Take the example of a racing car as pictured in the animation above. It takes the vehicle 10 minutes(0.17 hours) to travel 23km, from start to finish.

Average speed = 23km / 0.17hrs = 135.29km/hr

Average velocity = 4km / 0.17hrs = 23.53km/hr

The average speed is 135.29km/hr but the velocity is only 23.53km/hr. The reason that velocity is lower, is that it can be positive and negative. Remember this from our earlier discussion on velocity? If not, click to refresh your memory. Since the velocity has negative and positive values some will cancel each other out, hence the lower value. Speed, however, can only be positive.