DRIVERS have been urged not to ignore certain dashboard warnings in an EV – with five alerts revealed to cause a lot of confusion.
Experts at The Electric Car Scheme have revealed the most commonly misidentified dashboard alerts in an EV – including a little-known TORTOISE-shaped symbol.
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According to the EV experts, one of the biggest issues car-owners struggle with when switching from fuel-powered motors to electric is navigating its new features, including new dashboard icons.
Data from the specialists implies that a large portion of Brits struggle with these alerts – with a concerning figure of 83% of UK drivers not knowing what the ‘low battery’ EV warning light looks like.
The firm’s survey, which was conducted on 1,084 UK drivers aged over 17, included owners of petrol, diesel, and hybrid motors, as well as EVs.
Low battery
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In an EV, the ‘low battery’ icon is perhaps one of the most important alerts and shouldn’t be taken lightly.
When the motor’s battery is low, the icon will light up in amber – with the icon first lighting up when the car has around 10% of battery remaining.
Once it starts flashing, it has 5% or less charge and will run out of power very soon.
According to The Electric Car Scheme’s survey, 83% of drivers misidentified this warning.
The charger is still plugged in
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According to the study, 80% of drivers failed to correctly identify this symbol – with many believing it was low battery icon.
In fact, it’s simply just a sign that signals the charging cable has been left plugged in.
Thankfully, an EV won’t actually let someone drive away while still connected, with this light there to explain why the car won’t start.
Limited power
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A staggering 79% of drivers were unable to identify this peculiar-looking tortoise icon, which signals an issue is harming the EV’s performance and will likely be coupled with a reduction in speed.
This could be down to a number of issues – including an electrical fault, low battery or a rise in temperature, and it’s generally recommended that drivers take their EV to an approved dealer as soon as possible so they can identify and fix the issue.
Serious electrical fault
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The serious electrical fault icon will either show up as the above symbol or as an image of a car with an exclamation mark through it.
If this light does come on in red, drivers should stop their cars wherever it’s safe to do so and find help, as driving with this light on could cause serious damage to the power output of the car, which affects performance and range.
Unfortuately, 76% of drivers couldn’t identify this symbol incorrectly.
Ready to drive
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Green for good.
This symbol simply means there’s nothing to worry about, and basically just means the car is ready to go.
However, 75% of drivers weren’t quite sure what this symbol meant.
This comes as Brits were quizzed on a misunderstood road sign – with one driver claiming 99% of road-users wouldn’t know it.
And if that too easy for you, have a go at The Sun’s extra-tricky road sign quiz below.
