Have you ever been ICE’d?
Nowadays there is a saying or term for just about everything, but have you heard of the term getting ICE’d?
Getting ICE’d means an Electric Vehicle (EV) driver arrives at an EV charging station only to find an Internal Combustion Engine (ICE/petrol) vehicle parked in it, therefore preventing the EV driver being able to charge their vehicle and potentially effecting their whole day. Although being ICE’d is not so much a common occurrence, it’s still enough for EV drivers to get annoyed and create a name to explain their pain. It’s a bit like driving to a petrol station not being able to refuel as a EV is parked in front of the pump all day, it simply doesn’t make sense.
With more and more EV’s on the roads every day, there are even occasions where an EV owner parks in an EV space whilst not charging their vehicle. This has prompted EV etiquette discussions amongst EV owners. There may even come a day where the manufacturers could design a handbook for first time EV owners and another handbook for the ICE vehicle owners, so everyone lives in total automotive harmony. Too hopeful? Maybe.
How could EV’s get to a point where there is a common gesture shared like the famous Volkswagen Beetle. Beetle drivers use to beep and wave to other Beetle owners to be friendly and acknowledge to strangers, ‘hey’ you’ve got good taste. What could be a common gesture for EV drivers? A thumbs up, to other EV owners to say, ‘hey you’ve gone green too’? Which brands and models produced to date could build this sense of community amongst their owners? Time will tell.
As more and more manufacturers have added EV vehicles to their range and with new charge points being added daily, the UK’s charging point infrastructure is continually changing. Over the past three years there has been a dramatic increase. In 2016 there were 4,663 public charging points and 2021 to date there are 13,031. From 2016 to 2020 the amount of public charging points grew by 220% (Source: Zap Map).
With the increase demand and availability of EVs as well as government support the infrastructure is being put in place so EV owners and users hopefully no longer get ICE’d.
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