Electric Vehicle 'ICEing' Spreads to Germany

You’re likely familiar with the concept of “ICEing,” even if the term itself leaves you scratching that little dry spot on the top of your head. It’s when a vehicle with an internal combustion engine (ICE) is intentionally parked at an EV charging space it cannot use in order to make a statement.

Presumably, that statement is little more than “I don’t like electric cars,” though there may be a more complicated dogma afoot — perhaps involving the role EVs play within society and the issue of the environment. We don’t really know, since there’s not a designated ICEing spokesperson to ask.

However, there’s no real need of an official mouthpiece to tell us that the movement has maintained its momentum.

Teslarati covered an event from September where dozens of members of Cars & Coffee Yorktown (New York) parked muscle cars and trucks in spaces clearly designated for EVs. It suggested the sabotage was getting more malicious, though the group organizing the event later said cars simply needed a place to park at the location and held no EV-related prejudices.

Roughly a month later, Teslarati reported on another incident — this time in Germany.

A photo Polizei Berlin posted to Twitter on November 9th shows a blue Ford Raptor being craned onto a flatbed for illegally occupying multiple charging stations.

“Our also cares about heavyweights: Had the big blue actually tapped the charging station, the electricity would probably have been lost in the surrounding households,” explains the translated tweet.

Considering the rather trivial (albeit selfish) nature of the crime, and the possibility that this Raptor owner may have just wanted a spot closer to the building, Berlin’s police force seems to be making an example on the off chance it might inspire others. That bit about creating blackouts if “big blue actually tapped the charging station” goes for any car and seems wholly unnecessary. It creates a sense that parking the truck illegally creates a larger danger to the community, which we assume was the intent.

Realistically, Polizei Berlin probably would have been better served by just ticking this guy or towing him in silence so they could keep making money off similar events. But clearly this is a warning to other drivers not to park in spaces the city has given over to EVs. Maybe German authorities are worried that anti-EV sentiments are on the rise and doesn’t want to risk a situation where dissenters obnoxiously clog up charging stations; regardless, we doubt it’ll do much to curtail ICEing. It’s bound to continue happening, even by accident, and one imagines there are loads of gas- and diesel-burning vehicles with owners who would still get a kick out of intentionally giving electric cars the middle finger.

I think the German equivalent involves tucking the thumb into the got-your-nose position.

Unser kümmert sich auch um Schwergewichte:

— Polizei Berlin (@polizeiberlin) November 9, 2019

[Images: Polizei Berlin]