See that car above that looks like the Ferrari 488 GTB’s fancy cousin? That’s called the Pininfarina Battista. It’s electric…and has 1900hp.
That the Battista generates more power than a small industrialized nation should be shocking, but somehow it just isn’t these days. At the same Geneva Motor Show, Koenigsegg introduced their new 1600hp Jesko and Bugatti graced us with their 1500hp La Voiture Noire. Nothing to see here…
And we need not just look at the upper deck brands either: the relatively sedate FCA Group (Dodge, Jeep etc) have four models that produce over 700hp…and ONE OF THEM IS AN SUV! People, we are very clearly at peak car with regards to horsepower.
My question is, however: is this a bad thing, and if so, do we see things settling down anytime soon?
After all, it is entirely possible to have too much of something you like, no matter how much you might think you love it.
If you told me I could consume all the cheeseburgers and beer I wanted for the rest of my life without consequence, I’d likely sit down with some sharp scissors and paper, make up a big ole pile of confetti, and toss that bitch straight up in the air….I’d then get in my car to go get some beer and cheeseburgers.
But, after 12 days and 60 cheeseburgers, I’d likely start to question myself and things would slowly start to come back down to Planet Reality.
It’s the same with these power wars.
The great mathematician Ian Malcolm put it best “… your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn’t stop to think if they should.
I think we all agree no one needs 1900hp. Or even 1000hp. I think we have a consensus on that. So, given that power is one of the bragging rights people associate with their cars, maybe we should try to remove or downplay it…or turn the attention to other things. Bugatti’s fat cat customer who just ponied up $12mil (before taxes!) for their La Voiture Noire hypercar likely would’ve done so even if the car had less power. Hell, he/she could’ve just gotten the same power in a $3mil Chiron. It was the exclusivity, bespoke nature and story of the car that were likely the main attractants.
So, in the same way that the Germans have had (for the most part) a gentleman’s agreement on limiting their cars to 155mph in the interest in keeping people alive, I kinda think we should look at implementing something like that for power.
Just sayin…
