ICEd charging spots

I was visiting a local mall that had two ChargePoint stalls and as it’s a free station I thought I would charge my car while my wife were there. Just in front of me a young man in an ICE Mustang took the only open space left at the station. As I was right behind him I caught him getting out of his car, politely but firmly asked him to move as it’s for electric cars. He questioned me, do you have to charge, insinuating I could park elsewhere. And while I could have made it home I insisted that I did want to charge my car. He huffed a bit but finally moved his car. This spot is right across from the Whole Foods entrance but otherwise not a super desirable spot and it’s a massive parking lot with many spaces so I couldn’t figure why he wanted that spot so badly.

 

Mistake #1

Yes...it is a battery-operated vehicle.

Unfortunately, some people just (and probably never will) get it.
Hopefully that will change as more EVs come into the market.
I can see a similar situation in the near future... where the only remaining gas pump in a commercial re-fueling station is dominated and surrounded with DC fast chargers in operation.

 

I advocate EV chargers located at inconvenient spots. EV users have no problem walking further for a charge.

Alternatively, a very low cost parking meter, say $.25/hour and the other spots free. Perhaps have it return the quarter after a charge finishes.

Bob Wilson

 

Too bad you didn't have this invitation to hand to that ICEr:

 

I left my car at the level 1 chargers at atl airport recently. When I got back, there were 4 spots not being used for charging. They all had EVs in them.
Hmmm. I'm hoping the chargers were just out of order.
When I got there, 1 ICEd spot. I shared my own spot with 2 other badly parked EVs. Only one free spot would have taken a large EV thanks to lousy parking. I left a comment in Plugshare about that.
During the recent big freeze. I went to buy kerosene at a gas station. Only the kero pump in the far corner was not ICEd by people just parked. Looked like a meeting for the local boy-racers. Before my SE, I'd often need to wait for people not fuelling to move from a pump.
Unless there is a penalty for being a dick, people will be dicks. I'd like to see a hefty fine for every improperly used charging spot. Block several, get several fines.

 

Teddy Wayne Hall Sr. is accused of pulling a .22-caliber revolver from his pocket and fatally shooting an unarmed man who had told him he shouldn’t park in a space reserved for the disabled.

Hall fired four shots at Raja McCallister as McCallister stood beside the driver’s-side door of his black Camaro in the parking lot of his fiancé's apartment complex in Southeast Portland, according to police, a prosecutor and cellphone video of the encounter.

Two of the shots struck McCallister, 45, in the back as he turned to run, killing him on the evening of Nov. 23, Portland police Det. Scott Broughton testified in court Thursday.

“This all was precipitated over a parking spot,” Deputy District Aileen Santoyo told a Multnomah County judge during a bail hearing. “Mr. Hall shoots Mr. McCallister out of nowhere. … Just because someone tells you you can’t park somewhere, you can’t shoot them.”

https://chronline.com/stories/oregon-man-shot-in-back-after-telling-man-he-shouldnt-park-in-space-for-disabled-prosecutor,307702

 

Isn't Teddy a lovely man.

 

The other day I was trying to charge at a shopping mall. It was the MLK holiday, so the mall was jammed with people, and while there were 6 EA chargers, two slots were occupied by Tesla that weren't even plugged in (they must have viewed it as preferred parking for EVs or something). A few more were occupied by an assortment of cars charging to high SOC - some were already in the so-called "grace period".

The lot was full enough that finding any open parking spots was hard - I am thinking that malls are terrible places for DCFC in that people who do bother to plug in will just go in and come out whenever they are done shopping. And the inability or unwillingness to enforce anti-ICEing essentially means that the slots will get clogged with non-charging cars.

 

There are two DCFCs in my city. Both in supermarket lots. Both are almost as far from the entrance as the lot goes. A slight compromise to put them near HV power lines. I haven't been to either when it was really busy. No issues with those, so far. I did see a row of 4 EVs not plugged in at Atlanta airport. The carpark was packed tight when I got there. The chargers are free and need no app or card etc, so I don't get that.


If you're not charging, you shouldn't be there.
Methinks a number plate recognition camera and a $500 parking fee would be useful.

There is a Mickey Mouse adaptor available for ICE cars to charge their 12V batteries so they can 'use' charging spots. I don't know if it works on DC, though. AC charger handshake is very simple. The DC one is not.