How to cure 'Rekkevideangst' and the dragons eating the Moon

The Chinese people were among the pioneers in the study of astronomy and celestial movements, becoming over time, along with the Indians and Arabs, jealous custodians of everything that happened in the night sky. However, until the early 1900s, it was not uncommon to witness a rather peculiar event during lunar eclipses.

It was indeed common to see the warships of the Chinese Navy firing cannon shots into the sky, and citizens pouring into the streets from everywhere, shaking pots and lids, trying to make as much noise as possible, pointing them towards our satellite. Why? It was believed that lunar eclipses were nothing more than dragons attempting to eat it, and to deter these hungry celestial beings, as much noise as possible was made to scare them away.

Is it possible that a society and a people who studied the stars for more than 2000 years could believe in such a suggestion? In reality, this situation is not so far-fetched; even in our daily lives, we often find ourselves influenced by irrational situations, even though we know very well that we shouldn't worry about them.

Or rather, how often does the opposite happen? That is, having irrational certainties about situations that, in reality, should be investigated?

In this second case, climate change provides an eloquent answer. 'Neglected' for decades, now that we are beginning to experience the first inexorable signs, the climate has become an issue that, as long as everything seemed apparently normal, really didn't affect anyone. However, in recent times, even with relatively short and clear timeframes, an ecological transition is taking shape to address the abrupt climate change by reducing CO2 emissions, and a key element of this transition is the shift from combustion vehicles to electric ones.

The network of EVs is becoming increasingly widespread. In Europe, we can define the Scandinavian countries as world leaders in the registration of electric cars, with Sweden leading with 32.9% of fully electric cars, surpassed only by Iceland at 33.3%. Norway is also moving steadily towards a green transition, ending last year with 4 out of 5 registrations being electric, and the charging station network has more than 5,600 installations, mostly for fast charging. As if that were not enough, despite being one of the major oil producers, Norway aims to stop registrations of internal combustion engine cars by 2025, ten years before the EU.

So, in this electrically 'idyllic' scenario, how can 'Rekkevideangst' fit in? In short, it is a neologism coined in Norway that expresses the driver's fear of not having enough electric charge to finish their car journey and thus running out of energy.

It's curious to see how this fear originated in a country perfectly at the forefront of the electric transition. Despite approaching EV models with some apprehension due to the harsh temperatures at certain latitudes that could somehow cause the batteries to discharge earlier, Norway has managed to protect itself even in this situation with pre-heating of the batteries to preserve their performance.

Certainly, in Norway, they have their dragons eating the Moon, but so do we: although the electric transition is incentivized and supported by the State through MASE and eco-incentives, there is still some reluctance to acknowledge the efficiency of the electric network, supported by constantly installing charging stations and an increasingly widespread network of information and apps aimed at causing as little concern as possible for those choosing EVs.

Edilfar Rent lets you experience driving electric without having to buy one. Rent the model that suits you best by visiting us at our locations or checking out the fleet on our website.