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With electric vehicles fast gaining popularity, drivers must understand the differences between driving an electric one and a regular petrol car.
Category: Miscellaneous Advice
With an all-electric 2040 Singapore approaching, Singaporean drivers will need to adapt to the transition from Internal Combustion Engines (ICE) to Electric Vehicles (EVs).
While a vast majority of us detest any form of change to our daily lives, especially if they are mandatory (GST hikes, circuit breaker, social gathering limitations, just to name a few), we always learn to adapt and overcome.
Here are some differences you should take note of when driving an EV vs driving an ICE car.
One-pedal driving
In an EV, drivers can speed up and slow down with only their right foot on the pedal. This nifty function is called regenerative braking.
Regenerative braking takes the wasted energy build up from a car that's slowing down and uses it to recharge the car's batteries.
Drivers can also tailor the feel of regenerative braking to their preference with different settings. If you set it to the maximum setting, you will feel the pull when you depress the accelerator. Alternatively, you can also turn this function off.
Acceleration
With an EV, you experience faster acceleration compared to regular petrol cars. Due to its electric motors, an EV can provide full torque (the force that drives the car forward from a stationary position). This results in instant acceleration whenever the driver steps on the accelerator.
However, most EVs run on a single-speed gear, which forces car manufacturers to opt for a balanced approach between acceleration and top speed. While an EV might have a lower top speed than other petrol cars, it is still fast enough to eclipse maximum speed limits in Singapore.
Meanwhile, petrol cars have complex internal combustion engines, which takes longer to get engine-generated power to the wheels.
While a vast majority of us detest any form of change to our daily lives, especially if they are mandatory (GST hikes, circuit breaker, social gathering limitations, just to name a few), we always learn to adapt and overcome.
Here are some differences you should take note of when driving an EV vs driving an ICE car.
One-pedal driving
In an EV, drivers can speed up and slow down with only their right foot on the pedal. This nifty function is called regenerative braking.
Regenerative braking takes the wasted energy build up from a car that's slowing down and uses it to recharge the car's batteries.
Drivers can also tailor the feel of regenerative braking to their preference with different settings. If you set it to the maximum setting, you will feel the pull when you depress the accelerator. Alternatively, you can also turn this function off.
Acceleration
With an EV, you experience faster acceleration compared to regular petrol cars. Due to its electric motors, an EV can provide full torque (the force that drives the car forward from a stationary position). This results in instant acceleration whenever the driver steps on the accelerator.
However, most EVs run on a single-speed gear, which forces car manufacturers to opt for a balanced approach between acceleration and top speed. While an EV might have a lower top speed than other petrol cars, it is still fast enough to eclipse maximum speed limits in Singapore.
Meanwhile, petrol cars have complex internal combustion engines, which takes longer to get engine-generated power to the wheels.