James List wonders who the market is for the new electric variant of the Porsche Cayenne.
German tuning company RUF, who made their name when they released an electric version of the 911, are currently making headlines with their new effort, the eRUF “Stormster”, the first electric variant of the Porsche Cayenne. The eco-friendly car is currently serving as shuttle transport for high-flying delegates at the ongoing COP 15 environmental conference in Copenhagen. The V8 engine has been ripped out in favor of an electrical Siemens counterpart boasting 270 kW (367hp, sort of) and the Stormster does an impressive, for an electric car, 100km/h in just ten seconds (the car weighs 2,6 tons). Another impressive feat is the specially made battery from Li-Tec that enables the car to do 200km in one charge (which takes 8 hours using your regular household outlet). The nifty part is the technology that re-charges the battery when the car brakes or when the wheels are rolling freely. The downside is that the Stormster only does 150km/h, which kind of epitomizes my problem with it – who is it for, exactly? If it was a mere scientific exercise then that would be fine, but RUF has announced that it’s going into serial production (albeit hand-made) next spring. I’m all for the rise of electric and hybrid cars, but I can’t really see anyone owning a Stormster for any reason other than as a novelty. Silent killers like the Prius might be boring, ugly and slow as hell but atleast there’s a solid market for them. – From James List