Head Of Mercedes Performance AMG Group Confident Buyers Will Switch To EVs

The head of Mercedes AMG group is partially right that performance car buyers are interested in tech and that there are reasons they should prefer EVs. But, without focused marketing, it is doubtful they’ll pivot to EVs as quickly as they otherwise might.

The head of AMG, Mercedes’ performance unit, Michael Schiebe, argues that people don’t move to performance cars because of the engines but because of the tech. And given EVs have the latest and greatest tech in the market, they’ll also move to EVs.

My last Mercedes was a GLA 45 AMG, which had a little 2-liter engine that put out a whopping 370 HP, making it a really fun track car that was, at the time, the fastest car to 30 that Mercedes made. Given that most performance electrics would outperform that little hot hatch by a significant margin, I get what Michael is saying.

However, one of the problems current performance car owners have with electrics is the loss of engine noise (which technology is addressing). Now, while I don’t think Michael is wrong on the concept, the issue is change, and people really don’t like change.

Let’s talk about why performance drivers should prefer electric cars.

Why Gas Performance Cars Suck

I’ve had a lot of performance cars over the years and used to belong to a sports car club that provided exotic cars for tend and got to drive a host of exotics. One of the reasons I never owned an exotic performance car is the operating costs and the fact I’d be afraid to put the car through its paces due to the maintenance and repair costs. For instance, the Ferrari I drove had $10K wheels, so one curb could spoil your entire month. An acquaintance of mine bought a Bugatti, and he got a little rock chip in the hood, over $21K, and three months later, he was again able to drive his car because the specialist shop that fixed the chip had to build up 21 coats of paint to match the rest of the car.

High-performance engines are costly to maintain and repair. And given you are pounding on an engine that is already very close to failure due to the massive power it is putting out, those costs can be incredibly high.

Finally, gas-performance cars develop power with revolutions, so they tend to bog down off the line, and that is precisely where you are likely to be most challenged. There is nothing more embarrassing than stalling your hot performance car when you are trying to show off for a date, spouse, friend, or track audience.

Why EVs Should Be Better Performance Cars

While there are exotic EVs, most fast ones on the road, like the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N, are relatively affordable, and an electric motor is tough to break. While leaving a performance car sitting can result in fuel contamination (particularly with Ethanol, which will clog your injectors and fuel lines) and result in engine rust issues, electric motors are sealed for life and generally have no problem sitting for years if needed (granted you need to keep them on a charger, but you need to do that with gas cars as well). 

Performance EVs tend to outperform the acceleration of their gas counterparts. (There are even EV dragsters now). While you have to watch battery heating and, with Tesla cars, how much charge you have (they slow down if the battery drops too much), you can generally run an EV performance car all day without much trouble other than finding a charger.

While this is often seen as a negative for EVs, noise may be more of an advantage. I’ve been at Thunder Hill when we had to shut down the course because the neighbors were annoyed by the noise, and it attracted some police officers who were waiting for us when we left the track. EVs are quiet, you don’t get complaints from the neighbors, and, on a performance drive (which happened to me once), people on the drive aren’t calling the police to ruin your drive. If you pull sharply from a light, the noise a performance gas car makes will generally wake up any police officer who would otherwise be just enjoying his coffee and donut. Unless you like tickets, EVs are far stealthier when you are pushing them hard.

Wrapping Up: Michael Schieb Is Right – Sort Of

I say “sort of” because I know a lot of gas-performance car owners, and they aren’t precisely EV fans. They like the roar of the engine and tolerate the issues that gas-performance cars have. But with the right marketing, I think they could become converts because EVs can provide similar or better performance to a gas-performance car for much less money and aggravation.

I didn’t list an EV because the problem with them is generally range and recharging. However, those of us who have performance cars typically don’t drive them daily or on trips; we drive them to events or on weekend drives, which are typically well within an EV’s range.

So, with the right marketing effort, I think Michael Schieb could become right. Right now, there is too much focus on what people like about gas cars and not enough on what they don’t like and why EVs are better to ensure their near-term success in this segment.

Rob Enderle is a technology analyst at Torque News who covers automotive technology and battery development. You can learn more about Rob on Wikipedia and follow his articles on Forbes, X, and LinkedIn.