TIL: Research shows that people who buy electric cars prefer for their cars to look strange, indicating a big factor in picking out an electric car is the desire that everyone notices your car is an electric car.

OP is also lying and made up the title: it doesn't "indicate that people buy EVs to show off that they have EVs", rather they want it to be obvious that the car is not, quoting the article, "a regular steel car", running on petrol. Most likely this is just the usual nature of human behaviour where we often want others to see what we think in matters where we think our own choice is superior (think political opinions). In this article, they imply that the car needs to stand out because seeing more EVs driving around will send a stronger message that most EV owners want to send (i.e. the environment is worth saving). Wouldn't you feel hesitant to buy an EV in your region if you, according to your own eyes, never see an EV ever?

/r/todayilearned Thread Parent Link - businessinsider.com