A Memorable Icon
EV Graphics Infrastructure
Electric Vehicle Infrastructure
Project Description
The environmental benefits of plug-in electric vehicles will become widespread only if an infrastructure for charging, wayfinding, and incentives is in place at a scale that can compete with the ubiquitous gas station.
To lead the user from the Interstate to the charging installation itself, a successful EV infrastructure will need a visual cue that is clear, memorable, semantically engaging, and adaptable to both two and three-dimensional wayfinding applications. The prize-winning “Big E” icon, shown here, satisfies all of these criteria. Because of the icon’s recognition in the EVAC competition and the high level of interest it generated in post-competition media exposure, CGD is committed to cultivating and promoting the mark as a unifying symbol for electric infrastructure in all of its community-specific projects. Over time, through increased diffusion of its presence at all levels of vehicular wayfinding, the public will recognize the “Big E” with the same immediacy as the international icons for Gas, Food, and Lodging.
Gas, 1940, oil on canvas, by Edward Hopper
Mobil’s early integration of corporate logo with pump architecture, as immortalized by
Edward Hopper, provides a useful paradigm for an envisioned union of the illuminated E
logo with a retractable charging unit.
Envisioned adoption of “Big E” icon as standard DOT signage for interstate and regional
highways signals the existence of charging facilities along with conventional fuels, food
and lodging, etc.
Multi-Fuel Service Centers team up with “In-Parallel” food, shopping and entertainment
activities to occupy long-distance travelers.
Neon-inspired Perimeter and Sub-surface Illumination combine with the E icon to define a
charging unit concept for a garage or light post. Retractable cable keeps the charging interface
from contact with wet pavements and dirt.