Electric vehicles (EVs) don’t use gas, so they’re a great choice for those who prefer the environment and don’t want to worry about filling it up with gasoline.
As electric-vehicle technology has improved, so have the options available to EV drivers. Today, there are 80+ different models of EVs on sale in California, and more are being added every day.
Benefits
Electric vehicles have many advantages that make them a great choice for private hire drivers. They are eco-friendly, convenient to use, and save drivers money on fuel.
One of the biggest benefits of driving an EV is that they are extremely quiet, a welcome change from the noise produced by combustion engines. You can easily listen to music, watch a movie or enjoy conversation with a friend in the car.
Another big advantage is that EVs have no exhaust emissions, which means they do not release harmful air pollutants into the environment. As the world transitions to a cleaner energy supply, more and more people will be able to use EVs for their daily commutes and other trips.
Electric cars also have a much better range than gas-powered cars, with average ranges of between 250 and 300 miles. In addition, they are becoming increasingly available with fast charging, reducing the need for public charging stations and making it easy to recharge your batteries at home.
Customization
Electric vehicles have a plethora of features, but customization options are a bit limited. Hyundai and Kia are announcing a new app that will give EV owners more than just eco and sport modes with a few levels of brake regeneration.
The app, currently unnamed, is a smartphone-controlled device that taps into an EV’s computer to control the basics like drive mode and battery life, as well as more complex tasks like recommending optimal settings for a given road condition and providing the best way to conserve energy when the odometer is showing low on a charge. It also can be a source of demand response in the right circumstances, though this might be a little overkill for most consumers.
It’s a great start to the vehicle-based demand-response revolution, and more and more of this type of technology will likely make its way into the mainstream. For now, however, the app and the EV it’s named for are the only two players in this game.
Eco-Friendly
Eco-friendly vehicles are a great way to help reduce your carbon footprint. These cars are often light in weight, which can save you money on fuel costs.
Electric vehicles (EVs) are another popular option for eco-friendly transportation. They use a battery that stores electricity and can be recharged from a standard 120-volt outlet or with DC fast charging.
However, some critics argue that EVs don’t do much to reduce emissions. EVs run on electricity that must come from somewhere, usual coal or natural gas.
These sources of power produce CO2 emissions that are released in some distant power plants.
Whether you’re looking for a green vehicle to drive or are interested in purchasing one for your teen, many options make eco-friendly driving easy and enjoyable.
The US EPA ranks cars by their air pollution and greenhouse gas scores, which are used to determine the “Greener Cars” designation. The ACEEE’s list of the cleanest mainstream production models is featured below, and we’ve also included the environmentally “Meanest” choices for 2022 in a separate post.
Safety
While EV cars and drivers have a reputation for safety hazards, the truth is they have a lot of features designed to protect the people inside. These systems range from forward collision protection and lane assist – standards to a variety of active safety systems that work to protect the driver from rear-enders, pedestrians, and bicyclists.
A recent study from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that EVs are as safe as their gas-powered counterparts and may be safer. The organization examined electric and conventional versions of nine models from 2011-19.
According to the IIHS, electric vehicles are no more likely to catch fire than their gasoline-powered counterparts in a crash because EV batteries are not flammable. They’re also slow-burning, giving the battery time to leave the vehicle in a crash.
Moreover, most drivers do not completely drain the battery in their vehicles, which is another reason why EVs are safer than gas-powered cars. The rate of injury claims related to EV drivers and passengers is more than 40 percent lower than for similar conventional vehicles over 2011-19, according to an analysis from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.