Electric Cars Shifting from Rainbow-Farting Unicorns to “Normal” in Australia
When does the future become the present? When does the extra ordinary become “normal”? I live in an EV bubble. I read about electric vehicles, I write about electric vehicles, I talk ad nausea to anyone who will listen about electric vehicles. But lately I have started to wonder about when the time will come when I won’t need to. What will I write about then?
EVs will be everywhere. They will be “normal.” The bubble will burst and the two worlds of fossil fuel vehicles and electric vehicles will collide and coalesce. On a recent trip into Brisbane from the outer suburbs, I noticed the green shoots of an EV and renewable energy spring. A Tesla Model 3 sat nestled in a used car sales yard – looking like it belonged, a shopping center had replaced their shade sail with solar panels. My neighbors are telling me that they have stopped counting the Model 3 cars on the road — “Teslas are everywhere!” This will be even more the case as the Model Y begins its deliveries next month.
Even when watching the TV in the evening, EVs are creeping into normal advertising — the RACQ is advertising car insurance and features a man unplugging the EV charger for a lady as the car is handed back after repairs; Ampol proudly shows EV chargers on the forecourt, along with the petrol bowsers.
The news sometimes does features on electric vehicles, and now the narrative has changed. They are no longer the demons they once were — bursting into flames in the garage, running out of charge on the highway, and crashing the domestic grid when you plug them in.
Three years ago, when I first took ownership of my beloved Tess, I described her as a rainbow-farting unicorn. No toxic emissions, and of course, she was a mythical beast. People would say constantly, “Oh, yes, EVs are the future.” I would take pains to point out that the car was here already. And now we have Kias and Hyundais and the highly anticipated BYD Atto 3.
The future has become the present. It won’t be long before it becomes the past. My Tess will be normal and ordinary.
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