Here’s why convertible EVs, electric sports cars are so scarce

Once more, summertime cruises and drive-in movies are in season. Crisp fall air and vibrant verdant backroads are calling, and family members are enviously perusing the auto market and speculating about the possibility of a convertible.

And in keeping with the times, that frequently includes a glance to see if that open-air delight might be an EV.

Again, there isn’t a single factory-designed electric powered convertible offered in the United States, and the best option for people who need one right now is probably a speciality conversion shop. Furthermore, there isn’t a single hybrid vehicle that is convertible or plug-in hybrid that can allow you to simply enjoy the people and sound of the surf while you drive the length of a seaside strip.

An aspect of it is the EV packing.

It’s very difficult to construct an electrical convertible or roadster from scratch.

This is owing to the fact that the next generation of electric vehicles will mostly be built on so-called skateboard platforms, such as the Hyundai Group’s E-GMP or General Motors’ Ultium innovation, which integrate a flat battery pack beneath the floor and between the axles. This enables various “top hats” to be designed and engineered for the skateboard with the fewest possible modifications.

Chevrolet Camaro with electric motor in GM Ultium teaser film.

However, sedans are challenging, and coupes and convertibles are considerably more difficult, for the simple reason that it’s challenging to construct a pleasant roadster or sport-sedan shape with a number of inches of the floor height dedicated to the battery pack underneath.

Because they would avoid the dimensional difficulty of fitting a battery pack under the entire floor, market insiders have told Green Automobile Studies that convertibles built on a traditional interior-combustion platform—or using a non-skateboard approach—might actually be much more likely for output.

Other challenges are protection and body weight.

Convertibles already face more difficult crash-test requirements since other sections of the car’s system composition must carry a greater share of the accident forces. When roadster popularity soared in the 1990s and 2000s, automakers developed ground-breaking safety technology to help shelter occupants, such as pyrotechnic rollover hoops.

However, in a time of electrical cars, all of those components would need to be tested for cars that had a lot more added fat. Convertibles already have a tendency to weigh more than coupes; add a large EV battery pack to the equation, and the problem may get worse.

Furthermore, all of this additional engineering comes at a high expense in terms of additional money for a car with limited appeal.

MG Cyberster: The electric roadster 2’s leading edge?

The new MG Cyberster is the closest thing to a no-frills creation convertible sporting vehicle since the Tesla Roadster 2. is late and likely to start about $200,000.

The MX-5 Miata is nearly two feet shorter than the MG Cyberster. The Cyberster weighs about 1,700 lbs more than the 2023 Mazda MX-5 Miata—or almost as much as two different MGB roadsters from the 1960s—because it has a base 64-kwh battery pack and exceeds 4,000 pounds even in one-motor rear-wheel-push configuration.

At the Goodwood Competition of Speed last month, up close, it stunned more as an electrical equivalent of the fuel Jaguar F-Type convertible than those tiny roadsters.

However, the Cyberster is unlikely to be United States-safe. Inexperienced Auto Reviews just received a statement from MG stating that “there is no definitive answer” as to whether the Cyberster will unavoidably arrive in the United States. Designs are currently limited to the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, and markets in Asia. A lot of the structural group at MG in Marylebone, England, and some close chassis-tuning input came from the Cyberster’s Chinese manufacturer, SAIC, which will produce it in Shanghai.

And with a construction cost of over 50,000 British lbs (about $64,000), it won’t simply be reasonably priced, it might even add a new area to daily life.

Electric convertibles of the future: A vision at the second

There are a few options available now or very soon if you’re in Europe. Fiat is introducing the 500C, a convertible (fold-back-roof) variant of the electric 500. A Mini Cooper SE Convertible is now a creation reality—in an extremely limited run of 999 vehicles.

It will take a little longer in the United States, and even on the automakers’ future product designs, EVs that fit the convertible type in any manner are a rare breed. The Polestar 6 and a Porsche 718 EV, as well as a number of incredibly distinctive electric supercars, are examples of completely electric sports car designs that are anticipated to arrive in the upcoming many decades.

The Fisker Ronin, which is due in a few years, would enable an open-air electric powered driving experience in the high-priced luxury market. With its X Convertible Thought from 2022, Genesis has studied the idea of an electric-powered drop-best as a possibility. Additionally, Rolls-Royce has made it known that a convertible Spectre is a possible possibility.

All of this still leaves open the possibility of an electrical convertible with a light and slim design. Eco-friendly Vehicle Experiences questioned if the current generation of the MX-5 Miata is the greenest new sports car when it first came out. Mazda first confirmed that the upcoming MX-5 Miata will have some sort of electrification in 2021, but since then it hasn’t offered many, if any, suggestions as to which powertrain a production model might have.

The least likely option would probably be an all-electric model. Mazda might provide a look-at-all-the-containers sports car where dropping the main keeps it simple, perhaps with a little rotary range extender as well as enough batteries for a commute or backroad blast.