This is an example of hype turning a car that’s excellent in its price bracket into something on the price range of simply better cars. For $50-60K USD there are great condition Porsches (now with factory infotainment upgrades to add AA/Carplay), and even if you step down a few grand on one to account for higher ownership costs, it’s still just a better car. When the markup on a CTR puts it in the price range of the Integra Type S, a car that makes no pretense about being a spicy street vehicle vs a track weapon, you start to wonder who is buying these things and if it’s not just a bunch of influences trying to break even with that markup from YouTube/TikTok views. All these hot hatches are great cars at their MSRP, but their purpose is defeated when the price exceeds that.

It’s more than just their batteries, their motors are much more compact and lightweight while still being able to compete with the Germans and Tesla in terms of power output. They’re also masters at vehicle packaging, and with the extraordinarily positive reception to the Sapphire they can also make a large heavy EV drive like the ICE champions in the sports sedan sector.

I do hope the company can survive to make vehicles in a class below the Air and Gravity, but even if they don’t that tech will be highly sought after by the legacy manufacturers and work its way into future cars regardless.