Mr. Rogers was a fan of Electric Vehicles

In 1981 Fred Rogers was in his 11th season of making television for PBS. Mr. Rogers always had an uncanny ability to break down complex ideas for children, and started this season with a series of episodes on divorce, however he always managed to weave other important topics into his programing. In episode 3, he created one of his most memorable moments, when he invited a young Jeff Erlanger onto his program to explain how his electric wheelchair worked and share his story.

Years later, he would be reunited with Jeff when he was inducted into the TV Hall of Fame, the duo making TV history once again.

For a lot of young people this was a powerful moment, so much so, that we can all be forgiven for forgetting how the episode began. In clips of the original conversation between Jeff and Mr. Rogers, he mentions that he once drove an electric vehicle. That part of the program is a little more difficult to find, but it does feature a tiny, blue electric pickup truck, an informative interview with it’s creator, and a test drive.

The Internet provides, and here it is my friends: Mr. Rogers cruising around in an Electric Vehicle in 1981, looking like a BOSS in his jumpsuit.

The entire episode can be found here and you can find out more about the quest to track down this mystery EV pioneer here.

Yes, in a mere 30 minutes, the guy talks about divorce, gets a jog in, learns about electric vehicles, and topped all that off by showing us how to be kind to people for who they are: recognizing and respecting differences, while showing nothing but love. I’ve always felt that we didn’t deserve this guy, but I think I forgot how ahead of his time he really was.

So from now on when someone tells you:

“Electric Vehicles are too new and have too many problems”

You can tell them:

“Mr. Rogers likes EVs just the way they are”