There’s a future for those who love the drive.
It’s no secret that internal combustion engines are slowly but surely on their way out. Thanks in no small part to Volkswagen and Dieselgate, the world has begun to be more conscious of their carbon footprint and the automotive industry has responded swiftly. Almost every major carmaker has announced or is already executing plans to move towards electric mobility, as well as vehicular autonomy (these go hand-in-hand, evidently) and ride sharing.
But what will become of the common car enthusiast? We’re the kind of people who enjoy hearing petrol being turned into noise, who enjoy the sensation of an off-balance V8, and the purity that that cacophony of noise and momentum offers. Less emphasis is being placed in driving pleasure with every new ‘next-generation’ automobile, leaving those who love the drive in the cold. In the move towards Mobility 2.0, the auto enthusiast is considered collateral damage.
But it’s a strange new world we live in. Not only is the driving of a car slowly being considered a secondary consideration, but weirdly, the people who are trying to provide some relief in the matter are entirely unexpected: Skoda. The Czech carmaker is playing the role of advocate here, with its sales & marketing boss talking up the probability of driver-focused electric vehicles to UK publication Autocar:
“There will be an RS version of our future electric car. It will be nothing more than styling and experience, not necessarily performance. Customers like the sporty experience without the car being a flashy sports car. It’s about the look, and the sporty driving of the car.” — Alain Favey, Board Member (Sales & Marketing), Skoda Auto
Preceding the hot electric SUV will be the electric SUV itself, which will launch in late 2020 before hitting the streets the following year. The e-SUV has already been previewed by the Vision E concept that we were all swooning over for a while, and we reckon that the eRS treatment will only make the already-pretty car look that much more desirable.
For more information on Skoda, check out our Showroom.
