Christmas is just around the corner and many take advantage of these days of Black Friday Week on Amazon to get some gifts. But what to buy that friend petrolhead who likes cars so much and already has everything? Well, if in addition to loving gasoline or diesel engines, you are one of those people who likes to “play practical jokes”, we have the ideal solution.
Se called ‘PrankPort’ and it is a fake charging port for electric cars, 3D printed and magnetic. This idea is available with a more traditional or “Tesla-style” design and, by putting it directly on the sheet metal of your car, you will be able to take advantage of the parking spaces reserved for electric cars… which will not be able to park or charge thanks to you.
A ‘joke’ in bad taste that costs less than 20 euros
Although in recent years the electric car has increasingly penetrated markets around the world, today some of the main drawbacks that potential buyers continue to see with this technology, in addition to the average price, are its autonomy and shortcomings. of charging infrastructure.
With many points not working as they should or busy when needed, it is not always easy to recharge the battery away from home without a hitch. The bad thing is not that you have to wait, but that when you find a charger, the vehicle that occupies the space reserved for recharging an electric vehicle is a model with a combustion engine.
In some cases this may be due to the driver’s mistake or occasional oversight, but in others the problem is that there are people with very little empathy. It is enough to do a simple search on e-commerce sites such as Amazon or AliExpress to realize that the fake port ‘PrankPort’ is not a pioneering or unique device, precisely.
You can now find fake sockets, plugs, chargers… There are even people who work a little harder and make an adapter to park their gasoline car in a space reserved for electric vehicles and make it look like it is recharging. Then there are people who take it to another level and “charge” a 20-year-old Ferrari with a V8 engine directly to the car’s wheel.
In the case of the ‘PrankPort’, the Amazon ad describes it as a fake charging port “perfect for parking at electric charging points and getting hilarious reactions”, noting that it is designed “to look authentic” and that it will surely “create moments worthy of viral videos.”
However, with so many 100% battery electric vehicles already on the road, this “joke” doesn’t seem to have much of a future. There will be those who do not know for sure which models are plug-in or not… but others are easily recognizable even by those least interested in cars.
According to its creators, this is “the ultimate gag gift for car enthusiasts and pranksters alike.” Has a usual price of 23 dollars (about 21.90 euros)although two days ago it rose practically 10 dollars to reach 31.98 or 30.46 euros.
At the moment, we do not know if PrankPort’s marketing strategy will work, since the truth is that it does not have scandalous sales. Their bet is to dress this device as a “joke item” that allows you to “humorously charge your gasoline or diesel vehicle”; What better way to say than to say that with this fantastic plastic gadget with neodymium magnets you can try to ruin the day of an electric car driver.
And incidentally “make a funny viral video” with his reaction to seeing an old pick-up with a fat engine at the charging point that he needs to use to continue the trip. Put yourself in the situation: What would happen if you were driving an electric vehicle, you had your route planned, you needed to stop to recharge, and you found a gasoline engine “plugged in” to the charger?
Definitely not everyone will be able to take this gadget as a joke, especially if there is no other charger available nearby. The bad habit of parking a vehicle with a combustion engine in spaces intended exclusively for charging electric vehicles in the USwhether for joking or for parking closer to the destination, now has a name: “ICE-ing”.
Not only is it an uncivil practice, but it can sometimes lead to fines or even the removal of the vehicle for the prankster driver, since it can be interpreted as a violation of specific parking regulations. In Spain, for example, “grace” can cost you 200 euros.
Source: www.motorpasion.com
