Please don't do this...(park blocking multiple Supercharger spots)

[PopSmith]

Backing into garages ? Give me a break. I bet 99.9% would hate it. Even in public spots.

I disagree on this. I'm leasing a Leaf until Model ≡ comes out and I back it in everywhere except at home. The only reason I don't back it in at home is that the charge port is in the nose.

With this particular situation it's not a huge deal as that particular station has ten stalls. If it was a smaller station where they were blocking 3/5ths of the available stalls I could see an issue with it, especially if the car was left unattended for 30+ minutes.

 

[cpa]

It seems to me that the OP has a reasonable concern. We have customs and "informal" rules that try to keep our daily lives from the inevitable chaos that just happens for no apparent reason. The parking stripes and charging stalls are designed for a specific parking and charging pattern to try to keep some semblance of order and facility for all. The fact that Centralia is an unpopular charging spot is a self-serving rationalization, as is the classic "no one got hurt." I would think that we owners would not want an incident to escalate into charging rage whereby somebody does get hurt!

That said, we all do things selfishly or thoughtlessly from time-to-time, maybe because we think we can get away with it, or because we are too lazy to do things right. We would not be having this extended discussion had the driver or someone responsible stayed visibly at the car--to offer to move it if for some strange reason six Teslas arrived in short order. All the driver needed to do was to take a second to reflect on his parking choice and then have a contingency plan in case others arrived since he knew everyone was going to be away from the car for (even) a brief period of time.

This way everybody wins--the driver in questions parks inappropriately, saving time and trouble because of the bike racks, and the others who happened to show up know that the car will be moved upon request if need be.

 

[PhilBa]

If I have stuff to unload, I back in. If I have a lot of stuff to load, I back in. When I lived in a snowy clime, I always backed in if the weather forecast was for snow -- better chance of making it out to the main road if I didn't have to interrupt momentum. Why do people hate backing into spots? If you pull in, you have to back out. And it's just easier to back in when you have full view of traffic all around you, than it is to back out when you can't see traffic.

In parking garages I always back in. If there is a line of cars that back up past your spot it's a lot easier to get out.

 

[johnnyS]

We get mad when a gasoline car blocks us, so a fellow model S owner blocking us is especially frustrating. I agree that we need to exercise courtesy and leave a phone number on the dash.

 

[Tedkidd]

Some Superchargers have one spot that is pull front in. I believe some of the newer ones have all of them like that.

Nice. Here's a good reason for that design.


Seems this fellow could have pulled to the right and actually avoided the possibility of getting locked in. Maybe they futzed around getting positioned, then the charger was down. Who knows what the details are.

Not sure some of these more vitriolic emotional comments don't reflect back poorly on the posters though, there is NOBODY there and room for others to charge.

Clearly thoughtless, but those who are NEVER guilty of being thoughtless raise your hands by typing:

DOU**B*G HERE!!

BTW, I think there are MANY situations where backing out is safer. If there is a large car next to you, for example, you can't see traffic until you are beyond the car with your nose out into traffic.

With the backup camera, being at the very end of the car, you can see traffic before you are in it.

 

[Cottonwood]

Another option would be a hybrid one...have one slot at each SC location as a pull through slot. That way TESLA won't need to increase the amount of land at each location by too much

Pedestals on the side, whether head in or drive thru, for anything more than the left most stall, make snow plowing much more difficult.

Backing is not a big problem unless you have a trailer or such on the back. This may become more of an issue with the MX.

 

[purplewalt]

I have been to this Charging Station (twice).

Although it might not work for this particular car and bike rack (it appears to be really long), I was wondering if backing the car in diagonally (or at some angle) might not hinder access to as many other slots, thus minimizing the number of blocked slots.
Someone would have to be outside to assist the driver getting the car lined-up so nothing touched or broke any of the supercharger hardware or signage, and then to still be able to reach the cable for the supercharger...
But at least they would be making an effort to minimize the possible inconvenience to other MS owners needing a charge (even one less bay blocked would be an improvement).

The ironic thing is, as I was getting onto the highway after charging one time, a lady in a Jeep had just lost all three of her kids bikes that had been fastened on the back of the Jeep (really cheap rack, and now she will also probably be replacing or repairing the kid's bikes too.)
Luckily, a construction worker pulled the bikes out of the road (before anyone hit them).
I pulled over to assist(?) and she wouldn't leave the car because there were three kids in the Jeep.
Her mom finally drove up, and then I took off.

 

[PoweredByRain]

There are a few of those... Kingman has one also...

The "stall" referred to is not a stall. It's just hatching on the pavement beside the last stall. Remember, the plug is on the driver's side.

Also, someone mentioned Centralia having 8 stalls. Actually there's 10.

Personally, I would suggest the person with the bike rack should have parked off the end, blocking only one stall plus the one in use and likely still not protruding into the driveway that joins the parking lot to the street. If they stay with the car, though, and are willing to move to avoid inconveniencing anyone else, then I see no problem.

Doh! Now I see the sign. How embarrassing. I didn't think it was a handicapped stall because there's no extra space on the other side of the parking space. Anyways, I still think it would be better to temporarily block the end if you absolutely have to, again assuming that you are ready to move ASAP.

 

[brianman]

Sorry I'm late on this but, in response to ...

"Please don't do this..."

... name threads that tell you very little about the actual topic. A year from now (heck a week from now) someone will create a nearly identical topic and/or not find the incredibly useful information and discussion.

Recommendation: Please park in supercharger spots sanely

 

[PoweredByRain]

What if the stall was modified to function like a bank teller lane? One way in; One way out. This would allow the plow to go straight through and clear the path.

I think you're missing something about what plows do. They push material off one side (or in some cases both sides). You can't reasonably plow eight individual lanes and have eight individual really narrow snow banks.

(Where I grew up they came by at least twice a year with a snowblower and line of dump trucks to remove the snowbank between the sidewalk and the road, which generally was about six feet wide and four feet tall prior to removal).

Supercharger stations with one pull-in stall and the rest back-in stalls seem like a good solution to me. Tesla has done this in a number of locations, though there are also plenty of places with only back-in stalls.

 

[rolosrevenge]

We get mad when a gasoline car blocks us, so a fellow model S owner blocking us is especially frustrating. I agree that we need to exercise courtesy and leave a phone number on the dash.

Except this time he blocked nobody and was charging. Several of the restaurants there have seating where you can see the SC. I imagine they were very nervous parking like that but were very worried about the bikes. It's a shame the SC's don't have longer cables so it wouldn't be a problem.

 

[Electricfan]

This backing-up to charge nonsense is very silly. A lot of people here would back anything what Tesla does, but this is one area they got it wrong.

Agree, and admire your guts arguing Tesla Motors might have made an error, at least on this forum! Good luck!

 

[bonnie]

This backing-up to charge nonsense is very silly. A lot of people here would back anything what Tesla does, but this is one area they got it wrong.

Don't be silly by making this into 'some people will support anything Tesla does'. Some of us back up when not required to charge. We did it BEFORE Tesla did their design. Really! I back up to park all the time. And as you can tell by reading other posts here, so do other people.

Perhaps it's more along the lines of different people do different things? Not everyone is the same.

 

[green1]

Don't be silly by making this into 'some people will support anything Tesla does'. Some of us back up when not required to charge. We did it BEFORE Tesla did their design. Really! I back up to park all the time. And as you can tell by reading other posts here, so do other people.

Perhaps it's more along the lines of different people do different things? Not everyone is the same.

I am quite willing to point out things Tesla has done wrong (and I have done so in other threads) But I have to agree with bonnie here, this isn't one of them. I always back in to park where possible. Backing in to stalls is safer than driving in. You can see in to the stall before you start to ensure it's clear, and then when you pull out later you can see if the laneway is clear (which you can not do if you drove forward in) This is taught in most driving courses too.

Beyond the safety aspect though there are other good reasons for this design:
- mounting the superchargers on the curb is easier and cheaper for install
- mounting the superchargers on the curb makes parking lot maintenance easier (especially in places that get snow)
- making longer supercharger cables to reach the other end of the stalls would increase cost, and likely require much thicker cables

 

[AnOutsider]

I am quite willing to point out things Tesla has done wrong (and I have done so in other threads) But I have to agree with bonnie here, this isn't one of them. I always back in to park where possible. Backing in to stalls is safer than driving in. You can see in to the stall before you start to ensure it's clear, and then when you pull out later you can see if the laneway is clear (which you can not do if you drove forward in) This is taught in most driving courses too.

Beyond the safety aspect though there are other good reasons for this design:
- mounting the superchargers on the curb is easier and cheaper for install
- mounting the superchargers on the curb makes parking lot maintenance easier (especially in places that get snow)
- making longer supercharger cables to reach the other end of the stalls would increase cost, and likely require much thicker cables

I agree for the most part, but can you explain the bolded?

 

[David_Cary]

Don't be silly by making this into 'some people will support anything Tesla does'. Some of us back up when not required to charge. We did it BEFORE Tesla did their design. Really! I back up to park all the time. And as you can tell by reading other posts here, so do other people.

Perhaps it's more along the lines of different people do different things? Not everyone is the same.

Ok but the majority of people pull straight in. I've never had a person backing in that moved as quickly as someone pulling in forward. And strangely I've never been around when someone was pulling straight out - probably because they do it so quickly.

Now in snowy areas - like our neighbors to the north - I get it.

Another data point, the majority of other EVs have bias towards the front of the car. So curbside charging stations are set up this way.

So we have majority of drivers and majority of other auto manufacturers (probably all but I don't know that for sure) against a few members of TMC. But seriously, while there are people who prefer to backup, majority has to rule on these things.

 

[Liz G]

Ok but the majority of people pull straight in. I've never had a person backing in that moved as quickly as someone pulling in forward. And strangely I've never been around when someone was pulling straight out - probably because they do it so quickly.

Now in snowy areas - like our neighbors to the north - I get it.

Another data point, the majority of other EVs have bias towards the front of the car. So curbside charging stations are set up this way.

So we have majority of drivers and majority of other auto manufacturers (probably all but I don't know that for sure) against a few members of TMC. But seriously, while there are people who prefer to backup, majority has to rule on these things.

By this logic then the Model S should have a sub 100 mile range because that's what everybody else is doing.

No offense, but majority does not by default make it right. Nor are responses to this forum statistically significant as the sample size is too small. To be honest right now no one knows what most people prefer because the data doesn't exist.

And pointing to placement on other vehicles is not proof. Placement on other vehicles may be necessitated by design.

And like regen, people may find there is benefit to backing into a spot that they then come to appreciate. Yes backing in is a change in behavior. And people tend the resit change, which believe it or not we've evolved to do because learning a new behavior requires more energy than performing an old activity even if the old activity is less efficient than the new one. So, most peoples first response to change is resistance, but once they learn there change they often don't know why they thought the old one was better. Like coasting.

 

[swaltner]

Be careful what you tell people to do. Backing up into a parking spot is illegal in some places. For example, Lawrence, KS has the following in ordinance listed in http://www.lawrenceks.org/assets/city-code/chapter17.pdf

Sec. 89.1. Metered Parking. Where parking stalls or spaces are metered novehicle shall be backed into the parking stall or space.

I believe the logic behind this is that Kansas doesn't require front license plates. By backing into a parking stall, your license plate is not visible. This doesn't appear to be a state-wide law, but it is in effect in some places.

To take a large sample of preferred parking patterns in your local area, simply fire up a google maps image of a local shipping mall (that doesn't prohibit tail-in parking) and look at the ratio of nose-in to tail-in.

 

[tga]

- making longer supercharger cables to reach the other end of the stalls would increase cost, and likely require much thicker cables

I agree for the most part, but can you explain the bolded?

If the cables are lengthened, the voltage drop at high currents may not be tolerable, which means thicker conductors to lower the resistance and the voltage drop.

Longer and/or thicker cables == more cost

 

[bonnie]

Ok but the majority of people pull straight in. I've never had a person backing in that moved as quickly as someone pulling in forward. And strangely I've never been around when someone was pulling straight out - probably because they do it so quickly.

Now in snowy areas - like our neighbors to the north - I get it.

Another data point, the majority of other EVs have bias towards the front of the car. So curbside charging stations are set up this way.

So we have majority of drivers and majority of other auto manufacturers (probably all but I don't know that for sure) against a few members of TMC. But seriously, while there are people who prefer to backup, majority has to rule on these things.

I never used to back into a parking spot. It never occurred to me. And then I spent part of my life working in Puerto Rico for a couple of different large companies and it became a habit. Both required (not suggested, required) all cars be backed into parking spaces. And still do. Huge parking lots, all cars backed in. For one simple reason ... safety. During a hurricane, there is not time to waste. So while everyone had time to back into spots, if there was a quick evacuation required, it was a safety issue. Hundreds of cars backing out, waiting for other cars backing out, will take much longer than cars simply pulling out of their slot.

In any case, it's not a 'majority rule'. Tesla didn't ask us for a vote. They built a car, have design reasons (which some think is a fail, others disagree) which put the port where it is.