Goodwood Hot Takes
Another year, another Goodwood festival- well, not quite- it has been two years since the last one. A lot has changed, however we travelled to Goodwood this weekend to see if the festival had changed.
Excitingly, this was a pilot event, and it was great to see many businesses and manufacturers represented, but the highlight of the show was that electric vehicles have come on leaps and bounds. Here are our hot takes from Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2021.
Volume: The number of electric cars looks like it might be at the tipping point. Every major manufacturer at Goodwood was showcasing an electric car, and one you could put on your driveway. Ford had 4 Mustang Mach-Es and MINI had an entire street dedicated to electric. BMW created an area, inside the courtyard dedicated to electrification- gone are the days of it being 1 electric car and 8 hybrids, this was 1 hybrid and 5 electric vehicles, (6 if you include the Formula E car, but you won’t be able to get that on your drive through Salary Sacrifice on Octopus EV).
Experience: Every major manufacturer was showing the future was electric, each new concept and fast car trying to wow the crowd with the prospect of an electric future, Lotus, one of the biggest petrolhead manufacturers showcased their newest sports car- which will be their last ever petrol car. That is a big statement. Polestar were there in force too, giving people the opportunity to test drive in the grounds of Goodwood, and get to grips with their new tech, and updated Polestar 2. Ford brought their Mach-E 1400 show stopper, a 1400bhp monster, showcasing just what can be achieved with electric.
Main Stream: One of the biggest areas this year was the Electric Avenue stand, comprising of nearly every electric car on sale in the UK at the moment, with vehicles that are easy, accessible city run arounds, to multi million pound supercars. You were allowed to touch, feel and ask questions. Seeing real cars on the ground is important in showcasing mass adoption. All of these were able to be ordered today, not some far off concept. This makes a huge change from yesteryear when the electric vehicles were part of some marketing future plan.
The Duke of Richmond himself, organiser of Goodwood, knows that changes to the way we travel are coming, and that a sustainable future is so important to making sure inner city air pollution and climate change is tackled. It is also so important for him to make these changes so the future of the classic cars is kept, letting people see and smell these incredible old school machines in person. Without pushing for a renewable future, our past will disappear very quickly. The technology of now will allow generations in the future to experience incredible vehicles that changed the world,(like the Williams FW15C) and inspire future engineers and people from all walks of life into STEM. Check out some of our favourite snaps of the day below, and watch out for our next blog all about the upcoming cars!
