Parking for EVs only... While Charging?

[brianman]

A similar example...

Never in my life have I considered parking (improperly) in a handicap spot. Sure, there might be some kernel of "probably get towed" in my thinking but the bulk of it is just "it's wrong."

Somehow that social/ethical mindset needs to be taught to people w/r/t charging spots.

 

[NigelM]

2. I guess drivers know that the Police will not enforce EV parking (as they do handicapped parking) by issuing tickets.

Dave, I politely point out that in FL since July last year they run the risk of getting ticketed exactly the same as on a disabled spot. That's happened a couple of times but the folks thanked me and parked in another space (OK, one time the guy cussed but he still moved his car to another spot). And yes, I've seen cars ticketed on at least two occasions.

 

[DavidM]

NigelM - Bravo! There's still hope.

 

[vfx]

Somehow that social/ethical mindset needs to be taught to people w/r/t charging spots.

How about a pregnant woman parking spot? Would you snake that slot?

 

[capt601]

Just noticed plugshare updated their app with checkin for a period of time. And you can also have your contact info shown to others so if they pull up they could contact you and say they need the spot for a charge. That would help if people use it to check in. I try to every time and leave reviews so others know what to expect.

Here is what I saw this weekend with volt drivers. Fashion island mall. 2 chargers, 2 volts parked in the spots. One charging. As we were leaving another volt pulled up in between the 2 volts and parked and did not charge at all. So that isme general mentality of people nowadays. Zero consideration for others, and too lazy to walk from a farther spot.

 

[NigelM]

How about a pregnant woman parking spot? Would you snake that slot?

In Germany they have parking spaces for women only (seriously):

(I make no comment whatsoever on the second picture!)

 

[FlasherZ]

How about a pregnant woman parking spot? Would you snake that slot?

Why not? My gut is just as big as a pregnant woman's !

(for those humor-impaired, I am joking. My wife, despite severe sickness during the entire pregnancy, still refused to park in those spots, saying they needed to be for those who had even more difficulty than her, like those carrying twins or triplets or more.)

 

[artsci]

In Germany they have parking spaces for women only (seriously):

View attachment 14681

View attachment 14680

(I make no comment whatsoever on the second picture!)

Typical -- I see BMWs parked that way all of the time. You know, "we're so important we're entitled to two parking spaces." Oh, the arrogance.

 

[AnOutsider]

Of course, I have a sneaking suspicion that most Model S's in those spaces don't really need to be there either. Since all existing cars are 85kWh I find it hard to believe they really need to recharge during the day. Having free prime spots encourages people to park there whether they need to or not.

I don't have any charge stations near me. There's a mall near where the new Tesla Service Station went in that I can make it there and back from, but why take the risk? If I can top up for an hour, I will. Other than that, the other stations I've scoped out as useful are at the range where I wouldn't be able to get home without it.

Why not? My gut is just as big as a pregnant woman's !

:biggrin::biggrin:

 

[doug]

***zappp****

 

[brianman]

How about a pregnant woman parking spot? Would you snake that slot?

If I saw the sign and understood it, nope.

 

[olanmills]

One thing I found strange is that the screen on a blink station does not give an easily visible indication whether or not the charger is actually in use. This allows a Model S driver, for example, who generally don't desperately "need" to charge at a public station, to park at the blink station, and then tell the car to stop charging or even charge for an hour, but remain parked there for several hours, and no one else can really tell.

You're only supposed to park in those spaces while using the charger. You don't just get the privelege of parking there just because you're driving an EV. I would think that it would make sense for the blink screen to visually indicate that the charger is not in use, and if the cable is still plugged into a car, but not charging, it would make sense if there was a easily visible timer that showed how long the car has been parked at the spot after charging has already completed.

 

[Jaff]

At the GHEVA (Golden Horseshoe Electric Vehicle Association) meeting yesterday, I brought up this idea (placing the EV charging spots "at the back of the lot") with a chap who worked for a company who specialized in installing EV charge stations at commercial occupancies...was told that this will never happen as the installation costs (primarily trenching the cable underground) was prohibitively expensive...contractors charge by the foot when trenching...too bad as this might have been the easiest solution.

FWIW, at one of the busiest Southern Ontario malls outside of Toronto (Mapleview in Burlington), they only have one EV Charge spot...it's in a primo location right near a mall entrance and a Starbucks...have never seen any ICE vehicle parked there...

Since we've had our car I've noticed it way too often. Just ignorant people. In a way I wish EV charging companies would put the chargers in the back of a lot. With it in the front, the inconsiderate people don't think anything about parking in the charging spots.
The SD zoo is a Greta example of being ICE'd. 6 chargers and 2 leafs were charging and the rest (both sides are accessible) were ICE'd.
Blink has some notes you can print out and place on people windshield telling them they parked at an EV spot and you are not ale to charge.

One other concern I have is Volt drivers. I see more spots taken and blocked all day by volt drivers than any other car. Personally I think they are not helping the EV revolution by always taking the charging spots. What will happen when multiple EV's start not being able to charge when the volt hybrid is blocking the chargers. Kind of seems great for the oil companies to keep volt drivers parked at charging spots and not allow true EV drivers to charge.

 

[radinator]

Not sure if anyone else has run into this at a Supercharger station, but I almost got ICE'd twice at the Tejon Ranch Supercharger location during the holidays. On the drive down to SoCal, I pulled up and of the four functioning charging spots only one was accessible. This was due to someone with a Toyota pickup with a trailer full of ATVs parked perpendicular to three of the spots. Fortunately he left before another Model S showed up. On the way back to NorCal, once again three of the spots were blocked by a RV. Fortunately there were a few people in the RV, so they could be asked to move it. The main reason they both parked the way they did is the surrounding parking lots were packed, and there really isn't any place to park RVs or pickups with trailers. It doesn't justify them blocking three of the four spots, but the general public does not understand that these Supercharger stations are our only "refueling" stops. I think one thing Tesla could do is paint a large striped "No Parking - EV Charging Station" area in front of the Supercharger station, or something along those lines. So that way people that see the empty spots don't assume they are just parking spots. So many challenges when it comes to charging at public stations when we're still at the start of hopefully an ever growing era of electric vehicles.

 

[arg]

I see a market for a version of the Modular EV Power J1772 to NEMA Adapters

It would take the incoming EVSE power and split it in half. It would do this by terminating the inbound J1772 and then generating a new pilot signal for two fixed J1772 cables and plugs.

Once one car had finished, full power could be routed to the second. Given that present Leafs and Volts max out at 16A and most public EVSEs are 30 or 32A, no one is losing out.

This logic really ought to be in the EVSEs themselves, and networked across adjacent stations. Given that most of the cost of a charging spot is in the power supply and installation, the extra cost of having twice the number of heads but the same available power would be small.

The ultimate must be to plan for carparks where all the spaces have charging available so it doesn't matter if they are ICEd, filled with cars needing only a small amount of charge or whatever. Obviously not justifiable in most places for the forseeable future, but for hotels for example once you get above a few spaces they can't readily be reserved EV-only and managing allocation would get even more complicated if you were forced by power supply constraints to have some high-power and some low-power.

I went looking for costs of constucting parking spaces and found this[URL] which gives 2007 costs as:

Surface: £1600-£2800 per space
Multi-storey: £8800-£16000 per space
Basement: £24,500-£2800

So, at least for multi-storey or basement carparks, you could imagine a basic, mass-produced EVSE per space only adding marginally to the cost of new-build construction (specially if it is of the bring-your-own-cable type).
If the units are networked to limit the total power draw and so the size of wiring and power supply needed it begins to look feasible.

 

[sublimaze1]

View attachment 14680

(I make no comment whatsoever on the second picture!)

My 1999 F350 dually diesel with 275Kmiles on it goes right in that spot next to her. Yes, it may be a bight tight. Very tight. Please don't knock any of the rust off my rear panel when you pull out. Thank you.

 

[ElSupreme]

How about a pregnant woman parking spot? Would you snake that slot?

The ones around here say expectant mothers.

I always say "I could get a sex change, and adopt a child. That is the same as expectant mother right?" Then take the spot.

 

[kvietor]

I went to the Titanic exhibition in St. Petersburg today and was fortunate enough o find an open charging spot (actually all four were open when I arrived). This is what I came back to 2 hours later. Surrounded by ICE. Fitting, don't you think?

I left a card under each wiper explaining the need for them to avoid these spots. Unfortunately, the "gentleman" that collected the parking fees said he was told that those slots were available to anyone once the lot filled up. I was standing between to empty non-EV spots to take this picture.

 

[andrewket]

I went to the Titanic exhibition in St. Petersburg today and was fortunate enough o find an open charging spot (actually all four were open when I arrived). This is what I came back to 2 hours later. Surrounded by ICE. Fitting, don't you think?

I left a card under each wiper explaining the need for them to avoid these spots. Unfortunately, the "gentleman" that collected the parking fees said he was told that those slots were available to anyone once the lot filled up. I was standing between to empty non-EV spots to take this picture.

One of the cars appears to have a handicapped placard. Perhaps some folks with poor eyesight are not paying 100% attention. Since the charging spots are also generally located near the front of the lot...

 

[dj905]

ICE'd today in Toronto

At the TIFF Bell LightBox in Toronto, a "non-EV" Chrysler product was blocking the "Reserved EV Charging Spot" (J1772) for several hours today. Perhaps being too subtle, I left a friendly invitation card for him to check out our local EV club (GHEVA.org) on his windshield ;-)

Fortunately, we were in the Volt, so were able to rely on our own ICE for the next leg of our trip. Later in the day, we were at Mapleview Mall in Burlington, and there a LEAF was using the single charging station (More charging stations are needed!)

We also discovered the J1772 charging station at Tim Horton's on Wyecroft road in Oakville during our travels was completely open, so we were able to get a few more km of EV fun for our trip home.