Today many car owners in NSW would have received two triangular stickers in the mail with the characters “EV” printed on them. As of the 1st of January, last year, it became compulsory for all electric, hydrogen and hybrid cars to have these affixed. But the grace period is almost over with the regulation to be enforced from July 1.
Now I know the internet can get all hysterical about these things, but this is really nothing new. LPG cars have had the identifiers for years and other states already have had their own warning signs.
I received mine, because I own a 2010 Toyota Camry Hybrid. The reason we need this is not because we’re all driving around in atomic bombs, it’s because an EV car has some complexities that our emergency services need to be across.
In fact, Transport for NSW is advising everyone with an electrified car to whack them on anyway, irrespective of what year the car was made. All it does is show our emergency services what they’re dealing with. Take the Tesla Model S for example. It has specific places you can cut into that will shut down any power coming from the battery.
EV batteries certainly burn differently, but I can guarantee they’re far more robust than a fuel tank. So, don’t worry people, it’s simply a safety measure for our hard-working life savers.
