Listening to Beethoven instead of Kanye West may help you drive better
Music has a soothing influence and that includes within the car setting. Music can even help you concentrate and drive better. But does it have the same influence whether you choose to listen to Coldplay, Metallica or Mozart? Car manufacturer KIA conducted a study to find out if certain musical genres make us more efficient drivers than others. The company asked several participants to drive one of its latest electric vehicles, the KIA EV6, over a 29-kilometer course while listening to an eclectic playlist it created. On the program: rhythmic songs such as “Fade” by Kanye West and “Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd, as well as more contemplative pieces such as “Hello” by Adele and “Symphony No. 9, op. 125” by Beethoven.
During the trip, the drivers, all of whom were not very familiar with driving an electric car, were taken through residential areas with slow traffic, country roads and expressways. The researchers found that the participants drove more or less efficiently depending on the music they were listening to. Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 9, Op. 125” caused them to drive more economically. They tended to use the accelerator pedal less, and thus maximize the range of their electric vehicle. But things were rather different when they heard “Blinding Lights”. Its fast tempo made them much less flexible behind the wheel: 23.6% of the total energy consumption of this test drive was due to The Weeknd’s hit!
Results were more mixed with Adele’s melancholic ballad, “Hello.” Although it has a slower pace than “Blinding Lights” and “Fade,” this song elicited an “emotional” driving style from the study participants. Not ideal for saving energy while driving. “What we found from only two days of testing was that music really can have a dramatic influence on the real-world driving range of an electric vehicle,” Dr. Duncan Williams, who oversaw the Kia study, told the trade site CarScoops. “In short: if you want to go further, listen to the likes of Beethoven and other relaxing classical music. If you’re not worried about range dropping a little more quickly, by all means, put on some more high tempo tracks.”
However, music does not necessarily have a beneficial effect on all drivers. It can be distracting to new drivers. Israeli researchers found in 2015 that young drivers are very easily distracted when listening to their favorite songs while driving. They tend to engage in dangerous behaviors such as speeding or swerving. Therefore, if you’re looking for a bit of musical distraction while driving, caution is advised.
