You probably don’t know this, but World Emoji Day is just around the corner. It’s a day to celebrate the language- and border-transcending icons and there are even awards given out to the best new emojis of the year.
Electrify America is using World Emoji Day to promote a cause that is slightly more serious, however. The Volkswagen Group subsidiary has submitted a formal proposal to the Unicode Consortium, the official governing body for emoji creation, to introduce the first EV charger emoji.
The Unicode Consortium assigns a number value to each individual emoji that allows it to be inputted into computer systems, so if you want an emoji to be added to the existing smartphone keyboard, you must go through them. Electrify America also set up a petition to try and convince these emoji overlords that an EV charger should be added to smartphones, which has fewer than 200 signatures as of this writing.
The EV charging infrastructure company also proposed its own charger emoji design, official titled “Electric Vehicle With Charger”.
In a statement, Electrify America marketing director Rich Steinberg said the company “felt it was time for an emoji that reflects the changing industry and future of transportation.”
“We hope an emoji, a symbol used in everyday digital communication, will help more people get used to the idea of driving an EV and become excited about the possibility of owning one someday,” he added.
If you think Steinberg and Electrify America are onto something, you can show your support and sign the Change.org petition. Electrify America is hoping to have 200 signatories before World Emoji Day on July 17.
