Posted on 01/02/2019 3:09:13 PM PST by Responsibility2nd
Forget "rolling coal." A new trend called "ICE-ing," in which pickup truck owners purposefully block electric vehicle charging stations, appears to be gaining ground around the country.
The practice, whose name is derived from "internal combustion engine," was observed over the holidays at a Sheetz gas station in Hickory, N.C.
Reddit user Leicina shared a photo on Dec. 23, 2018, of three large pickups blocking access to Tesla Inc. charging stations. The drivers apparently chanted "----Tesla."
"I've never had a supercharging experience like this one," wrote Leicina, who owns a Tesla Model 3. "These trucks blocked all the chargers, chanted 'F' Tesla, and were kicked out by a Sheetz employee."
She added, "Who do you report activity like this to? It was really uncomfortable."
It joins the similar practice of "rolling coal," in which people modify diesel engines to spew black clouds of soot. It's used as a way of protesting environmental regulations.
The political affiliations of the pickup truck drivers are unknown. But Hickory is located in Caldwell County, where 74.1 percent of residents backed President Trump in the 2016 election.
The trend has garnered the ire of environmentalists. Dan Becker, executive director of the Safe Climate Campaign, called it "mean and stupid."
"I'm sure that pickup truck drivers wouldn't want someone to slash their tires just because they're driving a pickup truck that guzzles a lot of gas and pollutes their children," Becker said in an interview. "And I think it's almost a form of vandalism because it's preventing someone from being able to drive their vehicle."
He added, "Does it insult their manhood that they pollute more and therefore they want to attack vehicles that pollute less? I don't understand their motivation."
ICE-ing has recently been observed in other parts of the country, as well.
In Bristol, Tenn., Reddit user freckletan shared a photo on Dec. 23, 2018, of a white pickup blocking Tesla chargers, saying, "Driving through Tennessee and see these 'cool guys' icing a supercharger."
The user added, "These guys parked in a Tesla charging spot with their gas (or diesel) truck, unhooked the charge cable, and laid it into their truck bed for 'comedic' effect. ... It would be the equivalent of a Tesla parking at a fuel pump at a gas station and walking away."
The trend has also been documented in Texas, South Carolina and Delaware.
The practice appears to primarily target Tesla rather than other automakers. Tesla's Model 3 has become a top-selling EV despite a year of self-inflicted drama by CEO Elon Musk (Energywire, Dec. 21, 2018).
Nine states and several cities have enacted laws prohibiting gasoline- and diesel-powered vehicles from parking in front of EV charging stations, including Arizona, California, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Oregon, Rhode Island and Washington.
Rolling coal remains illegal throughout the country. Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) last year introduced the "Recognizing the Protection of Motorsports Act," S. 203, in an effort to decriminalize the practice. A co-sponsor was Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), one of Congress' most vocal climate skeptics.
Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) introduced a companion bill in the House. But the measure ultimately failed to gain traction.
Yep....and from i read earlier if you have a suitable attachment point on the tesla you can pull one of those trucks in park brakes locked no problem
We deserve some entertainment value (at least) for the 2 grand subsidy we paid these people for buying Tesla...
No, it’s not nice.
"...Not a good idea to piss-off truck drivers down there..."
There it is!
It's Trump's fault.
Geez.
Not sure I’m buying all this. Were the parking lots full and the drivers wanted a space, and thus the obscenities and pretend refueling?
OTOH, jobs seem to depend on “enforcing” laws to “prevent” this....
Nine states and several cities have enacted laws prohibiting gasoline- and diesel-powered vehicles from parking in front of EV charging stations, including Arizona, California, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Oregon, Rhode Island and Washington.
I’m not going to trust Big Media without question on this just because their attractive headline isn’t specifically about politics.
heheh truly evil. have to look into it.
I’m guessing the station talks to the car and checks it’s kosher... remember, Tesla is in charge of the vehicle. For ever.
I agree with you. I’m reserving judgement on whether this is actually a problem or something manufactured to make gas vehicle owners look like jerks for the sake of “raising awareness”. Bonus: it’s taking a shot at rednecks. IF it’s a problem, grow a pair and handle it.
Out where I live, I drive past electrical charging stations going to and from work. There are 30 of them and nobody is ever charging their car there, EVER. Same with a public library in my area. They put up a 20-stall charging area back when Hussein was president and the libs were all stoned on renewable-energy puppy-love. Nobody EVER uses it. Maybe it’s the same thing here, people are parking in front of them because nobody is using them. Also, maybe pictures of this happening are being cherry-picked for trucks to get a reaction among people who take this kind of stuff real seriously. To me, this whole thing smells like a manufactured scandal, like when islamics were manufacturing fake hate-crimes post-9/11 but they were so stupid that they kept getting caught.
It still beats shooting all commies and democrats. Currently.
I think it may be more of a cultural push-back than anything else. Tesla owners might represent cultural or political views truck owners reject.
CC
Dan Becker, executive director of the Safe Climate Campaign, called it “mean and stupid.”
I doubt I agree with this guy on anything else, but here he’s right.
According to Dan Becker, “Truck drivers wouldn’t want someone to slash their tires.”
Dan Becker is dumb. Slashing tired is violent. Blocking a pump is childish. And it is violent to pretend that Tesla’s are good for the environment when the Tesla batteries are toxic.
She added, "Who do you report activity like this to? It was really uncomfortable."
I can understand why a woman would be hesitant to go confront an angry mob. Maybe you should go talk to store management. If they won't do anything, call the cops. And be a little low-key so that you don't scare them off before cops get there. It kills me that an average person would need to be told these things.
They aren’t stopping liberals from doing anything. They’re blocking Tesla owners. A lot of those are techie types who happen to be quite conservative.
The same can be said of owners of giant diesel power trucks. There’s more than a few Democrat voters that dry them. And the majority of them are not tough guys.
Subsidized? You mean like Dodge? You mean like General Motors? Both got massive bailouts. And we can talk about Ford getting a lot of corporate welfare to move factories to Mexico.
The Big Three have their mouth firmly clamped on the government nipple just as much as Tesla did
I was going to do that with my pickup at one of those stations in media, pa. I was going to get a plug and cord and run it under my hood.
Sorry for the posted picture being that big, that was not intentional. It wasn’t that big at the source link.
As a general rule of thumb about how long it takes to charge on a Supercharger, think of it like this:
- 20–30 minutes to go from 20% battery remaining to 80% full.
- 60 minutes to go from 20% battery remaining to 95%.
- 90 minutes to go from 20% battery remaining to 100%.
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