My daughter and I had the idea that we would make the 55 mile trip down PCH to Santa Monica on friday night in the leaf to have dinner, charge at Santa Monica Place parking lot and return home. What a fiasco. The chargePoint site showed 3/4 available before we left. We get down there, two spots are occupied by SUV's (non electric) . No enforcement in site.. One spot has a Volt parked in it, with the charge connect plugged-in, but not charging (I guess he wanted to use the spot.) and the other occupied. We had dinner, came back and finally the lady who was parking in the SUV spot illegally comes to leave - had to wait 2 additional hours to recharge. Finally left around 11 PM. Maybe friday not the best time to bank on this...Is it cool to unplug cars that are not charging ? I worry about people getting irrational.
trials and tribulations and the Santa Monica Place
- Thread starter k2msmith
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malloryk
Well-known member
Sorry that happened to you! Well it's not ok for our spots to get ICE'd like that, especially when people really need to charge. I would've called SMP Security on them: 310-260-8399.
TRONZ
Well-known member
The weekend evening crowd at SMP is a real anything goes group. When it's not busy the chargers are pretty open but as soon as the lot fills up, rules and manners go straight out the window. An evening spent at SMP is best begun very early.
hill
Well-known member
Gee ... I duno ... seems this topic is kind of jejavu:k2msmith said:
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=3165" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Only difference is basically a half year passed by. Since then, from the original thread I discovered we Leaf 'rs are expected to be bigger then the folks who ICE charge spots. Don't make waves ... other wise, people won't like EV'rs. And as to the topic of unplugging a perfectly good plug that a Volt is hogging but not using? Seems if I remember from the other thread ... the consensus was that such an act was a big no no . . . . . no matter how stranded they leave an EV - and it doesn't matter that the PHEV's can get down the road just fine using gas. Sorry, from the prior thread, it seems folks would rather not be preceived as being pushy.
:?
hill said:
I agree in general, but there is a pretty big sign above the charge station area in the Santa Monica Place lot that reads "ELECTRIC VEHICLES ONLY". I certainly wouldn't want to get into a conflict with the driver directly, but I don't think it is too out of place to call the enforcement number to have them issue a citation or possibly tow the car.
Re: the Volt ..- it was not charging at all - and didn't look like it had been. I didn't know the driver or how they may react if I pulled it (with my car next door), so I elected to leave it alone.
GaslessInSeattle
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Well, different neck of the woods but similar experience. Yesterday I actually was counting on a top off charge at the only public charger in Edmonds WA only to find it ICE'd. I had just gotten my chargepoint card in the mail, had paid the $25 deposit and was excited to be out in the wild using one of their stations. When I found the ICE parked there, I called chargepoint and they were unwilling to do anything about it. They kept telling me to talk to the parking attendant about it and I kept telling them that the station is at city hall and it being a Saturday there was no one there to complain to. Today I used a chargepoint station in Issaquah WA and after driving off I got a text telling me that I had not plugged the EVSE back in to it's holster (which was bogus) and that my account was suspended and that I needed to call the 800 number. The combo of two days in a row of bad experience had me a bit short with the help line folks.
In terms of ICE cars in EV spots, I do think the company that I am paying money to for access to the network should be able to do something about it rather than leaving it all up to me.
Ahh, the curse and blessing of being an early adapter!
In terms of ICE cars in EV spots, I do think the company that I am paying money to for access to the network should be able to do something about it rather than leaving it all up to me.
Ahh, the curse and blessing of being an early adapter!
JimSouCal
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Actually, the signage at this location is rather poor. There is one charger that has no sign at all, only the chargepoint EVSE, and the signs are staggered over the spaces.k2msmith said:
As we have noticed, some drivers are not very observant, and these are the folks who tend to see the spot, and take it. The ground should be painted green, labeled ELECTRIC VEHICLE PARKING ONLY, and there should be a placard for each spot.
Also, if you have a LEAF, and don't plan to charge, you should not park there, and that, I see very often. Santa Monica has a very dense LEAF market penetration, comparatively.
I often stop there to charge and grab a snack, and can tell you, almost every time at least one space is ICEd. Especially the first one on the left as you look at the spaces.
Lastly, I went to Helms and ate at Father's Office, and one of the two EVSE spaces had a Tesla Coupe, that of course, cant' charge there either. So what is the difference between that and an ICEd spot? Rant over...
PaulScott
Well-known member
I just called to verify the number given earlier in this thread and found that the better number to call before 6 pm is 310-458-8466 ext 4 to have the offending vehicle ticketed. If after 6:00, call police dispatch at 310-458-8491. They will ticket, but not tow, since it's not posted as a tow away zone. We need to talk to parking enforcement about getting that designation signed.
Caracalover
Well-known member
Just have to ask, would you make that long a drive to have dinner in an ICE? I know that driving the LEaf is fantastic, but using it to go further and add to traffic is not what will make everyones life better in the long run. Many fear the added driving electric vehicles promote (Yes, the joy ride is back!) will add to congestion and detract from public transport, is that the case here?k2msmith said:
Maybe it is just me, but this seems like a long way to go to get a bite to eat. Was it simply because you could get a charge that this destination was chosen? The parking spaces and the chargers should be used by those that need them, and if this is a normal outing for you, I apologize for bringing this up. If it is though, perhaps a Volt would have been a better choice for you. Using a light foot and driving side streets might have also gotten you there and back without needing a charge at all.
There are also chargers at other locations in SM, so you could have gone to another location to plug in. The civic center is free to charge although you do have to pay to use the garage. They have about a dozen spaces, and although they use a few for city vehicles, I doubt you will have an issue with being ICE'd, since the police garage is housed in the same area.
I don't know how rational it is to expect a parking spot to be resereved for you without paying a premium. Chargepoint may offer this at some point, but until then, don't expect, just accept.
I also would rather see the spaces used by any electric car, then sit empty. Empty spaces scream waste of space, and so I have no issues with a Volt, Tesla, or other vehicle using these spaces, just to show everyone that there is a demand, and more spaces are desirable.
EricH
Well-known member
I've felt for quite some time that there are 2 basic types of public infrastructure that make sense: pay-for-QC facilities on key transportation corridors (Thousand Oaks between LA-SF, Oceanside between LA-SD, etc.); and free-L2 facilities which are placed specifically by a sponsor (business or municipality) to attract customers who would otherwise go elsewhere. So, yes, I would say that driving from Whittier to Costa Mesa to shop at South Coast Plaza is "...a long way to go...", but drawing EV owners from outlying areas is why they installed the L2's in the first place (owners in Newport Beach, 10 miles away, hardly need a charge).Caracalover said:
So, kudos to k2msmith for trying the longer trip (maybe adding to traffic on a Friday night before dinner, but certainly not on the way home), and shame on the ICE driver for wasting the EVSE, and shame on the parking management for not promptly towing the offending car. The entire point of installing EVSE's is to make them available for EV's, but the costs, alas, are generally lower if they put them right next to the elevators (the prime parking spots are nearest other electric devices).
I love joy riding...Isn't that partly why we have our cars ? Am I contributing to traffic ? PCH was empty all the way up and down and where I live is pretty devoid of traffic most of the time (except when farming equipment use the roads). I'm fortunate. Now if I can only get that reserved parking spot. 
tps
Well-known member
Never heard of the "$100 hamburger?" I used to know every small airport within 100 nautical miles with a restaurant on-airport or nearby. In my younger days, I and my flying buddies would visit these on a regular basis...Caracalover said:
What made you think the Volt wasn't charging? My guess is that 99.9% of EV drivers would not care if you unplugged their car once they were finished charging, especially if you left a note explaining why. However, depending on how the person locked their Volt, the alarm could go off.k2msmith said:
TomT
Well-known member
Yep, me too! Catalina for a Buffalo Burger and Big Bear for Chinese Food at the airports... These days, though, it is more like the $300 burger... :lol:
tps said:
SanDust said:
The charger has a little LCD display that tells you whether is is charging or not - and in this case the Volt wasn't charging (I looked) - but I was thinking after, maybe it WAS charging but stopped because it was full. then, I think the display reads something else "like Charge Complete" or something. (Does anyone know ?). You're right though - I certainly would not care at all if someone unplugged my car and left a little note. That would be absolutely fine with me, but I decided not to touch his car. At any rate, it was a fun experiment and we had fun on 3rd street after dinner while the car charge...
TRONZ
Well-known member
TomT said:
Uuummm. Good eats on Catalina. The Typhoon at Santa Monica is my favorite for Asian.
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