Whenever performance EVs are discussed among car enthusiasts, there’s always the one that has to chime in with “Yea but how many laps can it do in track?!” The idea that electric vehicles are inherently worse for track use because they’ll either run out of juice or overheat their batteries isn’t unfounded but it is a bit of old thinking. Modern EVs are getting very good at managing their range and temperatures during track use and a man by the name of John Chambers recently proved that by organizing an EV-only track day at Llandow.

This track day was the first-ever EV-only track day in the UK and Autocar was on hand to report what it was like. It honestly sounds exactly like a normal track day, except that everyone had to leave for a half hour at lunch to charge quick, as there are no chargers at the track. Not exactly convenient but not the end of the world, either.

Chambers runs a Tesla tuning shop called Tevo Solutions and wants to dispel the myth that EVs are uncapable of track-day fun. From Autocar’s report, it seems that he’s right. Most of the EVs were perfectly fine, with only older models like the first-gen e-Golf cooking their batteries after a few laps. More modern EVs, like the Volkswagen ID.3, Audi e-tron GT, and Porsche Taycan were all perfectly fine throughout the day.

The only real issue seemed to be tires. We don’t know what sort of tires each car was running but there were reports of tires getting demolished from only a few laps around Llandow’s small circuit. Could be due to the tire compounds themselves, as EVs often use specific EV-centric tire compounds, even on performance tires, or it could be due to weight, as EVs are quite heavy. Still, that’s not something that’s entirely avoided with internal combustion track days, either.

While EVs still aren’t the ideal choice for a track day, due to their limited ranges and hefty curb weights, that doesn’t mean you can’t have fun on track with an EV. This track day was also a great sign of things to come. As EVs become more and more common, and battery tech gets better and better, we’ll likely see far more events like the one Chambers put on. A whole new world for track enthusiasts is on the way.

[Source: Autocar]