Learning To Drive An Electric Car – BYD Edition – CleanTechnica

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BYD has begun a new marketing campaign in the UK, even though its market share in that country is currently below 1%. It recently commissioned a survey to determine in which cities people were most interested in learning to drive an electric car instead of a conventional car. It turned out those in Belfast had the highest interest, even though the charging infrastructure in that city is not well developed. In a press release about that survey, BYD said,

“Change is taking place on UK roads as new laws are being introduced to pave the way for the uptake of zero-emission vehicles. Initially, it was thought that the sale of new petrol and diesel cars would be banned by 2030, but this has since been pushed back, with the government now hoping to make this change by 2035. Even so, 2035 is a guideline, and it’s thought that the majority of new cars sold will be electric vehicles before this deadline. By 2030, 80% of new cars and 70% of vans are expected to be zero-emission, increasing to 100% by 2035. At BYD our mission is to create a clean-energy ecosystem that reduces the world’s reliance on fossil fuels.”

The survey results showed that Gen Z and millennials were most interested in learning to drive an electric car. 36% of Gen Z and millennials aged 18-34 said they would prefer to learn to drive in an EV compared to just 19% of those over 55. Younger age groups were more receptive to new technology and actively looking to experience the latest innovations such as those offered by electric cars, the company said. EVs give drivers access to industry-leading technology, making them more appealing to younger generations. Older drivers may not be as receptive to new technologies and may find the thought of driving an electric car daunting.

“Gen Z and millennials are also more likely to be aware of the issue of climate change, prompting a more emotional response from both age groups. These generations likely feel more responsible for the health of the planet as it will have a direct impact on them and their future. Because of this, we’re more likely to see younger drivers choose electric cars,” BYD said.

Driving An Electric Car

What is it about an electric car that is different? Doesn’t it have four wheels, doors, seats, a steering wheel, and two pedals like every other car? (Some readers may recall when cars had three pedals.) The answer is yes. The major difference is that in an electric car, the electricity that makes the wheels turn is stored as electrons in a battery. In a conventional car, the energy that makes the wheels turn is stored as a liquid in a tank.

In an electric car, electricity flows from the battery to a motor — or sometimes two motors — through wires. Electric motors typically have only a few moving parts. In a conventional car, the gasoline or diesel fuel goes from the tank to the engine. Once it gets there, air is added to make a combustible mixture that explodes when a spark ignites it. The explosion forces a piston down, which turns a crankshaft, which is connected to a transmission with gears in it. Including all the mechanical bits that admit the air/fuel mixture into the cylinders at precisely the right time and provide the spark at precisely the tight time, an internal combustion engine and the transmission can have as many as 10,000 moving parts, every one of which is critical to moving the car forward. Which system do you think is likely to last longer?

Over the past 140 years or so, the internal combustion engine has been honed to near perfection. Today, it is not unusual for an engine to last for up to 300,000 miles of driving. Electric cars have only been on the market in significant numbers for about 15 years or less. Their development is just getting started. Even so, people are starting to talk about batteries that last for a million miles or more. But — and this is a big but — the best internal combustion engines in mass production are only about 30% efficient. What does that mean?

It means nearly three-quarters of the energy drivers pay for when they fill the tanks is wasted. Oil companies go to a lot of trouble to find oil, pump it out of the ground, transport it across oceans and continents to be refined into gasoline, then put it on trucks or send it through pipelines to gas stations. But then most of it is just wasted. If you are having a cookout and buy five pounds of hamburger, would you throw two-thirds of it away? If you bought a dozen hamburger buns, would you open the kitchen window and toss 7 or 8 of them out on the lawn for the birds to eat? If the answer is no, why do you continue to pay for a gallon of gasoline and only use about a quart of it to make your car go? An electric car, on the other hand, puts 90% — or more — of the energy in the battery to work.

There are differences between an electric car and a conventional car and those differences require us to adapt our thinking. One key difference is drivers can recharge an electric car overnight at home and wake up every morning with enough battery charge to drive everywhere they need to go the next day. Granted, apartment and condo dwellers face some hurdles doing that but those issues are being addressed. For now, if you can’t charge at home, an electric car may not be the right choice for you.

The Wonders Of Regenerative Braking

Another key difference is regenerative braking. In most electric cars, once the accelerator is released, the electric motor becomes a generator that recharges the battery. In generator mode, the electric motor helps slow the car down. It takes most people about a week to learn how to use regenerative braking to bring the car to a stop without touching the brake pedal. Once they get the hang of it, they never want to go back to the old fashioned way of using the brakes to slow the car. The brake pedal is still there if needed, but there is a certain pleasure that comes with mastering regenerative braking. It’s fun, which makes driving enjoyable again.

Finally, the performance of an electric car puts a smile on the face of those who drive one. Horsepower is what determines the top speed of a car. Torque is what accelerates a car from rest. An internal combustion engine has to turn pretty fast to get to its torque peak, but an electric motor makes its maximum torque at zero rpm. What does that mean? It means when you stomp on the accelerator of an electric car, you get pushed back in your seat and the car picks up speed quickly. If you are on a back road and some leaf peeper is bumbling along in front of you, when a passing opportunity occurs, you just nudge the exhilerator and whoosh by in the blink of an eye. No drama, no waiting for the engine to rev up and for the transmission to find the right gear. It’s like having a magic button that lets you leap ahead of other cars just by thinking about it. People stuck driving boring old conventional cars have no idea what it feels like, but once you experience it, you never want to go back to the old way of driving.

Around the breakfast bar at CleanTechnica world headquarters, we are tired of hearing people bash electric cars. Are there adjustments that need to be made to driving one? Yes there are. There are adjustments that need to be made in driving a motorcycle, or a jet ski, or a dune buggy, or an airplane, or a skateboard, yet people do those things all the time. We shy away from things we fear and the oil industry is doing everything it can to make people afraid to drive an electric car. Are you going to allow them to control you or are you going to take control of your own life? Drivers of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your emissions!