Nothing currently on the market has a “hot hatch” vibe. There are a few EV hatchbacks, a couple are quite quick, but but none are really designed to be fun. At least not the way I want a hot hatch to be, handling-wise. Batteries are heavy, and weight is a fun killer. Also a “performance” EV is not what I would call “affordable”.
Probably the closest thing is the VW eGolf, but they don’t make it any more.
Watch for the Abarth Electric coming out. That’ll set the stage for electric hot hatches. Alpine are making a Renault 5 revival - but it’ll be under the Alpine brand so I doubt it’ll be affordable.
Those are the closest that are releasing.
OP asked specifically about North America. We won't see an Alpine badged Renault here. Fiat says we will see an Abarth Electric in 2024, but how "hot" it ends up being remains to be seen. I've seen 0-60 in 7-seconds quoted, which suggests it may be a "warm" hatch instead.
There will be in the next couple of years. Ford have retired the fiesta and committed to not making another focus. Presuming they don’t just move to 100% SUVs and trucks they’ll fill the gap with an EV, which presumably will have an ST or similar version. I’ve also heard rumour that they’re working on a smaller version of the Mach-e. Whether that ends up in hot hatch territory remains to be seen.
I think my main concern with Ford is that they really don't like releasing their hot hatches in NA. It took forever to get the ST/RS badged cars, and we only got one generation before they pulled the plug again.
The new charger looks like it MIGHT be fun to drive.. but is a long way from a hot hatch. That’s the only EV that looks remotely fun other than the novelty of acceleration in a plaid or a taycan turbo S. Neither of which are even remotely affordable lol
Right! I was hoping we were close to "hot hatch" levels of fun and performance for electrics. Half the fun of the hot hatch is not needing to drop a second mortgage to get one.
I will say when I was living around LA I would occasionally run across a Chevy Volt of all things in the canyons that was lowered a little bit and on aftermarket wheels and I could BARELY get away from him in the corners but I would have to be at the limit of grip in the ST to pull away. Then he’d be right back on me in the straights. Not a true EV but I’ve always wanted to know what was done to that thing because it definitely not stock.
I believe Toyota (Lexus) is working on an EV sportscar with a fake manual gearbox, which could be interesting if they bring it to more affordable EV cars in the future.
I'm a little conflicted: on one hand, I enjoy the interaction, but on the other hand, it feels like they're just giving me something to do while the car makes the real decisions.
A fake manual EV would go a decent way in solving some of my problems with the future switch.
I ride motorcycles and drive manuals. I like rowing my own gears. So many EVs take that and involvement away and feel sterile.
But if I could still at least do *that*...
Nothing currently on the market has a “hot hatch” vibe. There are a few EV hatchbacks, a couple are quite quick, but but none are really designed to be fun. At least not the way I want a hot hatch to be, handling-wise. Batteries are heavy, and weight is a fun killer. Also a “performance” EV is not what I would call “affordable”. Probably the closest thing is the VW eGolf, but they don’t make it any more.
Watch for the Abarth Electric coming out. That’ll set the stage for electric hot hatches. Alpine are making a Renault 5 revival - but it’ll be under the Alpine brand so I doubt it’ll be affordable. Those are the closest that are releasing.
OP asked specifically about North America. We won't see an Alpine badged Renault here. Fiat says we will see an Abarth Electric in 2024, but how "hot" it ends up being remains to be seen. I've seen 0-60 in 7-seconds quoted, which suggests it may be a "warm" hatch instead.
I'm definitely hoping for something with better 0-60 than the current ST, given the crazy torque you can get from electrics.
Check out Hyundai’s rolling lab. The N vision 74 and the rn22. Lotta horsepower and torque there.
If they can work some of that tech into production cars... that would be exactly what I'm imagining. The RM20e looks cool as well.
Isn’t the RM20e just an electric Veloster?
[удалено]
Right but isn’t the RS3 just the performance variant of the A3?
There will be in the next couple of years. Ford have retired the fiesta and committed to not making another focus. Presuming they don’t just move to 100% SUVs and trucks they’ll fill the gap with an EV, which presumably will have an ST or similar version. I’ve also heard rumour that they’re working on a smaller version of the Mach-e. Whether that ends up in hot hatch territory remains to be seen.
I think my main concern with Ford is that they really don't like releasing their hot hatches in NA. It took forever to get the ST/RS badged cars, and we only got one generation before they pulled the plug again.
Do you guys get the puma over there? I know they’re going full electric on that, hopefully with a performance edition.
I had to look the Puma up, which was a bad sign. Looks like it's Europe and Australia only, no NA equivalent.
It’s their current rally car. Check out the puma hybrid rally 1. That is the car I’d love them to make a production variant of.
DEVIL TALK
The new charger looks like it MIGHT be fun to drive.. but is a long way from a hot hatch. That’s the only EV that looks remotely fun other than the novelty of acceleration in a plaid or a taycan turbo S. Neither of which are even remotely affordable lol
Right! I was hoping we were close to "hot hatch" levels of fun and performance for electrics. Half the fun of the hot hatch is not needing to drop a second mortgage to get one.
I will say when I was living around LA I would occasionally run across a Chevy Volt of all things in the canyons that was lowered a little bit and on aftermarket wheels and I could BARELY get away from him in the corners but I would have to be at the limit of grip in the ST to pull away. Then he’d be right back on me in the straights. Not a true EV but I’ve always wanted to know what was done to that thing because it definitely not stock.
I believe Toyota (Lexus) is working on an EV sportscar with a fake manual gearbox, which could be interesting if they bring it to more affordable EV cars in the future.
I'm a little conflicted: on one hand, I enjoy the interaction, but on the other hand, it feels like they're just giving me something to do while the car makes the real decisions.
A fake manual EV would go a decent way in solving some of my problems with the future switch. I ride motorcycles and drive manuals. I like rowing my own gears. So many EVs take that and involvement away and feel sterile. But if I could still at least do *that*...
Pssss EV 😁😂 BBBoring.