Nowadays, we can’t deny the fact that electric cars are gaining market shares all over the world. Many people choose electric cars because they are more environmentally friendly than gasoline powered cars. On the other hand, some people dislike electric cars because electric cars offer a different driving experience compared to conventional cars.
Despite the pros and cons of electric cars, you might wonder how electric cars’ popularity is rocketing and getting people’s attention. To answer your curiosity, we will share some fun facts about electric cars to add more insight and knowledge. What are you waiting for? Let’s check this out!
Table of Contents
- 1. Electric Car is Not A Brand New Idea
- 2. Electric Cars Fake Sound
- 3. The Most Popular Electric Car
- 4. “Dog Mode” in Electric Car
- 5. Breaking to Get More Miles
- 6. More Than 10 Million Use Globally
- 7. The World’s Largest Electric Car Market
- 8. Types of Electric Cars
- 9. No Worries of Run Out of Battery
- 10. No Need Oil Changes
- 11. Highly Efficient for Travel
- 12. Faster Than Gasoline Powered Cars
- 13. Need 300 Smartphone Batteries for A Single Car Battery
- 14. There are More Electric Charging Stations than Petrol Stations in the UK
- 15. Electric Car as House’s Power Supply
1. Electric Car is Not A Brand New Idea
Some people might think that electric cars are the future of motoring. However, the idea of electric cars was coming from more than 100 years ago. In fact, the very first electric car was produced in 1884 by English inventor, Thomas Parker. Parker was in charge of introducing the electrification of the London Underground as well as working on electric tramways for a number of cities.
Meanwhile in the US, the first successful electric car was made in 1890 by William Morrison. Morrison was a chemist who lived in Des Moines, Iowa. He successfully built a six-passenger electric vehicle with a top speed of 14 miles per hour. Finally, interest in electric vehicles dates back to the 19th century.
2. Electric Cars Fake Sound
One of the advantages of driving electric cars is the quietness while driving on the road, as they don’t bring noisy sounds like conventional cars. However, as from July 2019, the US government meant that all new electric and hybrid cars are legally required to emit an artificial noise to prevent injuring pedestrians, especially people who are blind or visually impaired. The noise kicks in at speeds of 13 miles per hour and below. Fortunately, the noise is on the exterior of the car, so the driver can still enjoy the peace and quiet inside.
Compared to traditional cars, electric cars are far quieter, even soundless. The only noises electric cars usually generate is caused by tire noises or wind resistance at moderate to higher speeds. Therefore, many countries in the EU also require all newly-produced electric cars to have fake sound speakers to make them sound like gas-powered cars to warn pedestrians and cyclists when a vehicle is approaching.
3. The Most Popular Electric Car
As electric cars’ popularity is rising, maybe you are interested in the most popular electric car in the world. Especially if you want to have an electric car, then this fun fact will answer it. Many car manufacturers began producing electric vehicles, but currently, Tesla is the most popular electric car maker, especially Tesla Model 3 and Model Y. Other popular electric car manufacturers include Toyota, Chevrolet, and Nissan.
In 2021, Tesla Model 3 was the world’s most popular electric vehicle with worldwide unit sales of roughly 501,000. Moreover, Tesla Model 3 and Model Y sales have more than doubled year-over-year, making these two models accounted for 97% of Tesla’s sales volume in 2021.
4. “Dog Mode” in Electric Car
Do you like to bring your dog on a road trip? In case you have to leave your dog a while inside the car, don’t worry! Tesla has introduced an interesting new feature of Tesla cars called “Dog Mode”. Tesla’s Dog Mode will keep the climate control on after the driver leaves the car.
Since leaving a pet alone in a vehicle isn’t normally a good idea, people may not be familiar with “Dog Mode”. To overcome that problem, Tesla’s Dog Mode also will display a message on the screen which informs passers-by that all is well and the pet is safely being kept at a comfortable temperature.
5. Breaking to Get More Miles
This is another fun fact about electric cars that are absolutely genius! In fact, all electric cars have regenerative braking technology that captures energy that is otherwise lost during braking and then uses this power to help recharge the vehicle’s battery.
Maybe it sounds like magic, but this technology is very helpful to save more miles from the car, enabling the driver to drive further. Moreover, when electric car drivers who are driving down a hill or a mountain, it will actually have added miles when they reach the bottom.
6. More Than 10 Million Use Globally
In light of tightening environmental regulations and increasing worldwide acceptance of electric transmission vehicles, electric cars sales have reached 2.1 million globally in 2019, which accounted for 2.6% of global car sales and about 1% of global car stock. In 2021, more than 6.5 million electric cars were sold around the world. Moreover, there were some 6.8 million battery electric vehicles in use globally.
The electric cars facts show that the total number of electric cars currently in use globally is estimated at more than 10 million in the world. However, this percentage is expected to increase to 7% by 2030.
7. The World’s Largest Electric Car Market
Many countries made huge steps towards a world cleaner future, as the electric vehicle market grew across the globe. China has the largest electric vehicles market, while Norway boasts the highest share of electric cars in total passenger car sales due to government policies in tax and toll exemptions.
In 2019, more than 1.2 million electric vehicles were sold in China, making it the largest electric car market globally. Not to mention, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), sales of battery electric vehicles (BEV) and plug-in hybrids (PHEV) amounted to 1.00 and 0.25 million in 2020, accounting for 45% of all electric cars worldwide.
8. Types of Electric Cars
For those people who are considering buying electric cars, there are important facts about types of electric cars they should know. Electric cars have three different types: battery electric vehicles (BEVs), hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs).
BEV is also known as an all-electric car, because it needs to be plugged in to recharge. For example, electric cars from Tesla are BEVs. Moreover, HEVs combine a gas-powered engine with one or more electric motors. It doesn’t plug in as it collects energy through regenerative braking.
The Toyota Prius may be one of the best-known HEVs. Meanwhile, PHEVs are similar to an HEV, but the main difference is that a PHEV is able to plug in to charge. For example, Toyota Mirai also comes as a plug-in version.
9. No Worries of Run Out of Battery
Maybe you wonder what will happen if an electric car runs out of battery in the middle of nowhere. Well, same as conventional cars, running out of electricity will make your car stop. Running completely out of power or also known as ‘deep discharging’ can lead to the battery deteriorating which reduces its performance and ability to hold charge.
However, AAA reported that about 57% of consumers avoid electric cars because they worry about running out of charge, but only 5% of owners have run out. They noted that electric car owners are just more conscious of their range than gasoline powered car owners.
In addition, electric cars will provide plenty of audible and visual warnings to their drivers. So, if you’ve never run out of range in your gas car, you aren’t supposed to worry about running out of battery in your electric car.
10. No Need Oil Changes
For conventional cars, fresh oil can lubricate many parts of the engine and protect these components from damage. However, cars that run solely on electricity don’t require oil changes, transmission and brake fluid replacement, or coolants. This is because they lack the internal combustion engine found in gasoline powered cars.
There are no valves, pistons, or small, delicate engine parts that need to be protected. So, oil is just not a necessity for an electric car. As a result, it also can lower the maintenance cost.
11. Highly Efficient for Travel
Electric cars are more efficient for travel than gasoline powered cars. According to the US DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, all-electric cars are very efficient at turning electricity into movement. Up to 80% of the battery energy powers to move the car down the road. Moreover, electric cars only experience energy loss of about 16% during charging.
On the other hand, only 12-30% of the energy put into a conventional car is used to move the car down the road. In fact, the rest of the energy from gas powered cars is lost to engine inefficiencies or used to power accessories.
12. Faster Than Gasoline Powered Cars
One of the fun facts about electric cars is that they are faster than cars that run on gasoline. The electric motor instantly generates 100% of available torque to transition from a stationary to an instantaneous speed. A Tesla Roadster is reported faster than most sports cars, with an acceleration speed of 0 to 60 in 1.9 seconds. Meanwhile, a Ferrari or Lamborghini accelerates from 0 to 62 in 2.8 to 2.9 seconds.
13. Need 300 Smartphone Batteries for A Single Car Battery
Maybe you wonder how electric car’s batteries were made. An electric car’s battery uses up just 30kg of raw materials with recycled cobalt. The process of repurposing old phones and computer batteries into an electric car battery is known as urban mining.
To do urban mining at a big scale, the amount of battery material required is roughly 10,000 times more than smartphones, but the amount of cobalt used in a car battery is about 30 times less than in a phone battery, per kilowatt hour. For example, if you collect around 300 smartphones, then you’ll have enough cobalt material for an electric car battery.
14. There are More Electric Charging Stations than Petrol Stations in the UK
One of the most interesting facts about electric cars we’ve found is that the UK has more electric car charging stations than petrol ones. In fact, there are more than 13,000 charging devices in over 9,000 locations across the UK compared to 8,400 petrol stations.
As petrol prices rise and many owners are shying away from diesel, UK drivers save 68.6% of their annual fuel costs when switching from internal combustion engine vehicles to electric cars in 2022.
15. Electric Car as House’s Power Supply
Electric cars could actually be thought of as batteries on wheels. Furthermore, many electric cars are being produced with the ability to use their onboard battery to send power back to the electricity supply they are connected to. Many studies show that the electricity in the electric car’s battery could be plugged back into the grid to power millions of households in the future, simply by harnessing their battery power.
The technique was pioneered in Japan. With the right equipment, it is possible to use the electricity in a car battery to supply your own home or balance the electricity grid at certain times of the day. Moreover, it’s also perfectly feasible to use a car battery to power an outdoor event or even a Christmas tree as Nissan demonstrated in 2013 using their LEAF-to-home system.
And that’s all fun facts about electric cars you probably never know! As the automotive industry is continually evolving, electric cars become the future of transportation. Many fun facts about electric cars reveal that these environmentally friendly vehicles are becoming more widespread and useful in our lives. So, no wonder that the industry is leaning towards progressively producing more electric cars each day.
latest post:
- 30 Ocean Nails Ideas That Look Like They’re Straight Out of Paradise
- This Cat’s Betrayal is Too Funny! Ever Felt Like Your Pet Prefers Someone Else?
- This Cat Demands ALL the Attention! Could You Handle This Much Love?
- This Pair of Boots Transformed His World!
- This Fearless Cat Loves the Ocean!!