How fast can an EV go in reverse? Is there a speed limit?

CarExpert

So - most electric cars don't have any gears. That means that an electric motor is only limited by its revolutions and power input. So...what happens when you try and do the same thing, but in reverse? Can an EV drive in reverse at an unlimited speed? Paul Maric finds out!  Skip Ahead: Intro: 00:00 EV6 Attempt 1: 00:26 EV6 Attempt 2 (ESC off) 1:09 Polestar Attempt 1: 1:44 Polestar attempt 2 (ESC Sport): 2:23 Verdict: 2:48  We review every new car on the market, bust car myths, cover the latest car tech and answer your burning questions.  Whether you need new car advice, purchase validation or simply love learning more about new cars and technology, we are your car experts.  Subscribe to Car Expert: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7DvMhvy3H7ntEgn9n3xQcQ?sub_confirmation=1  You'll find us dropping new video content three times a week. If you'd like to ask a question about one of our videos, simply leave us a comment. If you'd like to give us any feedback on our content, feel free to email us, or alternatively, hit us up on social media.  Finally, we want this channel to grow with your support and feedback. If there's anything you don't like or would like to see us change, we'd love to hear from you!  Follow us on social media to see what we're up to and to ask any questions!  CarExpert: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarExpertAus Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/CarExpertAus Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carexpert.com.au  Paul Maric: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaulMaric Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/PaulMaric Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/PaulMaric  #kia #ev #polestar

Transcript

00:00 G'day, I'm Paul. Have you ever wondered how fast an EV can go in reverse?

00:05 Okay, even if you've answered no, I'm going to show you today. We're going to test it out.

00:09 So, let's get stuck into it.

00:11 Now, this is the Kia EV6. It is an EV.

00:16 My theory is that EVs only have one gear.

00:20 So, in theory, it should go as fast forwards as it does in reverse.

00:25 So, let's give this a shot and see what happens.

00:29 Okay, so, it's pretty straightforward. I'm just going to put it in reverse and just mash the throttle.

00:33 That is the speedo. It's in kilometres an hour. We'll see what happens.

00:38 So, it beeps when it's in reverse. Let's give this a shot.

00:41 It's pretty quick in reverse.

00:45 Oh, there you go. So, 42 kilometres an hour in reverse.

00:51 Come to a stop. It actually took off really quickly.

00:54 So, everything happened suddenly and then it really started tapering off.

00:58 And when it got to that 40 km/h mark, it hit like a soft limiter.

01:01 So, let's try that again. This time I'll switch the stability control off entirely

01:06 and we'll see if that avoids the soft limiter we're getting there in reverse.

01:09 Okay, so, I'm going to put that into reverse. We'll turn stability control off.

01:15 Long hold of that button. There it is just there.

01:18 Okay, we'll give this another shot. I'm just going to mash the throttle.

01:20 Oh, it's so weird reversing that quickly.

01:25 There we go. 42 kilometres an hour again.

01:28 And I don't know how hard, like I'm literally flat to the board there.

01:32 It doesn't go any higher than 42.

01:34 All right, one last thing we're going to try. We've got one other EV here at the moment.

01:38 It's a Polestar 2. So, let's jump into that and see if that goes

01:42 in reverse any faster than the Kia EV6.

01:45 Now, we're inside the Polestar 2. This is the long range single motor version.

01:50 The EV6 is the rear-wheel drive version.

01:53 So, let's see what happens. I'm going to put this into reverse and we'll just mash the throttle again.

01:59 Here we go. So, yeah, speedo is just there and let's give this a shot.

02:04 Oh, this takes off even quicker than the EV6.

02:08 Oh, there you go. We've just hit 30 k's an hour.

02:11 So, 31 is the maximum. No matter how hard I push the throttle, it's not going any faster than that.

02:17 Let's also try switching this one into ESC sport and we'll see if that makes any difference.

02:22 As far as I can tell, you can't switch the stability control off on this,

02:25 but ESC sport is like a sportier version of the standard mode.

02:29 So, let's give this a shot.

02:31 There we go. 32. We got up to 32 then.

02:37 No matter how hard I hit this throttle, it's not going any faster.

02:42 So, okay, that's disappointing. There goes my theory of how quick you can go in reverse in an EV.

02:47 Well, there you go. That was short and sweet and kind of fun to test out.

02:52 My theory of this working as fast forwards as it does in reverse

02:55 kind of went out the window when you hit 40 k's an hour.

02:59 It's obviously a soft limiter, but yeah, in theory,

03:02 the electric motor is a single speed and it revs up to like 14,000 rpm.

03:07 So, it should in theory go as fast forwards as it does in reverse,

03:11 but they've obviously put a software limiter in.

03:12 So, if anyone knows how to hack one of these things, let me know.

03:15 We can give this another shot.

03:16 Now, if you did enjoy this video, make sure you hit subscribe

03:18 because we're going to shoot more of these fun random things.

03:21 And if there is anything else fun and random you want us to test in a car,

03:25 let me know in the comments section below and I will try my hardest to do it without

03:29 damaging or breaking any of these things.

03:30 If you did enjoy this video, please make sure you like it and share it with your mates.

03:34 But until next time, take it easy.

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