This post is a collaboration with Kia, but all thoughts and experiences are my own
Whether we want to admit to it or not, the music we listen to whilst behind the wheel can have a great impact on our driving. A recent research study by Kia done on their EV6 electric vehicle shows that the type of music we listen to whilst behind the wheel of electric cars can have an impact on how quickly the battery drains. The study concluded that classical music, such as the likes of Beethoven’s Symphony Number 9, could make drivers more efficient in an all-electric vehicle like the Kia EV6. This got us thinking about our drive-style playlists and what we like to listen to on our drives.
Music affects your mood
It is well known that music affects your mood. Many other studies have shown that the type of music we listen to can have a huge effect on our mood. This makes perfect sense and since music affects your mood, which in turn affects your driving, it’s great to know what you are going to listen to in the car to stay in control of not only the battery on an electric vehicle but also the speed whatever it is you may drive. So instead of opting for heavy metal, or anything that may make me feel anxious or stressed, I stick to what I know will give me a sense of calm and tranquillity.
As a family, we make playlists to listen to in the car and have some firm favourites that will influence our mood. This helps us always know that we can have a happy and relaxed atmosphere in the car which is perfect if you have teenagers as I do. I do this when I am on my own too, and it always keeps me alert yet calm.
Make family car playlists on Spotify
A fun activity to do with your kids is to make a Spotify car play list. You can have a playlist for every member of the family or better yet, why not make a specific family playlist for when you are on drives together. This can be broken down into music for the school run, music for road trips, or even just music when heading out for some shopping and to a cafe together.
This can be a lot of fun, especially if like me you have teenaged daughters. What’s better than belting out some Adele with your girls in the car? It’s not only a lot of fun and it makes your drives much more tolerable, especially as you zoom back and forth with a busy family schedule, but it can also be a great release to belt out some tunes. With that in mind, here are some of the artists and songs we like to have on our playlist;
- Adele,
- Becky Hill,
- Taylor Swift,
- Selena Gomez,
- Little Mix … and anything we can sing our hearts out to really.
Listening to pop is a lot of fun with teenage girls, and even though the music is upbeat it isn’t too wild to where speed creeps us. Having this type of music takes us through the gamut of emotions.
When we get into the car we like to start with some Becky Hill. Her music is upbeat and just so much fun, which is a great way to get the kids going when they are dragging in the mornings. This gets them pumped up with energy and ready to face the day.
We like to listen to Taylor Swift when we can’t agree on what to play as she has quite a repertoire and if we set it on random, we won’t know what to expect. This is a great way to turn the kid’s mood around when they are arguing about the music or are just having a bit of a down day. They may not be able to agree on a song, but whatever song comes up is one they know and usually like, so everything goes back to peace and calm. There are so many of her songs to pick from, that it is sometimes hard to choose!
Lastly, when we want to get some emotions out there we opt for Adele. Belting out an Adele tune is usually enough to get teenage girls to expel those emotions that they haven’t really wanted to talk about. It not only gets them feeling better but sometimes they openly talk about it to their mum. I know!
Slow down the tunes, reduce your stress
It’s no surprise that the slower the tunes the lower your heart rate thus the more relaxed you are. This is something that I tend to put into practice not only when I am stressed, but when I am driving on my own. I usually don’t listen to fast music in general whilst in the car, but when I am on my own I do so even less.
Being in the car is also a quite meditative and relaxing time for me, especially as with a busy family life there is a lot of to-ing and fro-ing so being in the car with a good playlist that is a balance between relaxing and stimulating enough to not put me to sleep is always my preference.
I like to choose a playlist that is all pop. A playlist that is varied enough and includes some of the newer artists that my kids like as well as some classic 90’s and naughties music. Nothing like belting out some Adele and Whitney Houston to calm you down when you are stuck on the motorway.
Whether I am in a rush or have enough time to spare I listen to the same playlists because I am not one to put safety at risk, even if I am a few minutes behind because of traffic. Since music affects your driving and music affects your mood I put on my calm playlist and remain calm whether there is traffic or not.
