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ICEd Supercharger spaces, whom to report to?
- Thread starter Majariwr
- Start date
Soul Surfer
Cancervivor, tech geek & musician
When you use the super chargers, there is usually a message sent back to you through the app, to rate your experience. You can also include photos. I would definitely use the super charger for even a couple of minutes, in order to send them this photo, as tesla should be policing their own supercharger centers.
electrikcuban
Member
I don't see any signs that say the stalls are only for vehicles charging.
houstonian
ಠ_ಠ
Would guess Tesla?
Assuming Tesla has a back channel to the host to figure out how to let patrons know the spots in front of the SCers are for those who are actively charging.
At the very least the addition of signs should remind (courteous) drivers not to park there unless charging.
Assuming Tesla has a back channel to the host to figure out how to let patrons know the spots in front of the SCers are for those who are actively charging.
At the very least the addition of signs should remind (courteous) drivers not to park there unless charging.
Soul Surfer
Cancervivor, tech geek & musician
Remedies, if any, will likely depend on what locality these Supercharger spaces are located in, and what the local traffic/parking ordinances are.
With no signage (as pointed out previously) there's absolutely no hint about what's permissible and what's not in this situation.
Bruce.
With no signage (as pointed out previously) there's absolutely no hint about what's permissible and what's not in this situation.
Bruce.
Some states have laws against parking in an EV charging spot and not charging. The penalty could be a citation(fine) or towing.
Legislation Reference – Reserved Parking for Plug-In Vehicle Charging
EVRider-FL
Active Member
According to that article, PA (where the OP lives) is not one of the states with those laws, and most states that have those laws require signage at the chargers.
I don't know the statue in PA. In Arizona there is a state statue that prohibits ICE parking in EV charging spots.
electrikcuban
Member
Here's an example of confusing signage at a SC in Panama City Beach, FL. Some stalls say 15 minute regular parking, and the last ones farther away say Tesla vehicle charging only...
This SC is at a Busy Bee gas station.
This SC is at a Busy Bee gas station.
I guess common sense and/or common courtesy doesn't apply?
electrikcuban
Member
OP also didn't mention where this was at. Perhaps is a busy shopping center at times, and there are not enough parking spots to have these only for people charging.
Right. These are common parking spots for everyone, but only for 15 min...unless you are charging. This is pretty common in Florida. In South Carolina there are chargers at gas stations that are right beside the building, but there are no signs. It's not uncommon to see a mix of vehicles there, especially because the only other places to park are blocking the pumps, which also occurs often.
It's not necessarily someone trying to block a charger, just as someone parking at a pump to run inside isn't someone trying to screw people out of gas...it's a lack of regular parking spots.
These spaces were in a Wawa convenience store in PA. It was around 7 pm, and there were several open spaces across the lot actually closer to the building. I was there for about 40 minutes and only one of the cars moved. Employees? Who else stays at a convenience store more than a few minutes?
Yes,
Wawa often has their employees park there. Someone complained about it on Reddit somewhere. I'll see if I can dig it up. The ones in Florida I were referring to were also Wawas, so it seems to be a common policy.
RTPEV
Active Member
The emphasized sentence is important.
I know you may feel an urge to "report" this, but from the picture you posted, there are at least two stalls empty. So there is not currently a problem.
Second, as you pointed out, most convenience store visits are fairly short, so this typically this is not a huge problem as there is usually a lot of movement at these kinds of sites.
Okay, I know it's a bit of a snarky response so far. Certainly there is a possibility that the site may get busy and actually cause a delay for a Tesla wanting to charge, and in your case, some of the cars did dwell there for quite some time, so yes, maybe a good idea to try to get ahead of the problem. If you feel you must report it, store management is your best bet. As you speculate, it's very possible that there are employees parking in those spots. Management should be able to address this concern if that's what it is. The Supercharger in Madison, VA had a commercial truck parked in the pull-in spot and eventually, after speaking to management and corporate (via social media), I believe the issue was addressed: Supercharger - Madison, VA
I do have additional commentary though: keep in mind that many of these convenience store sites are a bit of a compromise. They are not ideal for either Tesla drivers or the store. Many have somewhat small parking footprints to start, so having Tesla come in and take up 8 (or more) spots for Tesla vehicles when there might be only 20 or so spots total does present a bit of a hardship for the store that needs the parking for their non-Tesla customers. Particularly when at least for now, most of the time the spots remain empty. This is why it's common to see at least half the stores marked 10 or 15 minute general parking, and also why we shouldn't get super upset if we see a few ICE cars parked in the Supercharger stalls, particularly if there are still spots free. If we insist that all stalls be kept 100% reserved for Teslas 100% of the time, even though they are rarely (if ever) full, then these convenience stores are likely to tell us (Tesla) to just go pound sand and locate their Superchargers elsewhere. Lose/lose.
Eventually, and especially once non-Tesla vehicles start using Superchargers, people will begin to get it and realize that those spots should only be used as a last resort. I also hope that some of the gas pump real estate can be used for charging in more of an island type layout which (a) do not look or act like parking spots and (b) accommodate different types of vehicles with different charge port locations. Also, with more EVs on the road and the percentage of customers that drive EVs vs. those who do not increase, these stores will have more of an incentive to actively enforce any parking restrictions because if they do not, they will lose potential customers.
SSDD. Thanks for the long . . . exculpation, but as someone on this thread said, how about common courtesy? No compromise here: large lot with plenty of empty spaces. Here 30 minutes and not one car moved. Also as before sun shield in the windshield of the last car in the row. Probably the manager . . .
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RTPEV
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