EV Reserved Parking Spots violators

[garygid]

Handicapped-restricted parking in CA was typically "violated" by many until the fines were raised substantially, and it became lucrative for the police to hand out the BIG tickets.

[Herm]

As I have posted before, I would prefer that each parking stall had a 120V socket. Every BEV so far comes with a EVSE to plug into it, and can charge the magical 40 miles in a standard 8 hour work day. It would be nice if commercial grade 120V 20A sockets with a built-in relay and internet communications were available for a reasonable cost.. you plug in, it debits your account and the relay is enabled. You would use an RFID device to enable the socket... you wave the RFID device again to shut off the socket, so no else can take advantage of it when you unplug.

So how much does an RFID reader , internet and a relay cost?

[smkettner]

Handicapped-restricted parking in CA was typically "violated" by many until the fines were raised substantially, and it became lucrative for the police to hand out the BIG tickets.

And with EV spots.... well there have been virtually no electric vehicles so no enforcement and the prime spots go completely unused. This has been the perpetual system since these spots were installed duing the EV-1 days. With the quantity of EVs coming in the next couple years it will all just fall into place. And yes I believe the cities will be very quick to find this new revenue source once a few complaints are filed.

[earther]

So which is more destructive? Keying the car all the way around or slitting all 4 side walls? I think the keying does more damage dollar wise but the slit side walls creates a lot more inconvenience.

if you're going for inconvenience, slitting side walls still seems unnecessarily destructive: why not just let the air out of all the tires? [not that I'm condoning such an action!]

[lemketron]

As I have posted before, I would prefer that each parking stall had a 120V socket. Every BEV so far comes with a EVSE to plug into it, and can charge the magical 40 miles in a standard 8 hour work day. It would be nice if commercial grade 120V 20A sockets with a built-in relay and internet communications were available for a reasonable cost.. you plug in, it debits your account and the relay is enabled. You would use an RFID device to enable the socket... you wave the RFID device again to shut off the socket, so no else can take advantage of it when you unplug.

So how much does an RFID reader , internet and a relay cost?

Or L6-20 240V 20A even, depending on the site. For office parking lots, 120V is likely fine, but for shorter-term lots like dining or shopping locations, 240V outlets would be ideal.

One big issue is convenience -- it's much easier to just grab a J-plug and plug it in to the car, rather than having to drag your EVSE out of the trunk (and hope that someone doesn't steal it or unplug it)...

[mweston]

I experienced the same thing at the EV charging stations in the San Jose convention center.

Problem with what I saw was that there were no signs saying that the spots were reserved for EV's only. (Even though it's pretty obvious to us all)

I doubt that the city will move quick enough to have a law similar to the $240 violation on handicapped parking violation. Probably the most practical approach would be to have private towing companies to act as the penalty for violation. If only Column can add a "violator will be towed" message with each installation...

As long as we can't guarantee ourselves a charging spot we can never drive more than 50 miles to anywhere.

I went to the San Jose Convention Center lot for the first time yesterday, intending to try out the charging station. Both spots were occupied by ICEs. I did call a number for the parking company to complain, but the best they would promise was to put out warnings on the cars. But thinking back on it, it's really the garage that is at fault since as you say, the spots are not signed to preclude non-EVs.

So I wrote a negative review of the garage on Yelp. Since then a friend gave me the name and number of someone to call, and I'll update back here if that is productive.

[GaslessInSeattle]

I was excited to use the dedicated EV parking at Sea-Tac (level 5, isle G, L1 ready receptacle) and was also excited to see 4 other Leaf's plugged in! I was not so excited to see 3 ICE cars using spots that were clearly marked for electric vehicles only. I waited for a few minutes and then one of the ICE owners showed up to Leave. I debated saying something but decided not to. I wish I had a business card size notice or something like what you guys can use for CA to let folks know they did inconvenience someone and that they can be towed. I hope that as these sites become more common and are actually used by EV owners that people start to respect them. It's a little bit hard to imagine someone parking in one of these sites by accident, they are well marked but I also realize this is all new to a lot of people.
g

[Adrian]

I attended a conference at the Long Beach Hilton the other week and found an Aston Martin parked in the clearly marked, only EV charging/parking spot in the structure. I asked about it at the front desk and on day one I was promised the spot would be available the next day. Though it had the old type chargers next to it, it also had a 120V outlet which I was planning to use. The next day, the Aston Martin was still parked in the EV spot. Turns out it belonged to a high level Hilton manager that over the years had appropriated it. So, I stopped by the front desk again. I was told the chargers were out of order and the 120V outlet was also out of order so Hilton management (probably the owner of the Aston Martin) would not allow me to park in that spot. So on my way to the car, I checked the 120V outlet...it worked perfectly. So I went back to the front desk and told them the outlet worked fine and I did not appreciate being lied to, and re-iterated my desire to park and charge in the EV parking spot. I was told they would get back to me. I got a call later that evening that regardless of whether the 120V outlet worked, Hilton would not make the EV charging spot available to me, the driver of an EV since it is private property and they don't have to. I haven't had the time to file a complaint on Hilton's website. I have to say this experience left me very annoyed with Hilton as a chain in general. I wonder what it will take for EV charging spots to be respected in the future.

[ElectricVehicle]

I attended a conference at the Long Beach Hilton the other week and found an Aston Martin parked in the clearly marked, only EV charging/parking spot in the structure. I asked about it at the front desk and on day one I was promised the spot would be available the next day. Though it had the old type chargers next to it, it also had a 120V outlet which I was planning to use. The next day, the Aston Martin was still parked in the EV spot. Turns out it belonged to a high level Hilton manager that over the years had appropriated it. So, I stopped by the front desk again. I was told the chargers were out of order and the 120V outlet was also out of order so Hilton management (probably the owner of the Aston Martin) would not allow me to park in that spot. So on my way to the car, I checked the 120V outlet...it worked perfectly. So I went back to the front desk and told them the outlet worked fine and I did not appreciate being lied to, and re-iterated my desire to park and charge in the EV parking spot. I was told they would get back to me. I got a call later that evening that regardless of whether the 120V outlet worked, Hilton would not make the EV charging spot available to me, the driver of an EV since it is private property and they don't have to. I haven't had the time to file a complaint on Hilton's website. I have to say this experience left me very annoyed with Hilton as a chain in general. I wonder what it will take for EV charging spots to be respected in the future.

Well isn't that just nice of them! They've given you a perfect script for a yelp review, hotels.com review and a letter to your local paper. PlugInCars.com may also be interested in the story:
http://www.plugincars.com/being-leaf-ow ... 07139.html

Sure they have the right to do whatever they want with their private property, though the incorrect signage might get them into trouble. You might be able to push it and park somewhere that signs prohibit it at that Hilton and then fight it on the grounds that they don't enforce and the signage lies, but that's probably more hassle than it's worth.

We also have our right to publicly express our opinion of the Hilton's practices, good or bad.

Also send something in to Hilton corporate and see if they approve of this perk for only one Hilton high level manager that is not extended to all employees at the site and violates posted signage. It's like advertising an amenity for the hotel guests like "Free Wifi" but not letting anyone use it but a certain over privileged high level hotel manager.

They might also get inn trouble with the city for false signage on their property. If it's his private spot, take down the EV signage, put covers on the chargers that say "Not for Use" and put up a standard "Reserved" sign saying all others will be towed.

If you ever return to the site, get their before the manager does and park in the EV ONLY spot!

[Adrian]

I posted a review on yelp. I need to cut down the story to 500 characters or less to fit into the Hilton customer feedback form online.