Last weekend hailed a turning point in the motor industry at the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2018 when electric came out on top both for road and race cars.
The world-renowned event took place July 12-15 at Goodwood House and the 9-turn, 1.16-mile Goodwood hill climb in West Sussex, celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Festival of Speed. With a wide range of vehicles on display and competing, the event saw vehicle extremes across the spectrum take to the timed stage, which included some frankly bizarre sights such as a Honda lawn mower that could achieved 135 mph, an autonomous robocar and a record breaking two wheeling Land Rover went head to head with some of the fastest production and race cars in the world.
The event also saw exclusive unveilings of the Ariel Atom 4, Aston Martin V8 Cygnet, Lanzante McLaren P1 GT, McLaren 600LT, Noble M500, new Toyota Supra, BMW 8 series, Italdesign Nissan GT-R50, NIO EP9 and Polestar 1 to name just a small number of highlights. For more images visit Goodwood
Motoring events like the Festival of Speed are becoming more popular for manufacturers for car launches due to the event popularity and media coverage. Because of this, we are starting to see more exclusive manufacturer launches at the event making it suitable for fleet managers to attend, both on a professional and personal level – allowing them to get up close to some of the new vehicles which may be added to their fleet in the future.
The era of electric has arrived!
This year’s Festival of Speed was of historically importance for the motor industry because it saw the final shootout dominated by electric vehicles, with both road and race cars posting a respective first and second place.
For the first-ever time the event was won by an all-electric 4-wheel drive race car, the Volkswagen ID R Pikes peak driven by former Le Mans winner, Romain Dumas recording 43.86 seconds and also marked the third fastest time ever recorded in Goodwood’s history. This time was also closely followed by another electric vehicle, but this time the Chinese built NIO EP9 from Formula E race team NextEV. This road going hypercar was driven by veteran GT driver, Peter Dumbreck who recorded a time of 44.32 seconds – incredibly only five-hundredth of a second off first place in a road car!
Electric shocks to the system
The result sent electric shocks to the automotive industry and has demonstrated that we are now at a pivotal point in time when electric powered vehicles are now out performing fossil fuel powered vehicles in terms of speed.
Why is this so important for the motor industry? Like with all industries, those that are at their pinnacle filter technological advances down through their given industry through competition to eventually benefit all. The event highlights that electric vehicles are out performing fossil fuel vehicles in terms of accelerations and speed, it’s only a matter of time before these electric vehicles outperform in terms of range – a fraught topic always highlighted by drivers and fleet managers.
Learn more about top performing EVs
If you are looking to introduce electric vehicles to your fleet, let SMC provide you with the essential advice. We will identify which vehicles are most suitable for the performance of your fleet and operations. We will advise you on what fuel derivative is most efficient for business fleet, as well as consult with you on the financial implications that such a decision could have on your business.
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