Published on
updated on
Reading 1 min.
A British study shows a very slight difference in reaction time to road hazards depending on the make of your car and its type of engine. Owners of an electric Volvo would therefore be the drivers quickest to brake in an emergency.
This study, published by the price comparison site Scrap Car Comparisonshows that the average reaction time differs depending on the make of the vehicle.
In detail, Volvo drivers achieved the fastest reaction times of all drivers tested, with an average reaction time of 0.401 seconds. Jaguar and Suzuki drivers followed, with average reaction times of 0.409 and 0.413 seconds respectively. Those who usually drive a Mercedes came in last with a score of 0.527 seconds.
For the instigators of this study, this would correspond to the reaction time of a 32-year-old person at Volvo, compared to 45 years at Mercedes. In any case, they all react in less than a second, the time generally allowed in the highway code to react to a danger.
Although the difference is small, this study also shows that drivers of electric cars are now the most responsive (0.459 s) than others. In order, they are slightly ahead of drivers of hybrid vehicles (0.462 s), gasoline (0.463 s) and diesel (0.464 s).
While it is known that factors such as age, distraction, using a phone while driving, weather, fatigue or even taking substances such as alcohol or drugs affect reaction times, it therefore appears that drivers of an electric vehicle are a little more reactive than others in the event of danger.
As a reminder, a reaction time of 0.4 s at a speed of 80 km/h results in a stopping distance of approximately 10 m. For a reaction time of 0.8 s, this distance doubles.
To conduct this study, Scrap Car Comparison invited 2,000 British motorists in August 2024 to take a reaction time test.