Eastern Canada Superchargers

[ArchimedStudio]

Going back from NYC to Montreal, I stopped at the SC in Greenwhich, CT (Paramus, NJ was not opened yet) to recharge in order to make it to Albany. The SC in Greenwich are placed at the end of a medium parking lot (maybe 20-30 spaces) next to a gas station with a Subway and Dunkin Donut. Nothing else is there. When I arrived, all spaces were ICEd. I had to wait until someone left to park and charge (it's usually fairly quick at this location thanks to the lack of services). Once I was plugged-in, I purposely waited (under the rain) for the owner of the car next to me (VW Jetta), a very "lovely" lady, to arrive. I told her that she is not supposed to park here and it would be appreciated if next time she could park somewhere else. She just replied "where does it say I'm not allowed to park? It says "Electric Vehicle Parking", it doesn't say "ONLY"!) and she left without caring.

Maybe next time, if all spaces are ICEd, I will park in the gas station, preventing someone to "recharge" its ICE (of course I'm kidding...)

 

[Doug_G]

I think in absence of regulations / ticketing / towing, it's very important to take an education approach rather than a confrontational one. Otherwise you'll just get people's hackles up and they can easily make things worse for us.

Yes it is incredibly frustrating to arrive at a Supercharger only to find it completely blocked. You're stranded there until someone moves. But somehow we need to politely get the message across that you're stranding someone hundreds of miles from home, so please please please don't do that.

This is a general issue with Superchargers... there's lots of discussion elsewhere in the forum.

 

[sandpiper]

I think in absence of regulations / ticketing / towing, it's very important to take an education approach rather than a confrontational one. Otherwise you'll just get people's hackles up and they can easily make things worse for us.

Yes it is incredibly frustrating to arrive at a Supercharger only to find it completely blocked. You're stranded there until someone moves. But somehow we need to politely get the message across that you're stranding someone hundreds of miles from home, so please please please don't do that.

This is a general issue with Superchargers... there's lots of discussion elsewhere in the forum.

I don't understand why there isn't a a simple sign that says "Reserved for electric vehicles while charging only, please".

 

[Duckjybe]

Going back from NYC to Montreal, I stopped at the SC in Greenwhich, CT (Paramus, NJ was not opened yet) to recharge in order to make it to Albany. The SC in Greenwich are placed at the end of a medium parking lot (maybe 20-30 spaces) next to a gas station with a Subway and Dunkin Donut. Nothing else is there. When I arrived, all spaces were ICEd. I had to wait until someone left to park and charge (it's usually fairly quick at this location thanks to the lack of services). Once I was plugged-in, I purposely waited (under the rain) for the owner of the car next to me (VW Jetta), a very "lovely" lady, to arrive. I told her that she is not supposed to park here and it would be appreciated if next time she could park somewhere else. She just replied "where does it say I'm not allowed to park? It says "Electric Vehicle Parking", it doesn't say "ONLY"!) and she left without caring.

Maybe next time, if all spaces are ICEd, I will park in the gas station, preventing someone to "recharge" its ICE (of course I'm kidding...)

I had a similar experience at a Tim Hortons with L2 charge point. A woman with an ICE was pulling out of one of the charging spots as I was pulling in. I mentioned to her that these spots were reserved for EV charging. She retorted gruffly that nowhere does it say the spots are "reserved", gave me a "so there" kind of look and drove off. I didn't really know what to say because the signs indeed do not say reserved. However, after I checked out the signs again, it does say on the top of the charger "EV charging only". The thing is that although people know what the spots are for, if the signs are not explicit in exempting ICE cars from parking there then more will park and they feel perfectly in the right and I am the unreasonable bad guy for saying anything. Signage needs to be very explicit.

 

[Trev Page]

I say they should install those tire spikes into the ground that retract when a Model S comes by. That would take care of the ICE'ing problem once and for all

 

[Depeche Mode]

**Update from Montreal SC**

My girlfriend (that is working at Ericsson building, just beside Tesla Service Center) just texted me that there are 2 Hydro-Québec trucks currently working on site...

Hope this is for good!

I'll keep you all posted as my girlfriend will keep me up to date with the development...

Have a nice day!

 

[Kalud]

**Update from Montreal SC**

My girlfriend (that is working at Ericsson, building just beside Tesla Service Center) just texted me that there are 2 Hydro-Québec trucks currently working on site...

Hope this is for good!

I'll keep you all posted as my girlfriend will keep me up to date with the development...

Have a nice day!

Great, thanks!

I went a week ago and apparently the only remaining was the final hookup on the top of the utility pole, the conduits across the street and on the utility pole were all ready.

 

[PoweredByRain]

I think in absence of regulations / ticketing / towing, it's very important to take an education approach rather than a confrontational one. Otherwise you'll just get people's hackles up and they can easily make things worse for us.

Yes it is incredibly frustrating to arrive at a Supercharger only to find it completely blocked. You're stranded there until someone moves. But somehow we need to politely get the message across that you're stranding someone hundreds of miles from home, so please please please don't do that.

This is a general issue with Superchargers... there's lots of discussion elsewhere in the forum.

Well said, Doug. I think it's important to give reasonable people a chance to save face ("oh, I didn't realize!") rather than instantly provoking a confrontation. Leaving a fake ticket on someone's windshield is definitely taking a confrontational approach.

 

[andyro]

Don't look at me! I'm just as stranded as you are.

Hehe, I only meant your power to create a sticky with essential and relevant update info only, but I guess it is just as easy to check back on supercharge.info from time to time. I'm calling Tesla to ask if we can get a bit more info, transparency...

As for wording, I write specifications for a living. 'Please' is all well and good in letters. But strong wording is needed to prevent ICEing. The "30min limit and active charging only, violators will be ticketed or towed" will have ICE owners think twice, even if it's not true.

 

[lance]

Great, thanks!

I went a week ago and apparently the only remaining was the final hookup on the top of the utility pole, the conduits across the street and on the utility pole were all ready.

I was there yesterday and saw the hydro truck still there. I think they were on break. Or maybe reading "Superchargers for Dummies" but en française so add a "tabernacle"

The Tesla rep, when I asked about the Hydro truck, said they were there for some plumbing issues.... Me, I think dat was a joke, me

 

[Depeche Mode]

I was there yesterday and saw the hydro truck still there. I think they were on break. Or maybe reading "Superchargers for Dummies" but en française so add a "tabernacle"

The Tesla rep, when I asked about the Hydro truck, said they were there for some plumbing issues.... Me, I think dat was a joke, me

plumbing issues! ahahaha! so far in 2015, this is probably their best joke! Everyone knows that Hydro-Québec is OBVIOUSLY the one that are in the plumbing service!

 

[RichardC]

I don't understand why there isn't a a simple sign that says "Reserved for electric vehicles while charging only, please".

I suspect that the simple answer is that the parking spots are required to satisfy building and occupancy permit requirements (and that Tesla is not able to obtain exclusive rights that would enable it to put up or to enforce such restrictions).

Assuming this is true, it is all the more important that we educate the owners of ICEmobiles in order to avoid creating enemies (as suggested by Doug).

 

[Doug_G]

I suspect that the simple answer is that the parking spots are required to satisfy building and occupancy permit requirements.

That is an excellent point. I know in many cities, including here in Ottawa, the main bylaw limitation on the size of a building is available parking spaces.

Depending on the zone the site plan must provide so many parking spots per 1000 square feet, so many handicapped spots, etc. A fellow I know had his building project scuppered when the city changed the requirements in the middle of them getting site plan approvals.

These requirements are so limiting that many sites are built with exactly the mandated number of parking spaces. Reserving some for specific purposes may not be allowed as a result.

 

[sitter_k]

That is an excellent point. I know in many cities, including here in Ottawa, the main bylaw limitation on the size of a building is available parking spaces.

Depending on the zone the site plan must provide so many parking spots per 1000 square feet, so many handicapped spots, etc. A fellow I know had his building project scuppered when the city changed the requirements in the middle of them getting site plan approvals.

These requirements are so limiting that many sites are built with exactly the mandated number of parking spaces. Reserving some for specific purposes may not be allowed as a result.

Yes and no. Parking is a real limiting factor in any building project and is strict requirement however how you allocate the spots is up to you as a building owner to an extent. For example a strip plaza with a night club a few fast food restaurants could have 100 spots for the club and 20 for the restaurant or office. But in fact each type of business might require more than or less than those city requirements during different hours of the day. I have experienced this at a couple properties I've managed. Even though technically at the city min. amount of spots we realised at one property we had excess amount of parking and rented exclusively to an adjacent business for their employees during peak hours.

I agree the best thing for the EV movement is to educate and to locate superchargers as out of the way as possible to reduce friction. I think there is a slight distain for many types of reserved parking. I don't think it's as uncommon as we think to see even handicap spots "ICE'd" which is much more inconvenient, morally deplorable, and is actually illegal. Imagin the out cry if the best spots in a lot were for $100k teslas and was enforced by towing?

 

[glenhurst]

I think it's easy for us EV drivers to forget that a big portion of the population, maybe a majority, have never even thought about EVs. So I tend to think that this is mostly people being unaware, not intentionally inconsiderate. If they even noticed the charging stalls and little red Tesla signs, the thinking was probably "I don't know what this is, but it doesn't say I can't park here". If the spaces had standard No Parking signs saying "Except for electric vehicle charging", then I'd call people who ignore that inconsiderate, and they shouldn't be surprised if they get ticketed and towed.

Some of the people who parked there may not even know what Tesla is or that those are EV charging stations. It seems impossible, but I've met people who just don't care about cars or car companies let alone EVs. Not saying that excuses it, but I wouldn't be surprised to learn that they didn't know what the space was for (some of the people, but probably not all of them).

 

[mknox]

I suspect that the simple answer is that the parking spots are required to satisfy building and occupancy permit requirements.

Possibly, but in the case of Woodstock, the lot is actually quite huge. The Superchargers are unfortunately at the closest point to the building access, and I suspect that is why you see the ICEing. All of the cars I saw were concentrated at that end of the lot while the other 2/3 or more was empty of cars.

In speaking with the utility rep, their preference was to site it at the far end of the lot, which is closer to the utility's lines, but the property owner apparently wanted it where it is. This ended up costing Tesla a lot more in utility costs to bring the lines all that way in.

As far as signage goes, I've always preferred something like this:

The "No Parking" symbol is universal and the language is clear.

 

[andyro]

That's the sign. Exactly. Zoning requires x parking spaces of x and y size, but I've never seen zoning delineate more specific uses than for barrier free requirements. I think it's up to the owner whether to reserve for expecting mothers or EV's. Nobody would park their car at a gas pump, this is the same thing.

 

[Jaff]

If the property owner demanded the final location, then I think it is incumbant on the property owner to participate in "policing" the ICEing issue...the only way they will find out there is an issue here is if we who are affected by this let them know...



QUOTE=mknox;865487]Possibly, but in the case of Woodstock, the lot is actually quite huge. The Superchargers are unfortunately at the closest point to the building access, and I suspect that is why you see the ICEing. All of the cars I saw were concentrated at that end of the lot while the other 2/3 or more was empty of cars.

In speaking with the utility rep, their preference was to site it at the far end of the lot, which is closer to the utility's lines, but the property owner apparently wanted it where it is. This ended up costing Tesla a lot more in utility costs to bring the lines all that way in.

As far as signage goes, I've always preferred something like this:

View attachment 68482

The "No Parking" symbol is universal and the language is clear.[/QUOTE]

 

[mnx]

In speaking with the utility rep, their preference was to site it at the far end of the lot, which is closer to the utility's lines, but the property owner apparently wanted it where it is. This ended up costing Tesla a lot more in utility costs to bring the lines all that way in.

HAHA Brutal.

On a related note do you still have the business card of the GM of the Hotel? If so it's probably worth a quick call or e-mail to him so the issue is on his radar. (Assuming the Hotel owns the property???)

 

[RiverBrick]

The Superchargers are unfortunately at the closest point to the building access, and I suspect that is why you see the ICEing.

I notice there's a gym in the building. Apparently, after a strenuous workout, you don't have the energy to walk an extra 50 meters to your car, so you need to ICE the prime spots. L2 stations next a gym in a shopping center near me are also frequently ICEd.