As a new presidential administration gets settled in, it's time to brush up on your knowledge of dashboard symbols. Why? Because President Biden has made it clear in his campaign that he wants to adopt green energy technology in the government's bid to combat climate change. Chances are you soon won't be able to check your oil pressure in an electric car. So grab your pens, get some flash cards, and see if you can obtain a better score than I did on the Leasing Options Symbol Quiz.
Test Your Knowledge Of EV And Hybrid Dash Symbols
I'll admit that I am not a great test taker. Scoring higher than a 75 on anything growing up was worthy of celebration. For the sake of situational comedy, this leaves me vulnerably honest to present to you that even I, mediocre student with an enthusiasm for automobiles, could not obtain a perfect score—rightfully so—in identifying symbols of the future. At least it was a passing grade that carried no more stake beyond my pride.
It also meant learning some new symbols I had never heard of since my EV experience is limited. Here are some notable ones to know when you find yourself in the market for an electric vehicle. Or, if you just want to cheat on the quiz.
Significant Symbols For Electric And Hybrid Vehicles
For EVs, the symbols indicated above are the ones that jumped out as the most misleading. Ready To Drive is signified by a green car (economical pun?) with arrows pointing in opposite directions, telling you that the car is on and ready to move. Electric cars famously don't make much noise compared to gasoline-powered cars, with most cars being powered on like a smartphone—or turning on the car with a smartphone.
The symbols on opposing sides are the ones I got incorrect. Apparently, the car with an exclamation point indicates a General Electrical Fault while the outline of a wrench only outlines a General Fault. The Pedestrian Alert is indicated by a horn in front of the car even though no pedestrians are present like in hybrid cars.
Pedestrian Warning is similar to Pedestrian Alert for electric cars except now, a pedestrian is very much the focal object. More interesting is that AGC stands for Auto-Glide Control. Turning it on enables the vehicle to coast without braking interference, supposedly improving fuel economy. Lastly, the letter 'E' crossed out indicates that Electric Mode is unavailable in occasions of aggressive driving, such as mashing the throttle on a highway ramp to build up speed.
Let us know how you did on the quiz and whether or not you used the open-book method.