Oddly, steam had some very interesting properties too, but for motor vehicles was ultimately let down by practicality and possibly power-to-weight ratio if I recall correctly.
ICE of course was always about convenience and a lot of energy in a small tank. As batteries improve, this advantage is being worn down.
Meanwhile, in trains, "hybrid" (diesel-electric) and electric are the two main types left. There's simply a lot to be said for 100% torque at 0 RPM.
But, I've been in a Model 3 Performance and a Taycan 4S and experienced the ~3s electric 0-60, and... it's just ghostly, linear motion, nothing like the feeling of the non-linear jerk and jolt-punctuated ride you get with a powerful ICE and manual transmission.
The M3P in particular was so shockingly video game-like it almost felt dangerous, as though I didn't really realise just how fast I was going until it was too fast.
But I do agree that personal electric transportation should be able to travel at >15mph on suitable cycle tracks, seeing as it ain’t that hard for pedal bikes to do those speeds.
Your "typical" performance car customer wants a monster noise from the engine. A visceral sound. If it sounds like a jet fighter taking off, even better. There's no "authentic" sound to replace it.
Music to the ears (Grand Prix 1966) -> https://youtu.be/5RILdsjeL_4
Porsche's mistake lies in forcing all of their other customers, worldwide, to accept products designed to satisfy EU regulators. Lowest-common-denominator engineering has never been why people buy Porsches, but these days the engineers at Porsche take a bus to work, where they report to people who were chauffeured there.
Porsche can not afford to keep ICE development afloat just for the US market and a few others. There is no economic case for keeping ICE Porsches around when they can capture only a very small amount of the market. It is also preposterous to have engineers build cars in such an environment.
Meanwhile, there are other companies that don't seem to be voluntarily adopting similar constraints. The age of the "World Car" is over, and Porsche's only chance is for their management to confront that reality.
This is not about management not knowing, it is about the realities of Porsche as a company. Going back to ICE, just to habe Cars American consumers may want more, is not an option.