Today I received a complementary copy of an electric vehicle magazine. Sadly it’s not much of a magazine and I spent a few minutes scanning through it.
But one thing caught my eye – and it’s not the first time I’ve seen it. A picture of a reader-converted car, with a sign advising the following:
WARNING!
SLOW!
ELECTRIC CAR
Please be patient!
It was basically giving the driver of said electric car an excuse. It says “I’m driving slowly because my car is electric”. That’s right. An electric car driver giving an excuse for the fact that their EV is underpowered and slow. Or perhaps it’s an excuse for the driver who is driving unusually slow.
What’s worse is that the car isn’t a small city car. It’s a converted petrol car. So it looks like any other car on the road. Unlike every other car on the road though, this particular one has no shame in proclaiming that it’s an electric car and that those following should be patient with it’s slow progress down the road. Bad press.
And it’s not the first time I’ve seen EV owners do this either. I’ve seen electric vans which were made by a major motor manufacturer, with a flashing amber beacon on top alerting road users to the fact that the vehicle now coming down the road slowly (even though it’s capable of 65 mph) is in fact an electric one. The amber light of course alerting people that the driver of said vehicle is driving slowly to maximize range. Bad press.
Again, it’s not a one-off thing. There seems to be a small core of people world-wide who seem quite happy to help perpetuate the myth that electric cars are slow and boring by the posting of ridiculous signs on the back of their vehicles excusing them for slow progress. As someone who has worked very hard to promote electric vehicles over the past five years – fast, sleek, exciting electric cars – It’s one of my pet hates.
And so to those people. If you MUST carry a sign saying words of the effect that your vehicle is slow and therefore following traffic must be patient then please omit the words “Electric Vehicle”. Because, in case you hadn’t heard, not all electric vehicles are slow and boring. Even if you’ve converted them yourselves.
Even Land-Rovers…
When you own such an EV with a decent performance, how about putting the following on the back:
WARNING!
SORRY!
You’ve just been passed by an Electric Vehicle.
Thanks for letting us by!