t know. But part of it may well come down to money. When looking to choose a vehicle, drivers would never ask about how many gallons could be held in the fuel tank, yet now many seem obsessed by driving range. One thing that’s going to knock off the available miles? speed! And fewer miles out of the battery pack means more charging and more cash paid out to replenish your EV.

There is also the added element of ‘range anxiety’, related to the distances available between charges. Slower driving speeds mean drivers are more likely to make it to their destination on a single charge, if that destination is around the same mileage as is available from the EV’s battery.

But speed sells – and that is unlikely to completely disappear with EVs. It’s why cars such as the Porsche Taycan exist and why many manufacturers are queuing up to talk about the performance in their latest vehicles. One of the latest car companies to do this (although in a more sensible, meaningful way) is Kia, which has introduced a GT version of its popular EV6 battery-powered car. One press of the ‘GT’ button on the car’s steering wheel is an eye-opener – in a good way.

As Kia’s John Hargreaves explains in this issue, the EV6 GT is the company’s new ‘Halo’ product, picking up the baton from the outgoing Stinger ICE car. He admits that, the GT will not do amazing numbers when it comes to sales, but will attract a lot of interest and subsequent engagement with Kia and the rest of the model line-up.

This issue of EV Fleet World Digital looks at the economics of running an electric car, where there are lots of elements to weigh up, including the performance – and subsequent cost of that performance – of fleet vehicles. In many of these high-performance EVs, there certainly is plenty of power available, but it is often unusable. Whether that’s because of congested roads, temporary speed limits or roadworks, the UK road network doesn’t really lend itself to driving at higher (but obviously legal) speeds. Maybe it’s all part of a cunning plan to improve driver safety, but somewhere – and somehow – drivers will still need to get their automotive adrenaline rush from their EV.

Oh, and while you're reading through this issue, don't forget to sign up to our new and improved Great British Fleet Event 2023! Find out more details here!

John Challen Editor