I’ve driven an electric car for about 5 months now and discovered a curious effect: Electric cars are invisible to wildlife. Several times I’ve driven right up on a bird, car, or squirrel standing in the road and they only move when I’m within a split second of hitting them. You would think that just the sight of an approaching vehicle would be enough to send them scurrying but this does not appear to be the case. Critters apparently depend on the noise of vehicles for detection the same way many people do.
Not all people have trouble spotting electric cars. I drive our EV to and from my job on a college campus (NCSU’s Centennial Campus). Every day I pass students walking right near the road, often heads down and staring at their smartphones. Not once have any of these students stepped off into the road in front of me. I think it helps that bicycles are a popular mode of travel here as it may condition pedestrians not to rely on their hearing.
The only time I was concerned was a few weeks ago as I was passing the state school for the blind. A blind gentleman was on the Pullen Park side of Ashe Avenue and seemed confused as I was driving by. He was on the other side of the road from me so there was no immediate danger of him stepping into the road. Even so, I wonder what our blind citizens think of electric vehicles, as silent as they are.