Lightning Thieves...
Yesterday I made the following comment about an emerging trend I see among EV drivers I know, primarily among my coworkers. Babbling that comment (and the short bit of why I was starting to feel that way) really deserves a longer bit of thought mongering, even for the ugly can of worms sitting patiently off to the side eagerly waiting to be opened.
I'm starting to come to the belief that a major preoccupation of electric vehicle owners is figuring out how to get other people to pay for the electrons that gets pumped into the batteries of their EVs.
I know an EV driver for whom my emerging opinion is not the case, I need to call that out pretty clearly. He’s going to great lengths to build out his own personal charging infrastructure and is most certainly not on what seems to be a campaign of active avoidance. (I’m talking about tugrik, for those who are curious.) I also need to point out that I don’t have a problem with electric vehicles; I think that they’re pretty cool and very worthwhile. (I’m looking at buying an electric motorcycle for commuting, actually…) I am simply commenting on my own developing perception.
My company offers a number of dedicated parking places for electric vehicles that have, in the month or so that I’ve been here, become more full and more in demand. That’s kind of cool because it shows that, at least amount a technical crowd, there’s a real uptake in the desire to have an electric vehicle. This is good.
My comment and my perception are being formed primarily by EV driving coworkers who spend a fair bit of effort planning out routes and optimizing their stops which is also fine, range is limited and you want to get the best distance from a charge that you can. It’s also a fun mental exercise that technically minded people really seem to latch onto. All of the people I know who drive electric vehicles put effort into routine route planning and optimization. This is also good and something that even petrol powered drivers should do more of. (I’m trying to do more of this myself.) That’s the first part of my developing perception, that a degree of mental energy is spent in optimization.
A subset of my EV driving coworkers, however, have expressed quite explicitly that one of their goals is to avoid paying for electricity for their cars entirely which gets to the second part of my developing perception. This is also where that no so tidy range of gray areas and subjective thinking comes into play; there’s taking advantage of a perk and then there’s abuse. My company provides free charging stations as a perk, completely cool. Municipal chargers offering free juice is cool, too. Those are legitimate perks and I do not begrudge anybody their use. My coworker who only charges his Leaf at the office because that’s how his range and charging levels work out doesn’t bug me, the coworker who offhandedly comments about plugging into a neighbor’s hours at night (jokingly or not) does bother me.
I admit that it’s a small subset of persons (like, two out of ten) I know who drive EVs that have commented about avoiding paying directly out of pocket for the energy they use in their cars by any means possible. It’s only 20% or so, but it leaves a significant impression. It makes me wonder if my 20% experience scales with an increase in sample size.
I'm starting to come to the belief that a major preoccupation of electric vehicle owners is figuring out how to get other people to pay for the electrons that gets pumped into the batteries of their EVs.
I know an EV driver for whom my emerging opinion is not the case, I need to call that out pretty clearly. He’s going to great lengths to build out his own personal charging infrastructure and is most certainly not on what seems to be a campaign of active avoidance. (I’m talking about tugrik, for those who are curious.) I also need to point out that I don’t have a problem with electric vehicles; I think that they’re pretty cool and very worthwhile. (I’m looking at buying an electric motorcycle for commuting, actually…) I am simply commenting on my own developing perception.
My company offers a number of dedicated parking places for electric vehicles that have, in the month or so that I’ve been here, become more full and more in demand. That’s kind of cool because it shows that, at least amount a technical crowd, there’s a real uptake in the desire to have an electric vehicle. This is good.
My comment and my perception are being formed primarily by EV driving coworkers who spend a fair bit of effort planning out routes and optimizing their stops which is also fine, range is limited and you want to get the best distance from a charge that you can. It’s also a fun mental exercise that technically minded people really seem to latch onto. All of the people I know who drive electric vehicles put effort into routine route planning and optimization. This is also good and something that even petrol powered drivers should do more of. (I’m trying to do more of this myself.) That’s the first part of my developing perception, that a degree of mental energy is spent in optimization.
A subset of my EV driving coworkers, however, have expressed quite explicitly that one of their goals is to avoid paying for electricity for their cars entirely which gets to the second part of my developing perception. This is also where that no so tidy range of gray areas and subjective thinking comes into play; there’s taking advantage of a perk and then there’s abuse. My company provides free charging stations as a perk, completely cool. Municipal chargers offering free juice is cool, too. Those are legitimate perks and I do not begrudge anybody their use. My coworker who only charges his Leaf at the office because that’s how his range and charging levels work out doesn’t bug me, the coworker who offhandedly comments about plugging into a neighbor’s hours at night (jokingly or not) does bother me.
I admit that it’s a small subset of persons (like, two out of ten) I know who drive EVs that have commented about avoiding paying directly out of pocket for the energy they use in their cars by any means possible. It’s only 20% or so, but it leaves a significant impression. It makes me wonder if my 20% experience scales with an increase in sample size.