2015 Ford Focus
I have had my BEV (battery electric vehicle) less than a week now. And just like the complaints about cars having to share the road with bicycles, ICE cars have to share the road with drivers who are trying to get the most range out of their battery.
Now don’t get me wrong. I love flooring the gas pedal and going fast but I do it for fun, not because I am trying to get anywhere in a hurry.
Yet most drivers, my wife included drive like they are always late to work or trying to catch a flight leaving in 5 minutes. You’ve seen people like this or you might be one. They are first to the red light and the first to honk their horns if you aren’t going at least 10 MPH faster than the posted speed limit.
Just today while driving just a few miles to my mothers house. I was doing the speed limit when I saw the light ahead of me turn red. There was a line of about 5-6 cars ahead of me so I clicked off the cruise control, (yes, I do use the cruise control a lot now and have it set at the speed limit) and coasted to the light ahead of me. I was probably at least a block away from the light when I did this. The person in car behind me threw up their hands in frustration. I look in the mirror a lot more now too.
As I coasted to a stop, so I didn’t hit the car in front of me, the light turned green. Had I gone faster all I would have done is wasted a lot of energy by not getting all the regeneration from slowing down and put a bunch of wear on my brake pads instead. An advantage of hybrids or electric vehicles.
Once I reached 30 MPH I let the car coast again so I would make the next light where I was turning left, now we all know you have to slow down to turn. That is unless you want your passengers puking in your car.
At this point the Chrysler 300 that was dying to get out from behind me did and speed off ahead into the distance. Not so far a head though that two miles ahead I caught them at the second stop Light. They were now 6 cars ahead of me instead of just behind me. Probably still frustrated though they weren’t the first car at the light. LOL
This is not a one time incident, this happens all the time. Every day, many times a day. More than once has someone speed past me giving me the finger only to have to sit next to me at the next light if not the next 2 or 3 traffic lights. And that’s not in my Electric car. That’s with my Miata or my Mazda 6. Going fast just to stop ahead just wastes gas and adds a lot to your maintenance bills.
If you wonder why your gas millage is terrible, why you need to replace your brake pads every 12k miles or why your cars are beat to crap in just a few years, just look in your mirror.
Next time you drive to work, or the store or somewhere you always go trying doing this. When you reach the speed limit, set your cruise control. When the light ahead of you is red cancel the cruise and coast. If it turns green before you come to a complete stop and it is safe to do so hit the switch to resume your speed on the cruise control. Try to use your brake as little as possible. Do not speed or at least don’t do more than 5 MPH over. Time it. See how much longer it takes to get where you are going.
See how much less stress you have driving like that as well. Another benefit is you won’t stand out when the police are around. Drunks and stoners drive to slow and thieves and drug dealers usually drive to fast. How many times do you see some guy who sped by you getting a ticket down the road?
Another thing you can do is compare your gas millage. Like most cars now days your car probably has a trip computer that is pretty accurate. It probably even tell you how long the trip took. There was a reason they set that 55 MPH speed limit back in the 70’s. That’s the speed where you generally get the best gas millage per mile of driving. After the power needed to move your car through the air takes far more gas than the engine moves the car efficiently.
I do realize that 55 feels slow, real slow but 65 is really pretty fast and since most people are doing 70 anyway the 75 MPH speed limit is ludicrous. At most it will say you 5 minutes every hour and cause you far more stress of having to be vigilant of others. Another draw back is if you opt to have one of those drive safe discount monitors on your car it will send love notes to your insurance company every time you exceed 75.
The easiest way to see what kind of damage and wasting fuel speed can do is take your car to the race track.
I have a Mazda Miata that I have taken to the track and a car that can get a combined MPG of 26 becomes a car that gets less than 12 MPG. The tires last about a third of their regular life and the brakes last even less. Even if you aren’t going from 35-110 and back down to 30 again in seconds, all that acceleration and stopping is what causes wear and tear on your car.
In an Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) driving smart can be the difference between getting 50 miles per charge versus 100 miles per charge. Maybe the reason you don’t like or have never considered driving a BEV is because you drive like a teenager. That or you don’t have to pay the bills.
Check out this website. It will open your eyes. https://www.fueleconomy.gov