As a very frequent flyer who drives 130 miles or so to get to the DFW airport, I've really benefited from the well-located and "free" charging stations at terminal A. But the growth of plug-in hybrids and battery-only electric cars (and the lack of growth of charging stations) is causing problems! Now it's normal that most, and sometimes all, of the charging spots are occupied. And in my opinion by many folks who really don't need to charge at the airport, but just like the premium spots.
My Rants:
1) Plug-in hybrid cars should not use the chargers! They have gas engines and can get home without charging. And if they live a very long way from the airport, the 20 miles of range that the Toyota Prius PIH gets while occupying a space isn't very helpful.
2) Tesla owners living in the Dallas area shouldn't use these spaces! You drive 10 miles to get to the airport and choose to occupy a premium charging spot. Yes, they are perfectly located for frequent travelers, but don't occupy a charging spot if you don't need to charge!
3) I feel very conflicted about this one, but the three dual Handicapped/Charging spots in terminal A are either empty, or occupied by a non-electric car. So essentially 25% of the charging stations are occupied by gas cars or not occupied at all.
4) Most cars (including mine) are fully charged in a few hours or less, yet they occupy the spots for many days. What a waste of charging stations!
If I could change things today I would:
1) Change the current chargers to valet only parking. This would allow the valet folks to rotate cars in and out as necessary for quick charges. I think they charge $3 a day more than regular parking.
2) Install a large slew of (presumably inexpensive) 120v chargers, or just outlets. No need to offer fast charging when a trickle charge is more than enough. After all, if you're parking at the airport you're likely going to be parked for a few days. Maybe charge by the day to discourage unneeded charging.
The good news is that the range of electric cars is better, and charging stations hopefully faster and more ubiquitous. Maybe one day we'll be saying that charging stations at DFW airport are simply unnecessary and should disappear....
My Rants:
1) Plug-in hybrid cars should not use the chargers! They have gas engines and can get home without charging. And if they live a very long way from the airport, the 20 miles of range that the Toyota Prius PIH gets while occupying a space isn't very helpful.
2) Tesla owners living in the Dallas area shouldn't use these spaces! You drive 10 miles to get to the airport and choose to occupy a premium charging spot. Yes, they are perfectly located for frequent travelers, but don't occupy a charging spot if you don't need to charge!
3) I feel very conflicted about this one, but the three dual Handicapped/Charging spots in terminal A are either empty, or occupied by a non-electric car. So essentially 25% of the charging stations are occupied by gas cars or not occupied at all.
4) Most cars (including mine) are fully charged in a few hours or less, yet they occupy the spots for many days. What a waste of charging stations!
If I could change things today I would:
1) Change the current chargers to valet only parking. This would allow the valet folks to rotate cars in and out as necessary for quick charges. I think they charge $3 a day more than regular parking.
2) Install a large slew of (presumably inexpensive) 120v chargers, or just outlets. No need to offer fast charging when a trickle charge is more than enough. After all, if you're parking at the airport you're likely going to be parked for a few days. Maybe charge by the day to discourage unneeded charging.
The good news is that the range of electric cars is better, and charging stations hopefully faster and more ubiquitous. Maybe one day we'll be saying that charging stations at DFW airport are simply unnecessary and should disappear....