Tinton Falls NJ Supercharger ICEd!!!

[GregKo]

I posted this story in the 40 cent thread. However, I believe it needs it's own thread as this issue can impact our travels profoundly. Please post photos of your encounters and what you might have done or suggestions of what we should do when this happens to you.

This is the third time I have posted about this issue at this particular supercharger location. This is the only charger between Edison and Atlantic City in Nj. It's off the Garden State Parkway and the outlet mall has plenty of stores and clean restrooms. This occurred on December 23, 2016 at 3pm.

I found a spot this time, but last time it was completly ICEd and I had to limp elsewhere.

I called Tesla Supercharger support and they said they would get these folks towed.... but alas, nothing happened to them. In fact the people that came back to their cars smirked at me while I was in my Tesla charging... Like, "see... nothing happened to me."

I want to be clear, I did not post this to say anything against what Tesla is doing with chargers who stay longer then needed. There are areas where this is clearly issue and their solution seems reasonable to me.

The Tinton Falls outlet mall in NJ does NOTHING to stop ICEing in these spots.

There is in fact one individual who I believe works at the Auntie Ann's Pretzel shop in the mall who drivers her red Model S and leaves it charging 8 hours a day!!!! I never said anything because there is usually plenty of empty spots, but Please! You work here. Charge and move your car when it's done!

In this case, the superchargers are in a premium spot. In fact, just as convenient as the handicap parking is. But you won't find these people parking in a handicap spot because the police will fine or tow them. There is currently no penalty to ICE a supercharger in NJ....

The Menlo Park Mall supercharger in Edison NJ are way out in left field, so ICEing is never a problem, However it's very inconveniant to move a car after charging is complete. It's a long walk to the mall from those chargers and you must cross some dangerous roadways to get back to them.

Thoughts?

Greg - NJ

 

[jaguar36]

Well at least the women who leaves her car there for 8 hours will have to move it with the new idle fees. Have you tried calling the security at the mall? Probably won't do anything, but they would be the ones that could actually do anything. Could also try leaving a polite note, just don't be a jerk.

 

[TrevTremaine]

I posted this story in the 40 cent thread. However, I believe it needs it's own thread as this issue can impact our travels profoundly. Please post photos of your encounters and what you might have done or suggestions of what we should do when this happens to you.

This is the third time I have posted about this issue at this particular supercharger location. This is the only charger between Edison and Atlantic City in Nj. It's off the Garden State Parkway and the outlet mall has plenty of stores and clean restrooms. This occurred on December 23, 2016 at 3pm.

I found a spot this time, but last time it was completly ICEd and I had to limp elsewhere.

I called Tesla Supercharger support and they said they would get these folks towed.... but alas, nothing happened to them. In fact the people that came back to their cars smirked at me while I was in my Tesla charging... Like, "see... nothing happened to me."

View attachment 207561

I want to be clear, I did not post this to say anything against what Tesla is doing with chargers who stay longer then needed. There are areas where this is clearly issue and their solution seems reasonable to me.

The Tinton Falls outlet mall in NJ does NOTHING to stop ICEing in these spots.

There is in fact one individual who I believe works at the Auntie Ann's Pretzel shop in the mall who drivers her red Model S and leaves it charging 8 hours a day!!!! I never said anything because there is usually plenty of empty spots, but Please! You work here. Charge and move your car when it's done!

View attachment 207562

In this case, the superchargers are in a premium spot. In fact, just as convenient as the handicap parking is. But you won't find these people parking in a handicap spot because the police will fine or tow them. There is currently no penalty to ICE a supercharger in NJ....

The Menlo Park Mall supercharger in Edison NJ are way out in left field, so ICEing is never a problem, However it's very inconveniant to move a car after charging is complete. It's a long walk to the mall from those chargers and you must cross some dangerous roadways to get back to them.

Thoughts?

Greg - NJ

Sadly, those that park in the SCs are the same ones who wait in a line at a gas station and get upset because the guy at the pump took a minute too long to pay in the shop. If this continues, Tesla might have to consider some kind of electronic gating system in order to prevent ICEs from populating these spots.

 

[kort677]

But you won't find these people parking in a handicap spot because the police will fine or tow them. There is currently no penalty to ICE a supercharger in NJ....



Thoughts?

Greg - NJ

therein lies the big problem, without any sort of laws or regulations governing these charging spots the only possible enforcement is by the property owner who seems to be indifferent. they are more than likely in breach of their agreement with tesla in regards to hosting this location.
If you really want to effect change you need to become an activist, you need to get the local municipality, in this case I believe it is tinton falls, to enact a parking regulation that prohibits the blocking of the charging space. it is a grueling process but since this can be governed by local ordinance it only takes the "blessing" of the governing body there to make it happen.
FWIW: this is also an issue at the Hamilton SpC. tesla has been aware of the problem but I think that there is little that they can do to get the property owners to force any change

 

[kort677]

Well at least the women who leaves her car there for 8 hours will have to move it with the new idle fees. Have you tried calling the security at the mall? Probably won't do anything, but they would be the ones that could actually do anything. Could also try leaving a polite note, just don't be a jerk.

if she doesn't plug in there is no way to charge her the idling fees

 

[Shawn Snider]

Get a small jug of oil, and pour some on the ground under the suspect ICE vehicles, take a picture, im sure they will tow away vehicles polluting the lot.

 

[Merrill]

This will never change until they implement towing zone signs. No charger of any kind has this, you need to do the same type of sign that you see in handicapped parking. Also along with towing they need to post a fine, I would put a paper which I carry in my car on the ICE vehicle windshield. It was posted on this forum years ago and is more informative than threatening, it just says this parking is for electric car charging and to please refrain from taking a stall which would keep someone from making it home.

 

[kort677]

Get a small jug of oil, and pour some on the ground under the suspect ICE vehicles, take a picture, im sure they will tow away vehicles polluting the lot.

I don't think that advocating any sort of prank or vandalism is ever proper.

the only proper way to correct issues like this is to educate, enact regulations and for tesla to enforce their agreements with the property owners who are hosting the SpCs

 

[GregKo]

"the only proper way to correct issues like this is to educate, enact regulations and for tesla to enforce their agreements with the property owners who are hosting the SpCs"

I agree. BTW she keeps her MS plugged in the entire time.

 

[TexasEV]

I think there are two types of Tesla owners, those who bought it because it's an EV and those who bought it for either performance or autopilot reasons. (This first became evident when the P85D was announced). Most early adopters were EV advocates but that's no longer the case. For those of us who bought the car because it's an EV, we think about EV charging etiquette and wouldn't consider occupying a supercharger space for hours. Thise who bought the car for other reasons may not have EV etiquette on their radar, and as I've said before for some of them the Tesla being an EV is more a bug than a feature.

 

[GregKo]

TexasEV,

I think that many Tesla buyers are simply unaware of how everything (EVs) work. Most Tesla owners do not read these forums. I have seen several folks run out of power on the highway and need to be flat bedded to a supercharger station.

The Tesla is different enough (Despite Tesla going to great lengths to make it as simple as an ICE to operate) that many folks just make mistakes. I don't think that we are either EV lovers or speed freaks. We might be both! When I received my P85, there was no mention of superchargers or autopilot. I bought it because it could go over 250 miles on a charge. I kept my Mercedes until early this year when I traded in for the X.

In this thread I want to highlight the ICE problem at superchargers. How do we keep people without Tesla's from parking in these spots.

 

[jdw]

The real irony is that a Tesla that stayed 5 minutes past charging completion would be charged 40 cents a minute, while the ICE cars can park for free all day and all night.

 

[Routybouty]

I just want to know if Auntie Ann's Pretzel shop is still hiring?

 

[N5329K]

How do we keep people without Tesla's from parking in these spots.
By Tesla (or the property owner, as a function of their agreement with Tesla), paying a towing bounty for non-EV's illegally parked in a charging bay. The towing company gets the bounty and also collects fees from the ICE car owner (if he wants his car back).
This problem can be solved fairly quickly and once solved will probably stay solved.
Robin

 

[dgpcolorado]

As posted in another thread, this was my find in Moab UT last month:

Sunday November 13 at 11 AM:

The four Superchargers are located in a small hotel parking lot in downtown Moab. Others have reported them being ICEd in the evenings when the parking lot fills up (although there is a lot of diagonal street parking that can be used instead).

A hotel employee was interested in Tesla — usual questions — and mentioned that the black Escalade belonged to another hotel employee. He then went to ask him to move it. I was only there for about fifteen minutes (enough to get me to Dead Horse Point State Park and back if it turned out that I couldn't charge at my campsite for some reason). During that time the other Model S finished charging and left. The red Eclipse owners were hotel guests and packed up and left. The employee came and moved his Escalade. By the time I left, all of the Superchargers were open again.

I've charged at dozens and dozens of Supercharger Stations over the last ten months — 34 different stations, most with two or more visits — but this was the only one that I can recall being ICEd.

 

[GregKo]

An observation (not a cure) to this ICE issue:

At this Tinton Falls location, the charging stations are well marked. Most folks will not ICE them. However, if one does, the rest follow. Case in point: On Black Friday the mall was mobbed. The line out the mall was nearly a half a mile long. Not sure how my wife convinced me to go with her at midnight, but.... 17 years of marriage... Anyway, we were low on juice coming back from a friend's home for Thanksgiving so decided to see if the superchargers were filled. They were completely empty! No crazy Tesla owners shopping at this hour and no-one ICED the lot. We parked and charged. I stayed in the car for about 20 min and noticed at least a dozen folks drive by to park then realized it was for EVs only. Everyone of them backed out and kept searching.

If one person ICEd, then the rest of the spots would fill up in just a few seconds. I suspect the Mercedes in my photo above started this issue on the 23rd. Can't say for sure, but she was the one who looked at me as if to say... "and what are you going to do about it?" She even stayed parked in that spot for 5 min after she got in her car....

Fortunately, no other Teslas were looking to charge during this period. One by one the ICE vehicles left over a 30 min period until I was the only car there.

I want to also mention that as the ICE vehicles left, other ICE cars stopped by to look for parking but did not ICE the remaining spots. I think the majority of folks will do the right thing. Just a few bad apples out there.

 

[dgpcolorado]

In Glenwood Springs CO the Superchargers are in a hotel parking lot and they have been ICEd at times during high season (and it is an important charge stop for Tesla drivers on I-70). Last couple of times I've been through there they had several traffic cones in some of the slots. I didn't need to move them but that at least makes it likely that several Superchargers are available when things get crowded. I can't really see ICE car drivers moving the cones, although I suppose it could happen. I'd like to see more of the traffic cones used at places that get ICEd.

^ Supercharging in Glenwood Springs CO, April 2016 (definitely NOT high season).

 

[GregKo]

I love Glenwood Springs CO. Thanks for sharing. I thought about the logistics of putting cones up. I bet that would do the trick. However, its not my property...

 

[mhan00]

Well at least the women who leaves her car there for 8 hours will have to move it with the new idle fees. Have you tried calling the security at the mall? Probably won't do anything, but they would be the ones that could actually do anything. Could also try leaving a polite note, just don't be a jerk.

Actually, no she won't because the SC will read as available, since the ICE vehicles won't register since they can't plug in. Which is one reason why congestion shouldn't factor into idle fees and they should be universal.

 

[Joe F]

As a soon to be Tesla owner, I would never think of blocking a charging spot with my ICE. I guess I have that frustration to look forward to soon.

Has anyone ever started a White House petition to make it an illegal, towable and fined offense? With a growing EV movement, getting 100K signatures should be an easy enough thing to accomplish. One tweet from Tesla, or better yet, Elon, could see such a petition hit 100K signatures in minutes.