Daniel Mills, a professor of veterinary behavioral medicine at Lincoln University, and CarGurus studied how dogs respond to being driven in different vehicles.
For this, cars with diesel engines and electric cars have been taken (it is strange that cars with petrol engines, which produce less noise and vibrations), have not been chosen.
“We know that most dogs travel in cars. Either occasionally or even every day. While electric vehicles are growing in popularity, there has been no research to date on their effects on dogs, says Professor Mills.” From our research found that dogs seem more relaxed in electric vehicles, especially when looking at behavioral traits such as anxiety.”
The study involved 20 dogs making the same 10-minute journeys in both diesel and electric vehicles. Their behavior was then analyzed using biometric data collected before, during and after the trip.
In electric cars, dogs got up from a lying position about 50% less often than in diesel cars, which Professor Mills attributed to unpleasant noises and vibrations from a rattling diesel engine.
“In addition, a discovery was made during the study regarding motion sickness,” Professor Mills said. – While traveling in electric vehicles, the biometrics of these dogs showed that their heart rates were noticeably lower than when they were transported in diesel vehicles. This is of particular importance given that an increase in heart rate is often associated with motion sickness.”
The study found that a small number of dogs had a 30% lower heart rate in an electric car. And this is good news for 34% of dogs – the other 66% of dogs don’t care what they are transported on when the owner is around.
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