The 'Everything Else' Argument: The Driving Experience and my road test

The driving experience of a vehicle may seem somewhat irrelevant when it comes to trying to work out whether electric cars are a suitable way of adapting to tackle the climate crisis. 

However, it is important to remember that in order to see widespread adoption of a new technology it must be recognised that different groups of people are incentivised by different factors. For example, as with conventional cars, consumers do not always simply opt for the most environmentally friendly vehicle but may rank other characteristics such as performance, practicality and aesthetics higher. That is not to say that these users do not value the environment, it is simply that there is a ‘value-action gap’ between their attitude to the environment and their purchasing action. In fact, a study by Cohen and May suggested that although consumers may have a positive attitude towards environmentally friendly products, it will not affect the buying decision in an estimated 40% of people.

A 2007 study by Lane and Potter suggests that ‘the decision-making process for UK private car purchases is predominantly driven by financial and performance considerations’ and goes as far as to say that ‘Environmental issues play little part in the process and are among the least important considerations for new car buyers’. I’m interested to see if EV purchasers also follow this behavioural trend so I have created a poll and shared it on some EV message boards and forums online.

survey software

We’ll return to it later once it’s had some time to garner a response but as it is now clear that the driving experience and performance of vehicles is particularly important to their success. Therefore, when looking at the potential for an EV takeover, it is crucial that we examine them from this standpoint.

Older electric cars like the G-whiz and Nissan leaf are pretty slow compared to their petrol counterparts. Yet today, some of the fastest accelerating cars in the world are electric, in fact, the cars that are generally accepted to be the top three ‘hyper cars’ today all involve hybrid technology.

From this... 

... To this!

Yes, not fully electric but when the Toyota Prius hybrid came out in 1997, I don’t think we would’ve guessed that a few years later the most expensive and fastest cars produced by Ferrari, McLaren and Porsche would all be hybrids!

Elon Musk has done amazing things with Tesla Motors and now pretty much all major manufacturers are starting to move in that direction. In fact, the fastest accelerating SUV today is an electric car- the Tesla Model X P100D with a 0-60mph time of 2.9 seconds! By comparison, the joint-holders of second place, the Porsche Cayenne Turbo S and Bentley Bentayga share a time of 4.2 which is massively slower, in car speak. They also require a combined 10.8 litres and 20 cylinders to do so!  Electric vehicles handle pretty well too, with the low centre of gravity that batteries provide.

But there’s only so far that I can go whilst relying on purely secondary sources...

 

So, my dear readers, as part of my due diligence in writing this blog, I have taken it upon myself to do some primary research! Thanks to the very nice people at BMW, I was able to get myself a BMW i3 for the day with a full tank of gas full charge of batteries. This was my first time in an electric car and I was really taken by the silence (you realise just how loud every other car next to you at the lights is!), the acceleration (the man at the showroom told me it would beat pretty much any other BMW between 0-30mph and I believe him!) and the regenerative braking system which meant that I almost never needed to apply the traditional friction brakes. 

No analog gauges on the dashboard? In fact, where is the dashboard? What's with all the screens? Jokes aside, I was really impressed with the futuristic look, feel and driving experience of the i3!

I was so impressed that I had to take some family and friends for a quick spin to show them this novelty and they all also commented on the futuristic and serene experience of driving in near silence. I was reluctant to give it back and when I had to climb back into my 12-year-old Jeep I did wince when I turned on the engine and imagined the carbon and other pollutants rushing from the exhaust. Every time I slowed down I felt a pang of guilt at the sheer inefficiency of its traditional brakes without a regenerative system… in fact it seems like this experience has forced me to be self-reflective to the point that I seem to be taking on the ‘attributes’ or perhaps that should be ‘skills’ of an ‘Eco-driver’, as explained in Jack Barkenbus’ paper, Eco-driving: An overlooked climate change initiative.