There are a few things:
- There is an entire network of computers in modern cars, monitoring everything from air/fuel mixture to tire pressure. Automotive engineers have far more data to play with than those from past decades.
- Those computers and the network they’re connected to are significantly more powerful than in past decades.
- Direct injection has gone from a novelty to a mature technology. Combined with optimized intakes, and an increase in the number of O2 sensors + some fine tuning of where they’re located, it’s much easier to dial in the perfect air/fuel ratio.
- Direct ignition and some very advanced variable valve timing make ignition timing super accurate. That lets cars change ignition timing on the fly, which can really boost power down low & up high in the rev range.
- Modern metallurgy + all the other changes have allowed for much higher compression ratios without risking detonation.
- As others have mentioned, turbos! Modern turbos produce power over a much wider rev range & tend to be tuned to produce peak power lower in the rev range, making the car feel faster in daily driving scenarios.
I’m an old school gearhead and will always miss the cars of old, but modern cars are truly a marvel. We’ve taken something that is smokey, oily, and a gross polluter and turned it into something that’s hard to smell even when you stick your face near the exhaust*.
* I don’t recommend trying this
The auto manufacturers themselves are saying EV sales are slowing down:
https://www.businessinsider.com/auto-executives-coming-clean-evs-arent-working-2023-10
The problem isn’t that EV sales have stopped, but that growth is slowing faster than forecast. For an market segment with some pretty stiff regulations and govt mandated goals coming in the very near future, this is worrying.
Some relevant quotes:
… this week on GM’s third-quarter earnings call, Barra and GM struck a more sober tone. The company announced with its quarterly results that it’s abandoning its targets to build 100,000 EVs in the second half of this year and another 400,000 by the first six months of 2024. GM doesn’t know when it will hit those targets.
“This is a pretty brutal space,” CFO Harald Wilhelm said on an analyst call. “I can hardly imagine the current status quo is fully sustainable for everybody.”
… inventory builds up at dealerships, much to the chagrin of dealers. While car buyers are in luck if they’re looking for a deal on a plug-in vehicle, executives are finding even significant markdowns and discounts aren’t enough.