A recent study by leading leasing lender Leasing Options revealed that a significant number of electric vehicle (EV) owners skip reading their car manuals, with less than 1 in 4 drivers having never read a single page of their car manual!
Common responses included that the manual was too long so it was much quicker for Google to find the information you need.
But what makes these manuals so daunting? The study showed that electric vehicle manuals are quicker to read than their internal combustion engine and hybrid vehicle counterparts, but you’ll still need to clear your schedule to read them.
The average owner’s manual takes longer to read than the Lord of the Rings
Analysing 240 cars from 29 global manufacturers, Leasing Options analysis revealed an average read time of 9 hours and 18 minutes (111,680) words to fully digest the average owner’s manual. For context, you can drive from London to Paris and still have 2 and a half hours spare (6 hours and 30 minutes). In the same amount of time, you could watch 9 football matches, read the Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (with two hours spare), or complete two-and-a-half marathons.
Electric vehicle manuals are the quickest to read
Among the various types of cars, EV manuals are the quickest to read. On average, an EV owner’s manual takes 8 hours and 42 minutes (104,550 words) to read, which is around 8% less time than hybrid or ICE manuals. However, this still amounts to a significant read – longer than “The Hobbit”, which takes about 7 hours and 55 minutes (95,022 words) to read.
Hybrid owner manuals took the longest to read with an average of 9 hours and 28 minutes (113,737 words), whilst ICE manuals took an average of 9 hours and 25 minutes (113,191) words.
The VW Touareg owner’s manual is the longest read, at 16 hours
The Volkswagen Touareg’s owner’s manual emerged as the lengthiest of the 240 cars analysed, requiring a dedicates 15 hours and 56 minutes of reading time, longer than the amount of time needed to read Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire!
Volkswagen also claims the silver medal with the Touareg’s little brother, the T-Roc, which has a reading time of 15 hours and 50 minutes.
Conversely, Citroen Ami owners can read their car manual twice before Titanic’s infamous iceberg scene. Leasing Options’ analysis has revealed that the AMIi’s manual requires a mere 53 minutes to read from beginning to end, you can read only 4% of Game of Thrones in that time.
| Shortest Owner’s Manuals (Models) | |||||
| Rank | Car | Fuel | Word Count | Read Time (m) | H:M |
| 1 | AMI | EV | 10,675 | 53.375 | 00:53 |
| 2 | I30 | ICE | 13,173 | 65.865 | 01:05 |
| 3 | Sportage | Hybrid | 15,849 | 79.245 | 01:19 |
| 4 | EV6 | EV | 17,030 | 85.15 | 01:25 |
| 5 | EV9 | EV | 17,159 | 85.795 | 01:25 |
| 6 | Niro | EV | 17,254 | 86.27 | 01:26 |
| 7 | Niro | Hybrid | 17,804 | 89.02 | 01:29 |
| 8 | Sorento | Hybrid | 17,836 | 89.18 | 01:29 |
| 9 | Soul | EV | 20,053 | 100.265 | 01:40 |
| 10 | Sorento | ICE | 20,548 | 102.74 | 01:42 |
Out of the top 10 quickest manuals to read, 5 were electric vehicles, so choose an EV if you want to save time (and the planet)!
KIA have the fastest car (manuals)
For those of you who are looking for a quicker read, KIA go against the grain and it would only take approximately 1 hour and 29 minutes to read through their entire owner’s manual. This quicker speed can be attributed to KIA’s use of visual imagery.
For example, the KIA Niro EV has an image for everything on the dashboard such as warning lights, car blueprints, and heating and seat options. Thus, enabling car owners to scan through the manual faster, which is a real bonus when looking for a quick fix.
Why you should still keep your manual
Mike Thompson, Chief Operating Officer at Leasing Options says “While the car’s manual may be lengthy, we recommend keeping it handy in your glove box”. “It can be a valuable resource, especially during unexpected situations, like a dashboard warning light”, he added. Car manuals help you make involved decisions on when to continue driving or seek help, so despite the length, keep it with you.
