Free airport parking in Honolulu is back!!

[nanimac]

I'm not positive, but I think Kukui is privately owned too, which I why I was wondering how they are free, yet Alii and Harbor are not, or to be determined. I'll call over there one day when I have time to find a definite answer.

Nope..it's a city lot. Thee city owns the land through 2048. They have sold some of the fee simple interests to condo owners but still retain the parking lot. The parking attendants and manager said they honor the free EV parking there (although I haven't tried yet since I still have monthly parking). I'll confirm again when I pay my parking next week..just to be sure

 

[ddruz]

The state Department of Transportation no longer is charging electric vehicle owners for parking longer than 24 hours at a time at Honolulu Airport.

Fabulous job Dale! That pretty much confirms it beyond a shadow of a doubt. Big mahalo from all EV owners on the island.

 

[drtko147]

The state Department of Transportation no longer is charging electric vehicle owners for parking longer than 24 hours at a time at Honolulu Airport.
What that may mean for other state or county lots is not certain.
In the July 10 Kokua Line the department said the Legislature last year amended the law dealing with electric vehicle parking fees, allowing state airports to charge for parking beyond 24 hours. The department began doing so on July 1.
Shortly after, Honolulu resident Dale Podoll challenged the new charge on grounds that it conflicted with the law exempting vehicles with “EV” license plates from paying parking fees.
After consulting with the state Attorney General’s Office, the department told him last week that he would receive a refund. Podoll alerted Kokua Line to the reversal.
As we reported earlier, an electric vehicle, with an EV license plate, is allowed to park for free at state or county parking lots or metered stalls with these exceptions: while parked at a charging station; while parked for more than 21⁄2 hours at a meter or the maximum amount of time allowed, whichever is longer; while parked for longer than one 24-hour day, including under weekly, monthly or annual parking permits.
Transportation spokeswoman Caroline Sluyter had said that meant, “At the airport, electric vehicles get the first 24 hours free and then have to pay the regular rate.”
Asked about Podoll’s challenge, Sluyter said that after consulting with the Attorney General's office, the department was advised that the legislative intent was that electric vehicles should not be charged for parking in public lots.
“A refund will be issued through our parking concessionaire” and posted signs will be changed, Sluyter said.
She also said anyone else with an electric vehicle and a receipt showing the paid parking fees after the first 24 hours at Honolulu Airport also is entitled to a refund.
What that means for other state or county parking lots that offer long-term parking is not certain. Sluyter said the department had asked only for clarification regarding airport fees.
Asked about the opinion and its reach, a spokeswoman for the Attorney General’s Office deferred to the department, saying opinions are a matter of attorney-client privilege.

Great job. After reading this, I am wondering if Caroline Sluyter meant that EVs get 24 hour parking for free or EVs aren't charged at all.

 

[spleen]

Nice mention Dave! Nice to see confirmation in the paper!

Greetings from sunny Florida!

As a teenager, I worked at the gas stations on the bases at Hckham AFB and Schofield Barracks. It was during the gas shortages in the mid 70's. I don't recall the prices, but I DO recall the lines of cars around the block, the pissed off customers whose tanks I couldn't fill if they already had more than a 1/2 tank, and the even more pissed off customers who could not buy more than 10 gallons at a time because of rationing.

Was called a haole many times over, and not in the good way!

Went to Leilihua HS my junior year, but graduated from Punahou. Haven't been back in many years, but hope to get over there soon!

Hurry back Lawsteve! No place like home.

 

[RodF]

Great work, Dale!

 

[StephenM]

Way to go Dale! Thanks for your persistence!

 

[Jkam]

Thanks Dale for your work! I just got a $28 refund from Ampoco. I had parked my car at the airport over the 3 day weekend (Admissions Day or Statehood) two weekends ago. The parking charge was $43, but they gave me one day free $15. I paid the $28, but now I have it back. Happy!

 

[ddruz]

I finally received an email response to my inquiry regarding EV parking at the airport. It confirms what others have already determined--EVs park free at the airport for unlimited periods. I said I'd post the response when it arrived so here it is:

Aloha Mr. Druz:

This email is in response to the fax you sent to Mr. Sidney Hayakawa, Administrative Services Officer, State of Hawaii, Department of Transportation, Airports Division regarding parking for electric vehicles at state airports.

The applicability of parking rates to electric vehicles parking in state and county parking facilities is stipulated in Act 168, Session Laws of Hawaii 2012. While Act 168 may not be as clear as it could be, a review of the legislative history indicates the language should be read as allowing electric vehicles to park without charge at the airports.

This would apply even if the length of stay exceeds 24 hours.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to email me.


Ross Smith
State of Hawaii Department of Transportation Airports Division
Property and Business Development Office
Honolulu International Airport
400 Rodgers Blvd., Suite 700
Honolulu HI 96819

 

[Akikiki]

ddruz, Wonderful. In behalf of everyone, thanks for the extra effort.

 

[Jkam]

As I understand it, one can park an electric car at the airport for free with no time limit. Is that correct? 15 days? 30 days? A year?

The only limitation on how long one can park a car at the airport structure would be how long the vampire drain would take to empty the battery pack assuming you don't get one of the spaces with a charger. Does that sound correct?

 

[Akikiki]

JKam, I recently read in the Star-Advertiser a brief article about general parking at the airport. It started talking about where's the cheapest long term parking. This was primarily about regular parking of all vehicles and didn't say anything about EVs. But let me get to my point. In general at all lots if a vehicle is left more than 30 days it will be towed, unless arrangements are made to insure airport parking management knows to not be concerned and makes note to not tow it.

I am not going to try and answer the part of your question about 30+ days. I don't know that answer. I just wanted to mention the airport will tow at 30+ days.

 

[spleen]

Aside from the point that Akikiki makes, it sounds like it's indefinite as of now. So any length of time less than 30 days, lol

We left our EV parked at the airport for 8 days and paid nothing.

 

[Jkam]

Aside from the point that Akikiki makes, it sounds like it's indefinite as of now. So any length of time less than 30 days, lol

We left our EV parked at the airport for 8 days and paid nothing.

Thanks for the confirmation.

I'll be gone for 13 days. So I think it should be safe. I have an 85kwh pack so that's about 130 miles of drain (~10 miles/day). So I'll theoretically have 100 miles of range left after that.

Any issues with safety parking at the airport for that period of time?

 

[Akikiki]

Sometime ago, we discussed a "patrol" driving by one of our MS at the airport and taking a peak at it. Want some help keeping an eye on it? I'll make a point of driving through airport parking if you wish me to take a look at it for you. email me or PM me your cell number and car's tag and where you park so I know where to look and how to reach you if I see something you should know about. My email is in the Group section.

 

[dpodoll]

As I understand it, one can park an electric car at the airport for free with no time limit. Is that correct? 15 days? 30 days? A year?

The only limitation on how long one can park a car at the airport structure would be how long the vampire drain would take to empty the battery pack assuming you don't get one of the spaces with a charger. Does that sound correct?

Need to coordinate stays longer than 30 days with the parking contractor.

 

[dsmith2189]

Thanks for the confirmation.

I'll be gone for 13 days. So I think it should be safe. I have an 85kwh pack so that's about 130 miles of drain (~10 miles/day). So I'll theoretically have 100 miles of range left after that.

Any issues with safety parking at the airport for that period of time?

after looking at my vampire loss on VisibleTesla it looks like the 85kwh pack can go at least 17 days from a 90% (standard) charge and no vehicle usage. YVLMV (your vampire loss may vary)

 

[Jkam]

Sometime ago, we discussed a "patrol" driving by one of our MS at the airport and taking a peak at it. Want some help keeping an eye on it? I'll make a point of driving through airport parking if you wish me to take a look at it for you. email me or PM me your cell number and car's tag and where you park so I know where to look and how to reach you if I see something you should know about. My email is in the Group section.

Thanks Akiki, but I'm just going to park it and not worry about it. I don't want to go on a trip and worry about my car every single minute. I'll monitor the battery usage with the app when I'm bored. Other than that I don't want to know while on my trip. I'd rather just wait until I get home and deal with it. Besides, I'd be surprised if there is a lot of theft of Tesla's. I don't think the crooks know how to deal with it yet.

 

[spleen]

Thanks for the confirmation.

I'll be gone for 13 days. So I think it should be safe. I have an 85kwh pack so that's about 130 miles of drain (~10 miles/day). So I'll theoretically have 100 miles of range left after that.

Any issues with safety parking at the airport for that period of time?

Or maybe you'll get one of the two charging spots available. Pay $7 for ease of mind and not worry about vampire loss.

 

[hawaiikaiguy]

Or maybe you'll get one of the two charging spots available. Pay $7 for ease of mind and not worry about vampire loss.

Just took our Tesla 40 kWh to the airport on 11/20 (120 Ideal miles remaining), and then picked it up upon return last night 12/3 (86 Ideal miles remaining) -- almost 2 full weeks!

Thanks to 5.8 car update, the "Sleep" mode made this possible just in time for our trip (and it was of course free parking). Looks like the mile loss was just over 2.5 Ideal per day.

Something I discovered about "Sleep" and the phone app: It seems like the car goes into a "deep sleep" after 1 full week of no activity, and at this point you can't access your car via the Android/iPhone app (by design I'm guessing, to save even more energy in "deep sleep"). Because 6 days into our trip, I accidentally hit the Tesla phone app icon on my phone and it "woke up" after a minute or so. At that point, I was able to see there were I think 102 Ideal miles remaining. Then when we landed yesterday, I tried waking up the car via the app again, but I was not able to. Doing the math, it was just over 7 days since my previous phone app access -- so I am guessing it had just recently gone into "deep sleep" mode to further reduce vampire load.

More re: "deep sleep": I think I remember reading somewhere on teslamotors.com forum a while ago that you can call Tesla service if you are going on a long trip and ask them to remotely put your car into an immediate deep sleep. Something to consider for a long trip to save those miles. However, you won't be able to monitor how much energy your car has remaining of course since the deep sleep presumably renders your car remotely inaccessible. It would be nice if Tesla issued a statement like "In deep sleep mode, your 60 kWh car will lose anywhere from 400 to 500 Wh per day, and your 85 kWh car can lose anywhere from 500 to 600 Wh per day" so you could properly plan.

 

[WeazL]

Thanks for the info, hawaiikaiguy. I was unaware of the deep sleep mode--useful info.