Preston: EV debates overlook psychological identity tied to diesel engines
Christopher Preston · Will truck lovers go electric? · Mar 2, 2022 · at 9:21
Christopher Preston, environmental philosopher and author of The Synthetic Age, reflects on why traditional vehicle psychology and sensory cues hinder electric truck adoption in rural areas.
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“And that kind of muscle memory and auditory cue becomes part of your identity in, in a really significant way. And I think that is at play also with the big diesel trucks in many rural states is that engine kind of clanking away in the background, kind of chugging along. It's reassuring. It's, it sort of shows that, that you have what you need to do your job. And I think that gets inside of people and becomes part of you. And I think that piece is, is not spoken about very often. In this discussion, it's all about performance and statistics and cost, and I think a little bit of time needs to be spent acknowledging that more psychological element of it and thinking about ways that that could be addressed.”
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