PETROLHEAD'S PARADISE

Do we need to be as skeptical as the world asks us to be about electric vehicles?

- By Yash Sunil Photographs Kaizad Adil Darukhanawala

I’ve reached a point where denying the relevance of electric vehicles feels pointless.

As much as the petrolhead in me wants to resist that reality, it’s one that keeps hitting harder every year. This time, instead of running from it, I chose to lean in: to understand it, embrace it, and finally accept where the world is headed. The problem is that most electric vehicles I encounter are designed to be sensible first and soulful last, built to commute rather than excite. And yet, somewhere beyond the predictable and the practical, a few manufacturers are quietly trying to tempt people like me back in, building electric machines that aim to spark the same desire a combustion engine once did.

The conversation around electric vehicles, however, still feels stuck in the wrong place. I find that we obsess over numbers meant to reassure rather than inspire, range figures quoted like lifelines and charging times defended like excuses. It’s all very sensible, very rational, and painfully forgettable. What rarely gets discussed is whether an EV can make you want it for reasons that have nothing to do with practicality; whether it can stir something deeper than convenience; whether it can carry an identity strong enough to make an enthusiast choose it with the same conviction once reserved for loud exhausts and rising rev counters.

That’s where this story begins to matter for me. Tucked away from the commuter-friendly, efficiency-first electric narrative are two machines built with a very different intent. One leans into racing heritage and visual drama, wearing its performance inspiration proudly on its skin. The other feels raw, aggressive, and almost defiant, as if it exists purely to prove that electricity doesn’t have to come wrapped in restraint. Together, they signal a shift, not in technology, but in attitude, suggesting that the future of Indian electric performance might finally have something I can emotionally latch onto.