Support CleanTechnica's work through a Substack subscription or on Stripe.
Ah, yes, of course — who wants to burn gas fast when it costs $4.43/gallon?! But, look, I got your attention.
Naturally, people want to save money on gas right now. One thing early-generation electric vehicle owners can tell you is there’s one big, obvious way to reduce your gas usage.
A decade ago, electric cars had a lot less range and EV charging stations were much less abundant. There were plenty of cases where EV drivers had to be careful in order to not run out of charge. Those of us who lived through that era and ever drove on a highway discovered that driving fast burned up our battery capacity much faster. What’s not commonly known for those who didn’t go through that era is that the energy used goes up exponentially as you increase your driving speed.
In short, if you drive 60 mph instead of 50 mph, you are burning a LOT more gasoline than if you drive 50 mph instead of 40 mph. If you go 70 mph instead of 60 mph, you are again going to burn a LOT more gasoline than you would driving 60 mph versus 50 mph.
