Have you been ICE'd?

[Brammofan]

One of our forum's very own, Kelly Olson, has made a video that has captured the eyes of many, including a reporter for the Christian Science Monitor:

Have you been ICEd? Gas guzzlers park in electric car-charging spots.

If you drive an electric car, it's nice to know that if you're making a trip to the mall or a regular spot that you can charge up your car while you're running errands.

Well, it's nice until you get there to find that some ignorant soul has parked their gas-guzzler in the space, preventing you from charging.

Unfortunately, it's a trend noticed all too frequently by Santa Monica-based reader Kelly Olsen, who shot the video below to demonstrate just how many spaces are being hogged, in a trend he dubs "ICEing"-- in other words, being displaced by vehicles with Internal Combustion Engines.

Here's the video:

[protomech]

There are a great many complaints of this on plugshare - commenting that a spot has become "ICEd" is pretty common.

[Richard230]

My local Fresh and Easy grocery store has two "Hybrid Vehicle Only" parking spots near the entrance to the store. They are always occupied by IC SUV's, even though there are plenty of other open parking spaces in the lot.  I guess their SUV-driving customers have discovered that these reserved parking spaces are not enforced by the store's employees. I have no doubt it would be the same if the spaces were EV charging spots.

I also get this feeling that if I parked my Zero in one of these spots it would get run over in the rush to get the closest parking stall to the store's entry (other than the handicap stalls, which are enforced by the police and come with a $500 fine).  Driving or riding an EV gets you no respect from gas-guzzling IC vehicle owners. They probably think (assuming that they do think) that it is not fair that we are not paying big bucks for gasoline like they do.   

[skuzzle]

I have a friend with a plug-in Prius.  He complains about getting Leaf-ed... He needs the spot for about 1.5 hours.  But the leaf spends 6-7 hours charging, plus many more hours sitting there after the charging is done.

[EmpulseRider]

Cant we all just get along? I think I know of a way to "enforce" these spots... Apply aftermarket pin stripes. 

[protomech]

I have a friend with a plug-in Prius.  He complains about getting Leaf-ed... He needs the spot for about 1.5 hours.  But the leaf spends 6-7 hours charging, plus many more hours sitting there after the charging is done.

In fairness, if the Prius doesn't get a chance to charge it will use a little more gas. If the Leaf doesn't get a chance to charge it will have to call a tow truck which will use a ton of gas + inconvenience the driver. I think that's a pretty easy call..

[860]

Cant we all just get along? I think I know of a way to "enforce" these spots... Apply aftermarket pin stripes.  

How about bumper stickers that say "Proud Supporter of Green Energy" in big letters, then under that "Thank you, Blink EV at www.blinknetwork.com and the City of Santa Monica".

Heck, if they are going to use the parking space, it is only fair that they should give something back for using that space.  Like providing advertising space in exchange for their use of the parking space.

[Kelly Olsen]

This was posted in another thread before I saw Harry had already started one:

A well done article done about a video I made and my pursuit to get Santa Monica to pay attention to a ten-year-old law protecting EV spaces. I think you'll be surprised by the video which is in the body of the story.
http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/whats-that-gas-guzzler-doing-in-ev-parking/

[Brammofan]

Dude... way ahead of you:
http://brammoforum.com/index.php?topic=1503.0

What?  You think we don't watch your every move?

I'm going to combine this with the other thread in a bit.

[FreepZ]

From the article:

“Getting that extra five to ten miles of charge added could mean the difference between getting home with no problem or frantically and uncomfortably looking for a gas station with an outside Coke machine that can be disconnected to use the wall outlet,” Olsen said.

Hmm, unplugging a vending machine... now that's something that I hadn't thought of. That seems a bit shady to me, but I can see how it would be tempting, given the alternative of pushing your EV home. Perhaps it would be a little better to bring a power strip and plug both the vending machine and the EV in at the same time (which could result in tripping the breaker and spoiling the party for everyone!)

[Kelly Olsen]

Thanks Harry. Sorry I didn't catch that you had already posted it. My mistake.

Many in City Hall has seen the video and are getting calls and e-mails about the issue, so we have their attention. A message from the Lt. that heads the Parking Enforcement Department at the P.D. was just left for me. Will let you know the result of the call.

[Kelly Olsen]

Sorry I didn't catch that you had already posted the story in this thread. My mistake.

Many in City Hall has seen the video and are getting calls and e-mails about the issue, so we have their attention. A message from the Lt. that heads the Parking Enforcement Department at the P.D. was just left for me. Will let you know the result of the call.

And Skuzzle: There is sometimes a LEAF at the Ralph's and I looked at the timer and one day and he had been hooked up for 7 hours and was still counting. Clearly somebody that worked in the neighborhood and plugged in and just left the car there since this charger is free. There is another charger there, but it is often ICE'd.

Leaving an EV plugged in all day on a Level 2 charger is just as bad as ICE'ing in my book.

[Kelly Olsen]

Here's the latest. SMPD has determined that the law only allows for citing on City owned property, not private property, which is where all the chargers in question are located.

If this is the case, then we have to amend the law. Looking into this now.

[protomech]

Not sure what the solution is. Reducing capacity to push a policy (HOV lanes, EV charging spots, handicapped / pregnant mom parking spots) is tricky.

Keying cars parked improperly (love the Cayenne double-parked in EV spots in the video) is really just going to generate animosity. Stickering their cars, while funny, could also get someone really worked up. Piss off someone who doesn't think twice of parking in a reserved spot, and you'll eventually get someone who vandalizes the EVSE. Vandalize enough EVSEs and the companies won't replace them.

Tucking a card under a wiper requesting that the spots be reserved for EVs is relatively inoffensive. I would bet that most offenders are either inattentive or suspect the sites are inoperative or not being used by anyone .. and a polite note could dissuade a number of them from future offenses.

Placing chargers in less desirable spots -- or possibly unconventional parking spots -- might work.

Placing chargers between two or four parking spots would reduce the possibility that all accessible spots will fill.

Citing could work - not sure about the private property thing. How does that work for handicapped spots? EVSE with proximity detector could automate the notification process. But see also working people up, above. Obviously this works better with parking that's already metered and has a citing force patrolling the site.

[Richard230]

Properly posted handicap parking spots on private property are covered under the CA Vehicle Code and are subject to a big fine, something like $500.  These tickets are given out by the local cops. I think that all other parking restrictions on private property can be enforced by the property owner by calling it trespassing and having the vehicle towed off the property, resulting in big towing and storage fees.  But enforcement by a commercial business of something like a charging station is unlikely to occur due to the bad press created and the loss of customers.  There are a lot more ICE SUV owners than EV owners and these people are likely to spend a lot more money at the business, especially if that business is a grocery store.