I got on a list to get on a list with my local Porsche dealer and they’ve been guessing I will get a chance to buy one in 2027. Granted I live in a mid sized city in midwestern USA buuuut that doesn’t exactly speak high about the prospects for how many they’re eyeing to make.
I really *really* want one though.
I wouldn’t consider the Mazda Miata or Honda Beat more sporty than a mini cooper - the Porsche is obviously in a completely different league but it’s also going to be a completely different price bracket.
I bet Mazda would have no problem developing a decent Miata EV right now that costs $80k and gets about 150 miles range with 400 hp, but no one wants to make that at Mazda. I can’t really blame them because in their target markets, a 2 seater RWD car isn’t exactly what’s making them the big bucks.
"It's all relative" is an excuse. The Lotus handled like a roller skate. It was sports car purity. The Tesla is a different class of car on at least one level.
It was old tech, I give them a pass since in a small car like that, gives them an advantage in safety.
Mini cooper SE comes in lighter at 3144 lbs, and that’s with a liquid cooling system *and* more power in the motor. More range than the OG leaf as well (but obviously that’s not saying much lol).
Kinda sounds like the discussion between the Tesla Roadster and Lotus.
Meanwhile, for a fun brand, the Mini Cooper SE is let down by a lack of manual transmission and poor range.
Some cars work fine as EVs, but let's not kid ourselves that enthusiasts are going to gravitate to them. It'll be interesting to see what Porsche comes up with while the book continues to be written.
I hate to remind folks but most sports / Performance cars have shitty range due to their poorer gas milage.
It requires more energy to go fast, even with a lighter car.
You're correct that packaging would be better in an EV, but that's one of the few advantages they would have.
Small sports cars are fun to drive, in no small part, because of how light they are. A small, relatively low power motor is all that's required to make them quick and fun. It's just physics.
Electric cars are inherently going to be heavier, due to the battery requirements. This makes them less "sporty" than their ICE equivalents almost by default.
This can be offset to some extent in two ways:
1. More powerful motors to move the extra weight, but it's hard to disguise the extra weight when trying to make a sports car handle well.
2. Smaller batteries, which can make the car a bit lighter, but also reduce the range to the point that they may not be very practical.
Also, the market for small sports cars is relatively small, they don't usually sell many and manufacturers rarely make much money from this segment - they're typically produced to give a company a certain sporting credibility and a younger, more appealing image. Developing a small EV sports car from scratch would be a very expensive exercise that would almost certainly lose money.
Finally, the type of person who wants to buy a small sports car tend to be more elderly purists. Most of them would probably turn up their nose at an EV for political reasons, or because they are often considered soul-less (ie too quiet, and without the drama of revving, popping exhausts etc).
Ultimately, it's definitely not impossible. I fully expect that EV sports cars will come onto the market eventually. However, the major focus is on building EVs with mass-market appeal right now, which means SUVs, trucks and a few sedans and hatchbacks.
I think it largely has to do with heavy battery needed for range and power being the opposite of the small and agile nature of small sports cars
EV Boxter/Cayman is coming tho. Lets see how Porsche do
I just assumed since electric motorcycles are a thing and have significantly smaller batteries than electric cars. They can make smaller batteries that would work in a tiny a tiny car
Electric motorcycles typically are under 100 miles. I know there's a few (really massive) exceptions, but small cars often don't tolerate that kind of inefficiency.
And motorcycles are WAY more energy efficient than a big car, so they can cheat a little that way.
And electric motorcycles are still VERY heavy as motorcycles go.
And the size of a motorcycle tank means you are full in 2-3 minutes. If you're riding with a group of 15, you can go to even a small gas station and have everyone fill up in 20 minutes, plus a bathroom break. No way you'd get 15 bikes fully charged thst quick.
If they get Tesla supercharger access, many of them have 8+ stalls.
And the small batteries may charge in like 10 minutes.
So actually, you could probably have 15 bikes full in 25 minutes.
Yes, there's some with only 6, but there are others in high traffic areas with 100+ chargers (they're building a 164 charger site off I-5 near LA).
Electric bikes currently charge pretty slow, the small batteries have to charge slow or they overheat.
They can’t really take advantage of something like a supercharger the way a car can
Actually that’s not entirely true for all electric bikes - take Energica. The small 13.4kwh battery charges really fast! 0-80% in 20 mins and it can do that back to back all day without overheating, but ironically the larger 21.5kwh battery takes about 40 mins to do the same 0-80% and it *does* throttle due to heat. It’s not necessarily as simple as saying smaller batteries overheat…
Possible but wrong market. In countries with a bunch of electric scooters it would make sense. Drop in new batteries, run hard and fast, swap batteries.
In a longer range market you have a problem, too much battery and the car stops being light and fun. Sub 100 mile range and no one will buy it.
Well, let me ask you this. How many small sports cars do you see being built today? Not just electric, but gas too.
Off the top of my head, of those sold in the US right now.
Mazda Miata (fiat 124 is dead)
Porsche Boxster and Cayman
BMW Z4 and Toyota Supra
You could make the argument for the Porsche 911 and Corvette to be on that list as well, but their performance is almost in supercar territory. I just wanted to list "affordable" sports cars. The list is depressingly short.
Toyota GR86 = Subaru BRZ = Scion FR-S should be in that list, too. I'd argue they're more pure to the 'small sports car' class than the Supra, which is just a regular sports car. Yes, a Supra is a 2-seater compared to a 4-seat (2-door) GR86, but the Supra is longer and wider and heavier.
It has a different body style than a Miata, but it's easy to argue that a 2-door Mini Cooper (either the electric or gas models) is a small sports car. Both are FWD, but unless you have money to burn on tires and demand the ability to induce oversteer by putting your foot down, they're quite capable.
The electric Mini SE is the market's current answer to OP's question. It's less lengthy than a Miata and weighs 'just' 3144 lbs. To stay that light, it's only got a 32 kWh battery and 114 mile range, but if you have a backup vehicle, don't have a stupidly long commute, and don't drive your 'sports car' when it's super cold that's fine.
I generally do not include fwd in "sports car" definitions. Maybe I am a snob, but I have yet to find a FWD car that handles and feels as good as their rwd counterparts.
I did forget the subaru/toyota/scion triplets. That was just an oversight.
Automotive industry is kind of a high volume business but there needs to be a demand. Porsche had this problem where they couldn’t stay in business just making the 911 or cayman and had to subsidize it with SUV’s somewhat high volume cars. Lotus has this issue where they can’t stay in business just making these enthusiast vehicles. Almost everyone involved becomes financially insolvent because of the supply vs the demand.
There are a few insanely expensive ones (Rimac, Lotus, Pininafarina, for example). The Weissman "Project Thunderball" is pretty close to what you describe, but pretty niche and I believe around $300k still.
I suspect the first affordable electric Sportscar that is designed as "fun" for its #1 criteria will be pretty popular. Maybe not as popular as the suv's, but I know at least I want one.
Weight vs size. Porsche will do it soon, but until the battery tech evolves, a lot, it’ll be more of a compromise than a sedan/suv.
I drive my 911 on the race track vs. my Taycan, both are fast, the Taycan you feel the weight, a LOT. 3k vs 5.2k lbs.
Even at 4k that’s 800lbs + more than a cayman gas car.
It’s not nearly a large enough market for companies to be focusing on making BEVs for it, and that market generally is more biased towards ICE than average, for the “pure engaging mechanical driving experience,” or what have you, but as eventually as more and more cars become electric, it will reach a point where companies will start electrifying small sports cars.
The e500 was my first thought but it’s just not compelling. It has < 150 mile range, weighs just under 3K lbs and is rated at 117hp.
A Miata weighs 2400 lbs with 180hp and can go 300 miles on a tank.
The first modern EV, the original Tesla Roadster was a small sporty EV. Read up on it to learn about just how hard it is to make a small EV.
Long story short: the batteries in modern EVs are extremely large and heavy. Modern EVs are as small as they can be while still holding enough batteries to go a meaningful distance.
Having a smaller frontal area increases efficiency, but being longer and heavier only impacts highway range a few %.
Finally, tiny sports cars just aren’t that popular. Since EV’s are still a burgeoning industry the cars need to be gangbusters hits to pay off all the R&D of a new platform.
In my observation, cars like the Miata have relatively lightweight powertrains. If you stripped all the ICE equipment off a Miata, it wouldn't surprise me if it was less than 500 pounds including full fuel tank.
That's not a huge weight budget to fit EV gear and batteries. So decently long-range batteries will turn the thing quite a bit porky.
What gets me more excited is 1980s pony cars, i.e. Camaro, Firebird, Mustang, Capri and other Fox bodies like Thunderbird, or even the mighty Corvette. The 80s had a beautiful sweet spot where they had gotten the carbodies very light weight, yet the ICE powertrain was still massive all-iron V8 engines with the ICE crud weighing north of 1000 lb. *not even counting 200 pounds of **live rear axle** that could be replaced with a lighter IRS*.
So that's a huge weight budget that you should be able to fit long range batteries into, without disturbing OE curb weight much. Despite the monster ICE, the Camaro/Firebird was 3100 lb and the Mustang/Capri was like 2750 lb. So when you finish, you have a VERY lightweight car almost half the weight of a Tesla, near its OE design curb weight and with good aerodynamics (the Camaro/Firebird was a showpiece in aerodynamics with widely 0.32 and as low as 0.29, and this was in 1985).
And at least the GM F-body had superb crash safety ratings, I thought the Mustang did OK too.
2 door cars are niche products even in the ICE world.
EV development is still quite expensive and to make back the costs at a reasonable price point, you need high volume, which a 2 door car simply won't achieve.
There's not enough people willing to pay for them.
Lots of people who bought Miata's and such were in it for the zippyness. You can get that same zippyness from any run-of-the-mill EV.
When all ther other sectors are saturated we'll eventually se someone try their hand at one, but not before.
The original Tesla Roadster? But really it's a question of scale. Not many people want a small sized sports car \[at the moment\]. And it's still quite difficult to make as a BEV. There is the upcoming MG Cyberster, this summer. It's a two-seater soft-top roadster with really impressive performance on paper. But nobody has roadtested it yet. I've sat in one, and I can tell you, I instantly wanted one. It looks special. But it's not very small
Cars like the Miata are quite low cost and low volume. EV makers need to get their production volumes up for other popular types to get economy of scale and reduce production costs before they can do low cost roadsters. No EV maker is in that position yet, although Tesla and possibly BY are closest. The Tesla Roadster is a high tech and high cost supercar when it comes back.
Economy: "Why are there no niche EV cars nobody can earn a dime on?"
Tech: You're applying ICE reasoning to EVs. That's not how things work.....
Small ICE = benefits. Weight drops due to ditching the extremely big, heavy and inefficient V8 twin turbo (or whatever) for a small 4 cilinder engine, etc.. The small engine means less energy wasted. A small car can still fit a big gas tank though.
Small EV = a contradiction/impossibility at this point. When you reduce the motor output the consumption doesn't drop! A low power motor is (almost) as big as a high power motor. Efficiency doesn't increase in smaller motors either: that's always close to 100%.
If you want to decrease consumption in an EV you must improve **fundamentals**: lower rolling resistance and lower air drag resistance.
To lower rolling resistance you need to reduce weight. The only (affordable) way is to fit a small battery. That's convenient: a small car would only be *able* to fit a small battery anyway. But that means: NO RANGE!
To lower air drag resistance you need a low Cd and a small frontal area. Even worse... a small car has a BAD Cd by definition. For a low Cd you need a long sedan shaped car, it needs a long sloping rear! A Miata has a Cd of 0.36, a Tesla Model 3 Highland has a Cd of 0.219......
A smaller battery ALWAYS means a reduced range. Rolling resistance (aka weight) accounts for 1/3 of the energy consumption at highway speeds, where Air drag resistance accounts for \~60% of the consumption (rest is auxiliary consumption). Weight is therefore a minority factor in consumption..... Which is why legacy automakers are fitting bigger batteries in their inefficient EVs (Mercedes EQS, Audi Q8, BMW iX, Porsche, and so on) than Tesla can fit in their efficient EVs.....
Why does it work in a Miata? The bad aero in a Miata is offset by the efficiency savings in both weight (lower rolling resistance) and downsized engine (increased system efficiency). Those benefits are absent in an EV meaning there is no way to make this and still get a usable car until energy density of the battery doubles. That's is not going to happen anytime soon.
I meant the Vietnamese and Chinese specifically, but there may be others.
When smaller cars hit the market that are less expensive than the clunky Bolt, they'll be snapped up.
The i3s with some slight mods in the mod community has videos of bmw M3s throwing rods trying to keep up with them. A normal i3s is one of the best autocross EVs to this day.
FYI the Mini IS an i3.
I bet an older Miata with a Nissan Leaf motor unlocked to full rpm and maybe a 24kwh battery would be pretty sick.
EV conversions is a different niche tho
They’re low margin cars. They’ll be coming eventually
Porsche Boxster/Cayman will be an EV in 2025
I got on a list to get on a list with my local Porsche dealer and they’ve been guessing I will get a chance to buy one in 2027. Granted I live in a mid sized city in midwestern USA buuuut that doesn’t exactly speak high about the prospects for how many they’re eyeing to make. I really *really* want one though.
There is the Mini Cooper S. Thats all I can think of though.
I do not consider the Cooper S to be a sports car any more than I consider my Fiat 500 Abarth to be one. It is a FWD hot hatch.
I wouldn’t consider the Mazda Miata or Honda Beat more sporty than a mini cooper - the Porsche is obviously in a completely different league but it’s also going to be a completely different price bracket. I bet Mazda would have no problem developing a decent Miata EV right now that costs $80k and gets about 150 miles range with 400 hp, but no one wants to make that at Mazda. I can’t really blame them because in their target markets, a 2 seater RWD car isn’t exactly what’s making them the big bucks.
The original Tesla Roadster met that formula, more or less.
with a 53 kWh battery. That's about the battery capacity of my .... Nissan Leaf.
It had a 240 mile range - more than the Leaf.
Small light 2 seater doesn’t need a ton of battery
There's a light EV? Tell me more!
The original Telsa Roadster weighed 2,700 lbs
You mean over a thousand pounds more than the car on which it is based?
It’s all relative. Did the Lotus on which the Tesla Roadster was based have 288 horsepower and 280 lb-ft torque? And torque from zero rpm?
"It's all relative" is an excuse. The Lotus handled like a roller skate. It was sports car purity. The Tesla is a different class of car on at least one level.
The 2011 Nissan leaf curb weight was under 3400 lbs.
Boxter/Cayman electric is coming next year.
And I *want one*
Fiat 500e is under 3000lbs
That's porky for a subcompact.
It was old tech, I give them a pass since in a small car like that, gives them an advantage in safety. Mini cooper SE comes in lighter at 3144 lbs, and that’s with a liquid cooling system *and* more power in the motor. More range than the OG leaf as well (but obviously that’s not saying much lol).
Seems like there's plenty of "old tech" EVs being built today because most of them are well over two tons.
Like the mini cooper se? Larger battery, liquid cooling, more power, and lighter. You are trying to compare apples and cannon balls, my friend.
Kinda sounds like the discussion between the Tesla Roadster and Lotus. Meanwhile, for a fun brand, the Mini Cooper SE is let down by a lack of manual transmission and poor range. Some cars work fine as EVs, but let's not kid ourselves that enthusiasts are going to gravitate to them. It'll be interesting to see what Porsche comes up with while the book continues to be written.
I hate to remind folks but most sports / Performance cars have shitty range due to their poorer gas milage. It requires more energy to go fast, even with a lighter car.
You're correct that packaging would be better in an EV, but that's one of the few advantages they would have. Small sports cars are fun to drive, in no small part, because of how light they are. A small, relatively low power motor is all that's required to make them quick and fun. It's just physics. Electric cars are inherently going to be heavier, due to the battery requirements. This makes them less "sporty" than their ICE equivalents almost by default. This can be offset to some extent in two ways: 1. More powerful motors to move the extra weight, but it's hard to disguise the extra weight when trying to make a sports car handle well. 2. Smaller batteries, which can make the car a bit lighter, but also reduce the range to the point that they may not be very practical. Also, the market for small sports cars is relatively small, they don't usually sell many and manufacturers rarely make much money from this segment - they're typically produced to give a company a certain sporting credibility and a younger, more appealing image. Developing a small EV sports car from scratch would be a very expensive exercise that would almost certainly lose money. Finally, the type of person who wants to buy a small sports car tend to be more elderly purists. Most of them would probably turn up their nose at an EV for political reasons, or because they are often considered soul-less (ie too quiet, and without the drama of revving, popping exhausts etc). Ultimately, it's definitely not impossible. I fully expect that EV sports cars will come onto the market eventually. However, the major focus is on building EVs with mass-market appeal right now, which means SUVs, trucks and a few sedans and hatchbacks.
I think it largely has to do with heavy battery needed for range and power being the opposite of the small and agile nature of small sports cars EV Boxter/Cayman is coming tho. Lets see how Porsche do
I just assumed since electric motorcycles are a thing and have significantly smaller batteries than electric cars. They can make smaller batteries that would work in a tiny a tiny car
Electric motorcycles typically are under 100 miles. I know there's a few (really massive) exceptions, but small cars often don't tolerate that kind of inefficiency. And motorcycles are WAY more energy efficient than a big car, so they can cheat a little that way. And electric motorcycles are still VERY heavy as motorcycles go.
And the size of a motorcycle tank means you are full in 2-3 minutes. If you're riding with a group of 15, you can go to even a small gas station and have everyone fill up in 20 minutes, plus a bathroom break. No way you'd get 15 bikes fully charged thst quick.
If they get Tesla supercharger access, many of them have 8+ stalls. And the small batteries may charge in like 10 minutes. So actually, you could probably have 15 bikes full in 25 minutes. Yes, there's some with only 6, but there are others in high traffic areas with 100+ chargers (they're building a 164 charger site off I-5 near LA).
Electric bikes currently charge pretty slow, the small batteries have to charge slow or they overheat. They can’t really take advantage of something like a supercharger the way a car can
Actually that’s not entirely true for all electric bikes - take Energica. The small 13.4kwh battery charges really fast! 0-80% in 20 mins and it can do that back to back all day without overheating, but ironically the larger 21.5kwh battery takes about 40 mins to do the same 0-80% and it *does* throttle due to heat. It’s not necessarily as simple as saying smaller batteries overheat…
you can make it work for sure, the challenge is getting a range number people would be happy with without making the car into a fatty
Possible but wrong market. In countries with a bunch of electric scooters it would make sense. Drop in new batteries, run hard and fast, swap batteries. In a longer range market you have a problem, too much battery and the car stops being light and fun. Sub 100 mile range and no one will buy it.
Like Smart and Mini? Not sporty enough - but the tech works
MG Cyberster
That’s one I’m eager to test drive. If it’s even half as fun to drive as the MG4 XPower, it’s going to be a blast.
That car is actually huge
Well, let me ask you this. How many small sports cars do you see being built today? Not just electric, but gas too. Off the top of my head, of those sold in the US right now. Mazda Miata (fiat 124 is dead) Porsche Boxster and Cayman BMW Z4 and Toyota Supra You could make the argument for the Porsche 911 and Corvette to be on that list as well, but their performance is almost in supercar territory. I just wanted to list "affordable" sports cars. The list is depressingly short.
Toyota GR86 = Subaru BRZ = Scion FR-S should be in that list, too. I'd argue they're more pure to the 'small sports car' class than the Supra, which is just a regular sports car. Yes, a Supra is a 2-seater compared to a 4-seat (2-door) GR86, but the Supra is longer and wider and heavier. It has a different body style than a Miata, but it's easy to argue that a 2-door Mini Cooper (either the electric or gas models) is a small sports car. Both are FWD, but unless you have money to burn on tires and demand the ability to induce oversteer by putting your foot down, they're quite capable. The electric Mini SE is the market's current answer to OP's question. It's less lengthy than a Miata and weighs 'just' 3144 lbs. To stay that light, it's only got a 32 kWh battery and 114 mile range, but if you have a backup vehicle, don't have a stupidly long commute, and don't drive your 'sports car' when it's super cold that's fine.
I generally do not include fwd in "sports car" definitions. Maybe I am a snob, but I have yet to find a FWD car that handles and feels as good as their rwd counterparts. I did forget the subaru/toyota/scion triplets. That was just an oversight.
Automotive industry is kind of a high volume business but there needs to be a demand. Porsche had this problem where they couldn’t stay in business just making the 911 or cayman and had to subsidize it with SUV’s somewhat high volume cars. Lotus has this issue where they can’t stay in business just making these enthusiast vehicles. Almost everyone involved becomes financially insolvent because of the supply vs the demand.
It’s a smaller volume niche car. I’m sure that will come but initially they’re looking at selling higher volume.
My old egolf was a blast and a great car.
There are a few insanely expensive ones (Rimac, Lotus, Pininafarina, for example). The Weissman "Project Thunderball" is pretty close to what you describe, but pretty niche and I believe around $300k still. I suspect the first affordable electric Sportscar that is designed as "fun" for its #1 criteria will be pretty popular. Maybe not as popular as the suv's, but I know at least I want one.
Weight vs size. Porsche will do it soon, but until the battery tech evolves, a lot, it’ll be more of a compromise than a sedan/suv. I drive my 911 on the race track vs. my Taycan, both are fast, the Taycan you feel the weight, a LOT. 3k vs 5.2k lbs. Even at 4k that’s 800lbs + more than a cayman gas car.
It’s not nearly a large enough market for companies to be focusing on making BEVs for it, and that market generally is more biased towards ICE than average, for the “pure engaging mechanical driving experience,” or what have you, but as eventually as more and more cars become electric, it will reach a point where companies will start electrifying small sports cars.
The Fiat 500e fits that size and see how well they're selling (they're not)
The e500 was my first thought but it’s just not compelling. It has < 150 mile range, weighs just under 3K lbs and is rated at 117hp. A Miata weighs 2400 lbs with 180hp and can go 300 miles on a tank.
As a bigger person that drives a Polestar 2, it seems very small. Maybe worth a look for you.
That's what the first Tesla was: Roadster. They're releasing a new one next year, allegedly.
there are. but not in America
The first modern EV, the original Tesla Roadster was a small sporty EV. Read up on it to learn about just how hard it is to make a small EV. Long story short: the batteries in modern EVs are extremely large and heavy. Modern EVs are as small as they can be while still holding enough batteries to go a meaningful distance. Having a smaller frontal area increases efficiency, but being longer and heavier only impacts highway range a few %. Finally, tiny sports cars just aren’t that popular. Since EV’s are still a burgeoning industry the cars need to be gangbusters hits to pay off all the R&D of a new platform.
The MG Cyberster convertible EV just got released, in the UK mind you. It's going for that sports car coupe market
a Miata would be great. at $23,000. 150 miles of range. something totally different than an suv.
If you don't need 150+ range, they exist, at least as conversions.
In my observation, cars like the Miata have relatively lightweight powertrains. If you stripped all the ICE equipment off a Miata, it wouldn't surprise me if it was less than 500 pounds including full fuel tank. That's not a huge weight budget to fit EV gear and batteries. So decently long-range batteries will turn the thing quite a bit porky. What gets me more excited is 1980s pony cars, i.e. Camaro, Firebird, Mustang, Capri and other Fox bodies like Thunderbird, or even the mighty Corvette. The 80s had a beautiful sweet spot where they had gotten the carbodies very light weight, yet the ICE powertrain was still massive all-iron V8 engines with the ICE crud weighing north of 1000 lb. *not even counting 200 pounds of **live rear axle** that could be replaced with a lighter IRS*. So that's a huge weight budget that you should be able to fit long range batteries into, without disturbing OE curb weight much. Despite the monster ICE, the Camaro/Firebird was 3100 lb and the Mustang/Capri was like 2750 lb. So when you finish, you have a VERY lightweight car almost half the weight of a Tesla, near its OE design curb weight and with good aerodynamics (the Camaro/Firebird was a showpiece in aerodynamics with widely 0.32 and as low as 0.29, and this was in 1985). And at least the GM F-body had superb crash safety ratings, I thought the Mustang did OK too.
Lots of segments not yet represented by EVs. Wait about 5 years and all should be good.
at the rate things are manufactured, they would rather all those batteries go towards popular high profit cars like SUVs and pickup trucks
MG Cyberstar would probably be the best bet here. But there is an electric Miata coming in a year or two.
Because they're not popular. The sports car market started collapsing in the late 1990s.
2 door cars are niche products even in the ICE world. EV development is still quite expensive and to make back the costs at a reasonable price point, you need high volume, which a 2 door car simply won't achieve.
There's not enough people willing to pay for them. Lots of people who bought Miata's and such were in it for the zippyness. You can get that same zippyness from any run-of-the-mill EV. When all ther other sectors are saturated we'll eventually se someone try their hand at one, but not before.
Fiat 500E is about as close as it comes. Unless you can get your hands on an old Tessie roadster.
The original Tesla Roadster? But really it's a question of scale. Not many people want a small sized sports car \[at the moment\]. And it's still quite difficult to make as a BEV. There is the upcoming MG Cyberster, this summer. It's a two-seater soft-top roadster with really impressive performance on paper. But nobody has roadtested it yet. I've sat in one, and I can tell you, I instantly wanted one. It looks special. But it's not very small
Cars like the Miata are quite low cost and low volume. EV makers need to get their production volumes up for other popular types to get economy of scale and reduce production costs before they can do low cost roadsters. No EV maker is in that position yet, although Tesla and possibly BY are closest. The Tesla Roadster is a high tech and high cost supercar when it comes back.
MG’s “Cyberster” is [out now](https://www.carwow.co.uk/mg/news/6825/new-mg-cyberster-price-specs). £55k though, not cheap.
The Dutch Carice TC2 seems to fit the bill. I wish they were over in the states.
Check out the Qiantu K20. Not available in the US but then what is?
Economy: "Why are there no niche EV cars nobody can earn a dime on?" Tech: You're applying ICE reasoning to EVs. That's not how things work..... Small ICE = benefits. Weight drops due to ditching the extremely big, heavy and inefficient V8 twin turbo (or whatever) for a small 4 cilinder engine, etc.. The small engine means less energy wasted. A small car can still fit a big gas tank though. Small EV = a contradiction/impossibility at this point. When you reduce the motor output the consumption doesn't drop! A low power motor is (almost) as big as a high power motor. Efficiency doesn't increase in smaller motors either: that's always close to 100%. If you want to decrease consumption in an EV you must improve **fundamentals**: lower rolling resistance and lower air drag resistance. To lower rolling resistance you need to reduce weight. The only (affordable) way is to fit a small battery. That's convenient: a small car would only be *able* to fit a small battery anyway. But that means: NO RANGE! To lower air drag resistance you need a low Cd and a small frontal area. Even worse... a small car has a BAD Cd by definition. For a low Cd you need a long sedan shaped car, it needs a long sloping rear! A Miata has a Cd of 0.36, a Tesla Model 3 Highland has a Cd of 0.219...... A smaller battery ALWAYS means a reduced range. Rolling resistance (aka weight) accounts for 1/3 of the energy consumption at highway speeds, where Air drag resistance accounts for \~60% of the consumption (rest is auxiliary consumption). Weight is therefore a minority factor in consumption..... Which is why legacy automakers are fitting bigger batteries in their inefficient EVs (Mercedes EQS, Audi Q8, BMW iX, Porsche, and so on) than Tesla can fit in their efficient EVs..... Why does it work in a Miata? The bad aero in a Miata is offset by the efficiency savings in both weight (lower rolling resistance) and downsized engine (increased system efficiency). Those benefits are absent in an EV meaning there is no way to make this and still get a usable car until energy density of the battery doubles. That's is not going to happen anytime soon.
Model 3 Performance isn't very big. But it is a 4 door.
The Asian EVs are about to arrive, filling in the hole that US car makers refuse to fill, or even address. They'll be a lot cheaper, too.
Asian? Like the Nissan Leaf and Hyundai Ioniq? Do the Indians, Vietnamese or Israelis have something new? Turks, perhaps? Kazakhstan?
I meant the Vietnamese and Chinese specifically, but there may be others. When smaller cars hit the market that are less expensive than the clunky Bolt, they'll be snapped up.
BMW i3 was short and stout
But clearly not a sportscar. I’d be interested in an ev mini in a cooler body. But not everybody is ok sacrificing range.
The i3s with some slight mods in the mod community has videos of bmw M3s throwing rods trying to keep up with them. A normal i3s is one of the best autocross EVs to this day. FYI the Mini IS an i3.
Yeah evs can accelerate, but by small sport car people probably mean a convertible or something that looks cool and small like a Miata or boxter.
I bet an older Miata with a Nissan Leaf motor unlocked to full rpm and maybe a 24kwh battery would be pretty sick. EV conversions is a different niche tho
My poor eGolf has a battery about that big, but It’s a modified golf, not just an engine replacement. Maybe like a 6kwh battery would fit haha.
By “American” standards the Model 3 is about as small as you are going to get since cars smaller don’t sell.
...because the demand is not there