The electric car that has captivated Jeremy Clarkson: “Spectacular, I wish it had an engine”

Few relevant figures in the automotive industry are as reluctant to admit that the electric car is the next reasonable step as Jeremy Clarkson.

The journalist and television presenter is one of the big stars thanks to his prominent role in two legendary shows for car enthusiasts: Top Gear and The Grand Tour, but the direction the industry has taken in recent years has contributed to his decision to leave and focus on other matters.

“Before, if you bought a car from 10 years ago, it was reliable, comfortable, refined, well-equipped, fast, relatively economical”

The digital invasion

But what exactly frustrates Jeremy Clarkson so much about modern cars? The 65-year-old Brit believes that the transition to the electric car and the proliferation of digital and electronic elements are what have perverted the industry.

Starting with the latter, Clarkson blames the governments for the decline, because by law a series of functions must be performed before being able to deactivate the speed limit or lane change warnings.

“Now you have to turn them off before you leave. When you drive a different car every week — and I appreciate that this doesn’t apply to everyone — it takes me 10 minutes to figure out how to do it in those menus, and that distracts me,” adds Clarkson.

Uncomfortable and unsafe

This is not a complaint exclusive to the Brit, as many brands have had to backtrack on their policy of eliminating physical buttons due to the multiple negative opinions from customers. However, the trend of digital screens seems to be here to stay.

“Once the glass screen became the cheap way to provide buttons, they went crazy. In the new M5, you effectively have 30 different apps to scroll through, and the options are incredible,” continues Clarkson. “You used to have a sport button that made the car uncomfortable. In that M5, the options were just insane. It’s like the graphic equalizer of a 70s hi-fi system.

“With the steering wheel on the right, you have to use your left hand, and since I’m right-handed, I’m not as precise with my left hand as I am with my right. Therefore, I’m always hitting the wrong thing. Then you leave fingerprints all over the screen and can’t see what you’re doing, and I don’t want any of that!” he adds, visibly upset.

This leads Clarkson to advocate for cars older than a decade, which he considers more rational. “The reason I drive an 18-year-old Range Rover and a 12-year-old Jag [Jaguar] is that it has buttons. If I want to switch from navigation to music or turn up the heat a bit, I don’t have to go into a menu – I just do it.”

Electric cars

But for the controversial television journalist, the digital trend is not the only thing that bothers him about the current industry. Clarkson recalls the reason he left The Grand Tour. “I said I simply wasn’t interested in electric cars and saw that was going to be the future”.

“I thought: ‘How can I be excited while driving when the damn thing makes no noise?’,” he adds, defending a stance that is undoubtedly classic and not shared by a large part of the new generations.

However, Clarkson admits that one specific electric car has excited him, although he laments that it doesn’t have a traditional engine. “The other day I had that electric Renault 5 and I thought it was a small car with a spectacular look and I really liked the splashes of yellow on the inside. Very well done… I wish it had an engine!”

“Amorphous and idiotic stains”

However, for Jeremy Clarkson, the electric Renault 5 is an oasis in the desert in terms of design and personality, as he believes that new trends—whether in the zero-emissions segment or the traditional one—lack soul.

“I think everyone has lost the idea that a car represents freedom, glamour, speed, danger, whether through legislation or a change in public perception,” laments Clarkson. “The car is no longer considered something exciting. And that is represented in the amorphous stains that are now considered car design.”

“Cars reached a point where they were very well made, they had satellite navigation, air conditioning, and roofs that could fold while driving,” he continues, very critical of current manufacturing standards. “They reached a point where they had everything one could reasonably expect from a car, and now they have all become electronic and idiotic.”

“So I think that about 10 years ago, if you bought a car from 10 years ago, it was reliable, comfortable, refined, well-equipped, fast, relatively economical and spectacularly ecological, because no one had to build you a new car,” concludes Jeremy Clarkson, for whom, without a doubt, any past time was better.

Fuente: YouTube Harry’s Garage Channel