Teenagers impressions electric versus ICE

[Orchard]

I just wanted to share this comment from our teenage daughter. She has done almost all her driving in our Leaf. I asked her recently why she does not like driving the SUV. She said "the noise from the engine scares her", hence she does not want to drive the SUV.
Since she has been driving an electric car most of the time, I found her comment quite interesting since I did not think of ICE noise being that intimidating having grown up with ICE cars. Maybe this is something that manufactures should be aware of given that this may be the start of the first generation of drivers more accustomed electric rather than ICE vehicles.

 

[TomT]

The noise of all the other vehicles and trucks around her must really terrify here then! :lol:

I asked her recently why she does not like driving the SUV. She said "the noise from the engine scares her", hence she does not want to drive the SUV.

 

[dhanson865]

The noise of all the other vehicles and trucks around her must really terrify here then! :lol:

I asked her recently why she does not like driving the SUV. She said "the noise from the engine scares her", hence she does not want to drive the SUV.

The noise from the other vehicles don't change in direct response to her moving her right foot.

Imagine the Pavlovian response. She pushes the pedal and the engine growls. She dislikes the sound so she sees it as negative reinforcement to push the pedal down yet she knows she has to push the pedal down to make the car go. She has the knowledge to override the input but it still causes distress whether you classify the distress as mental or emotional I don't know.

Personally I learned to drive when there was still lead in our gasoline and the first car I drove on my own on a regular basis was a used 1961 Buick with a big V8 so I've had plenty of driving time behind a large engine.

I'm currently driving a 2005 Prius and I am sometimes uncomfortable with the engine running when I'm going slow and want to be driving electric only, especially when the car decides to run the engine within the last two blocks on the way home or as I'm pulling in the driveway/garage. The quieter modern cars get the more it bothers me to know that a stupidly smooth gas engine is running instead of the even smoother electric engine.

 

[Orchard]

Dhanson865, interesting thought and experience. I used to drive a Prius (traded in for a Leaf), and found the engine starting and stopping without my direct control mildly annoying. Also some of of the noises the engine made shortly after switching off were weird.

Regarding the SUV engine noise, I think the noise of the engine being scary may also be due to driving a larger vehicle (SUV), which somehow does not feel right after driving a smaller Leaf i.e. very intimidating as a complete package.
Also the instantaneous torque in the electric feels safer for traffic driving, as opposed to the slight lag in most ICE vehicles. Starting your driving experience in an electric would make ICE cars seem load and sluggish, and perhaps by inference less safe and unrefined.

 

[dhanson865]

Dhanson865, interesting thought and experience. I used to drive a Prius (traded in for a Leaf), and found the engine starting and stopping without my direct control mildly annoying. Also some of of the noises the engine made shortly after switching off were weird.

Regarding the SUV engine noise, I think the noise of the engine being scary may also be due to driving a larger vehicle (SUV), which somehow does not feel right after driving a smaller Leaf i.e. very intimidating as a complete package.
Also the instantaneous torque in the electric feels safer for traffic driving, as opposed to the slight lag in most ICE vehicles. Starting your driving experience in an electric would make ICE cars seem load and sluggish, and perhaps by inference less safe and unrefined.

The majority of the time the Prius engine is so quiet I'm not sure if it is running or not. All it takes is a little tire/road noise, wind noise, HVAC fan noise, radio, rain, passenger almost any distraction makes it hard to tell its running. But when I'm trying to get 60+ MPG instead of 40-59 MPG I'm paying attention when I get below 20 MPH and trying to prevent the gas engine from running when I can.

Just didn't want to mislead anyone, it really is a quiet engine (for that matter most post 2005 4 cyl engines are quiet at less than 3000 RPM). I just have driven enough vehicles over the years to have some insight into the differences in mindset.

I also drive a 1998 Saturn SL2 with a 4 cyl from time to time and the thing that bugs me with it isn't the engine noise but the lack of regen braking. I expect to get more braking with no foot on the pedal than I get from "engine braking" on a 4 cyl with a modern enough transmission that the decel is pretty close to coasting in neutral.

I can think of many reasons I wouldn't want to drive a SUV besides the noise factor.

 

[adric22]

I don't find this surprising in the least. Since I've been driving an EV for 2 years now, on the rare occasion I find myself in somebody's ICE vehicle, I always notice the vibration and noise of the vehicle. That is something I would have not noticed 2 years ago. Also the smell of the vehicle if we are pulling into a garage or something where it can trap some of the exhaust fumes. Obviously I'm not afraid of the sound of the ICE since I've driven them all my life. But I can certainly see how somebody unaccustomed to ICE vehicles would feel that way.

 

[Nubo]

Same here. Once in a while I need to drive or move my wife's Subaru. There's nothing wrong with the vehicle, but once accustomed to an EV, starting up a gasoline car makes me feel like Oliver Wendall Douglas atop the tractor on "Green Acres".

It's not going to be that long before young people in general start to look upon gasoline vehicles in much the same way as they see the rotary phone attached to the wall in their grandparents' house -- hopelessly outdated.

 

[abasile]

It's not going to be that long before young people in general start to look upon gasoline vehicles in much the same way as they see the rotary phone attached to the wall in their grandparents' house -- hopelessly outdated.

+1. Some of the most positive reactions to our LEAF have come from kids, teenagers, and young adults.

 

[ksnogas2112]

@Nubo...I was at the grocery a couple weeks ago early in the morning. It was early enough that there wasn't much traffic noise and not many cars in the lot. Just as I got to my Leaf I heard 3 different ICE's all start close to the same time. I almost started laughing because I knew how quiet the Leaf was. The EV grin was in full effect that morning.