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Current petrol engines are designed operate at optimal efficiency in the 60-90 km/h range. Electric cars on the other hand can operate efficiently at much lowe

by dagw 3y ago

Current petrol engines are designed operate at optimal efficiency in the 60-90 km/h range. Electric cars on the other hand can operate efficiently at much lower speeds due to how electric engines work. Efficiency here primarily refers to km/unit of energy. So if you care about minimising pollution in the city centres it's much better if all cars can drive either 70 km/h or not at all through city centres.

em500 3y ago
And of course regenerative braking greatly enhances electric car efficiency in city driving. The flip side is that the battery gauge usually drops alarmingly fast on the highway if you're mostly used to city driving.
mcv 3y ago
ICE cars tend to have gears, and can drive very well in lower gears. You don't want to do 30 in 4th gear.
- sebazzz 3y ago
  Correct. In my Hyundai Matrix I drove at 3rd gear.
- dagw 3y ago
  Look up the efficiency curve for you engine. To get the most of it you should be driving at the highest gear at around 70-90 km/h. Driving in lower gears is obviously not a problem, but that doesn't make it efficient.