EV owners, including some who owned Teslas, blocked a gas station in a demonstrative protest against ICE-ing, which refers to the practice of using fossil-fuel-powered vehicles to bar electric vehicles from accessing charging stations. The protest happened in Croatia, and received conflicting opinions from the Tesla community.

The EV owners who set up the protest believed that their short demonstration was a good way of informing people about ICE-ing and showing authorities how unfair it could be to people who drive electric cars. Although, they did call it revenge as well. 

For people are who are not liking this way of protest: Because of this event, news is spreading. People are getting to know what ICE-ing is and how bad some gas people are.
Indirectly, it is good way to spread the issue of ICE-ing.

— Parag Jain (@TeslaForLife) December 12, 2019

"Revenge of the Electric Car! This is how it looks when you have no other solution to emphasize the problem of blocking charging stations for EVs than to block gas station with electric vehicles," wrote Igor Kolovrat, one of the protesters. 

Kolovrat shared a video of the protest on Facebook. He explained that the act of "revenge" was merely a performance and lasted only 6 minutes. The EV owners did not intend to harass anyone at the gas station. Kolovrat explained the reasons for the protest was to "point out the fact that electric vehicles are here, and their [a] positive impact on society."

It seems that ICE-ing has become quite a problem for Tesla owners and other people who own EVs around the world. According to Grand Tour Nation, there is very little authorities can do when there is an ICE-ing situation because most countries don't have a law against the practice. 

So, EV owners have had to deal with ICE-ing alone, seemingly without any real help from local authorities. The protest in Croatia reveals that EV owners may have reached their boiling points and have decided to take matters into their own hands. 

While there are many in the Tesla community that agreed with the protest, just as many believed it was the wrong way to handle the ICE-ing problem. Several Tesla owners believe that fighting fire with fire will not stop ICE-ing from happening, but rather fuel it. 

Fighting with Fire Without Getting Burned

ICE-ing can occur for many different reasons, but they all have the same root: ignorance. EVs are just starting to gain traction in the auto industry. There are still millions or even billions of people who don't know anything about the EV revolution. 

Socrates, a philosopher who was sent to death for defying ignorance, left six key pieces of knowledge that could help EV owners in their fight against ICE-ing without having to fight fire with fire. The first three pieces of knowledge from Socrates shows the perspective of those against the ICE-ing protest. 

It was a simbolic 6 minutes

— LVC (Lourenzo) (@lourencovc) December 11, 2019

First, EV owners must recognize that ignorance is inevitable. Pavlovic Today explained that some people are just unfamiliar with a certain concept, like those who commit ICE-ing. However, an ignorant person is not unintelligent, which is why Socrates also advised people to learn continuously. 

Unfortunately, not all people willingly learn on their own. Sometimes new information just doesn't reach people, which seems to be happening in the auto industry with regards to EVs. In which case, Socrates reminded people to educate the ignorant rather than criticize them. 

Agree. So lets turn that around and convince ICE car owners by proper arguments and discussion in a positive way

— LVC (Lourenzo) (@lourencovc) December 11, 2019

The EV protest in Croatia may have been labeled a demonstrative protest, but how many owners of gas-powered vehicles actually learned anything from it? It would be interesting to see if any ICE owners understood what the protest was about and learned why it was deemed necessary by the EV owners. 

The protest against ICE-ing reveals that the auto industry still has plenty of room to grow and car owners, too. In the end, the EV movement wasn't started to divide humanity, but to bring it together so the world could become better. If one small protest against ICE-ing stirs conflict in the EV community, then maybe it did more harm than good. After all, playing with fire can be harmful to the one playing with it as well.

Featured Image Credit: Igor Kolovrat/Facebook