Western Canada Superchargers

[mrElbe]

This basically makes this Supercharger location an iffy destination. Might as well not be on the map. If I could not charge there, my first reaction would be to let the air out of their tires or remove their license plates. But the suggestion of calling the contracting towing company might be a better solution.

 

[SMSMD]

I depend mainly on RockyView SC and have totally skipped Red deer , its extreme arrogance for the ICE to be parked there inspite of the signage. This make me think twice from now on. I agree contracting towing company is a good suggestion.

 

[TLej]

Probably a good idea to contact Tesla, maybe they can put some heat on the mall to monitor more closely and have Security have a few polite words with ICE owners parking there. I've charged there a number of times and never been ICEd, same goes for Red Deer, so maybe luck of the draw (and not going at peak times during the last long weekend with back-to-school shopping) has been on my side so far. Would be very frustrating though, sorry you had that experience. Maybe hit the mall up on social media too, they probably have a Twitter account or Facebook page. I sometimes tweet my thanks to the Sheraton in Red Deer for hosting after charging there.

 

[Ugliest1]

FYI I sent the following to the mall using their website contact form:

I stopped by CrossIron last year on a trip to Edmonton, and I'll be there again in October, coming from Victoria BC. We partake of mall services and stores while we are there. Your commitment to community is impressive, and your willingness to have Tesla Motors install a bank of electric vehicle (EV) superchargers is just great.

However, I have recently been reading on an on-line forum that non-electric vehicles (internal combustion engines, or ICEs) have started to park in the charging spots, often taking up all of them and thus making it impossible for those with EVs to charge and continue on their way. I suggest, request, and implore the Mall install some clearer signage that makes it obvious if a vehicle is not parked there for the purpose of charging, the vehicle will be towed away. In the interim while signs are being produced, please have mall security staff be aware of the issue and take polite, proactive steps to educate ICE drivers and encourage them to find other parking places.

It may be that these stated problems are only during peak times, such as back-to-school shopping etc. However it is an all-too-common issue everywhere with many ICE drivers not even aware they are holding up others from continuing on their journey. EV drivers don't go park in front of gas station pumps and leave for hours; ICE drivers shouldn't do the same in EV chargers.

I realize the mall does not want to start towing away paying customers. However some proactive action should be taken or CrossIron will get a reputation among Tesla owners for being too risky a proposition to attempt charging -- and then they will just use Red Deer or the second Calgary location (coming) and the mall will lose THEIR business.

 

[PLUS EV]

Putting cones in or around the stalls is the simple solution.

They may not be able to tow legally, depending on whatever provincial laws are in place. And stationing a security guard there 24/7 is impractical.

Slashing the tires or even letting the air out also exacerbates the problem because then the ICEs can't easily be moved

I will say this is the reason I'm always an *asshole* when I see even one ICE parked at a supercharger. Because I guarantee you this all started with one ICEr and then everyone else just assumed it must be okay to park there. Once 2 or 3 are parked there, it will fill up rather quickly. If people ever ask why it's a big deal if one ICE parks at an 8 stall charger, this is exactly what I explain to them.

 

[Vawlkus]

I'd park behind them. If I get asked to move, my reply would be "sorry I ran out of power while waiting to get at the charger".

 

[Phillip L]

If only the charge cords were long enough to enable one to park right behind them and still be able to plug in, sigh.

 

[Ugliest1]

Putting cones in or around the stalls is the simple solution.

Sure. Since it feels like you're arguing against what I wrote to the mall, I'll respond to the next two comments as well.

They may not be able to tow legally, depending on whatever provincial laws are in place.

Towing is only one, usually last straw repeat offender compliance enforcement option. The decision will be up to them. I just asked they do *something* proactive.

And stationing a security guard there 24/7 is impractical.

Who said 24/7? Who said "stationing"?

Because I guarantee you this all started with one ICEr and then everyone else just assumed it must be okay to park there. Once 2 or 3 are parked there, it will fill up rather quickly.

The broken window effect, started in an experiment with two parked cars, ironically, one in New York and one in Palo Alto in the late 'sixties. I agree totally.

 

[Lon12]

I flew over the Mall early yesterday and noticed how full the parking was already. I would say this should only be a problem on the busy days like back to school or Christmas shopping. I'm sure the mall would have good historical data to look at so we might have an idea when it would happen again. The Mall wouldn't need to monitor it all the time.
I must say I was very disappointed to read about this.

 

[PLUS EV]

Sure. Since it feels like you're arguing against what I wrote to the mall, I'll respond to the next two comments as well.


Towing is only one, usually last straw repeat offender compliance enforcement option. The decision will be up to them. I just asked they do *something* proactive.


Who said 24/7? Who said "stationing"?


The broken window effect, started in an experiment with two parked cars, ironically, one in New York and one in Palo Alto in the late 'sixties. I agree totally.

I was responding to the thread in general and not your post specifically. I didn't think I was arguing at all!

 

[cmt489]

Having used these chargers in July (and having spent a fair amount of money in this mall while doing so) I also sent them a note. If they don't enforce their own rules as stated on their website in relation to these chargers, I hope that Tesla will intervene.

 

[TLej]

FYI I sent the following to the mall using their website contact form:

Okay, @Ugliest1 , your action shamed me into action of my own. I sent an email to the [email protected] and [email protected] addresses. It's pretty wordy, but I posted it below anyhow in case anyone wants to copy and paste any of it into a similar note to the mall. Hopefully they'll be allies and not obstacles for us, but I feel if we don't say anything now it will get worse as per the comments above from yourself and Plus EV.


Good afternoon. I was dismayed to read a posting on the Tesla Motors Club web forum about all 8 of the Cross Iron Supercharger stalls being blocked yesterday by gas-powered vehicles (Western Canada Superchargers, post #2099). Electric vehicle owners call this “getting ICE’d” (ICE being an acronym for Internal Combustion Engine).


As a Tesla owner, I was excited about the opening of this Supercharger as I frequently travel between Edmonton and Calgary, and the convenience of this location with its attendant food court and shopping has made it my new default charging stop for this trip. Prior to the Cross Iron Supercharger opening, my family and I would typically stop in Red Deer for breakfast, lunch, or dinner (depending on when we were travelling). In fact, despite having lived in Calgary between 2003 and 2013, I had never been to your mall before. Now, we usually skip Red Deer and charge (and eat, and shop) at Cross Iron instead. However, this is only because so far in my experience I have not seen these stalls used by any vehicles other than Teslas - this gives me confidence that when I need to charge, I will be able to do so. Seeing this post now makes me second-guess this strategy, and more likely to go back to my Red Deer stops (where the Sheraton hotel does an excellent job of keeping gas-powered vehicles from parking in the Supercharger stalls).

Often people who do not drive electric vehicles simply don’t understand why it’s important for us to be able to access charging spots. Tesla owners are often pretty vocal about this, since for many of us the Tesla Supercharging network is what makes these vehicles truly practical and revolutionary. It can be seen as preferential treatment for a bunch of rich, spoiled people who own expensive cars, and that doesn’t garner a lot of sympathy from some members of the general public. The truth is it has nothing to do with preferential treatment; many of us would be perfectly happy to have Superchargers located as far as possible from mall doors and other preferred locations, but frequently they are installed in high-visibility locations anyhow.

Cross Iron’s commitment to hosting the Superchargers was presumably done for good reason; perhaps elevating the Cross Iron brand by association with Tesla, or by understanding that it guarantees a certain (and growing) number of captive consumers – people with nothing else to do for 30 or 45 minutes while their car charges, who appreciate and patronise business that offer services nearby while they wait. Perhaps it is being done out of a sense of goodwill, environmental stewardship, or perhaps there is a financial offset provided by Tesla. I don’t know the answer to any of these questions, and it’s really none of my business why you’re hosting it. What I would say is that now that the decision has been made to be a host, continuing to build trust and goodwill among the Tesla community by ensuring clear signage and by helping to keep non-Teslas (and even Teslas that aren’t charging) out of those stalls is the expectation. In my experience, Tesla owners tend to be a few things: relatively affluent, not afraid to support businesses doing what they think is right by spending money with them, loyal to those businesses, and talkative. The Tesla ownership community is highly engaged; the thread on TMC where I found out about this issue has been viewed over 237,000 times, and owners love to share new information both good and bad, to help the community grow and to make driving an EV a little easier. Showing a commitment to keeping the Supercharger stalls available for Tesla owners that need to charge will result in ongoing positive reviews, advice to other owners to stop in and charge and shop, and ongoing use by the existing community. Neglecting this responsibility will result in the opposite; people will start skipping the Cross Iron Supercharger in favour of other locations that are reliably available, and spreading the word about where those locations are. I’m part of a WhatsApp group of Edmonton owners, and within minutes of this posting on the TMC forum it was a hot topic of conversation among the Edmonton Tesla community as well – doing damage to the Cross Iron brand without us even having been personally affected (this time).

I hope that Cross Iron will continue to be a good host, and provide education for those non-EV drivers about leaving the stalls open. Perhaps monitoring via security camera might be possible, or some other method of explaining to ICE drivers that taking up these stalls is not acceptable. I understand the mall doesn’t want to start towing drivers; that would result in even worse negative PR no doubt, but I hope that some solution can be worked out. On your website you say there are over 6,000 parking stalls at Cross Iron – hopefully keeping 8 of them open on a consistent basis is not too much to ask.

Respectfully,

 

[Vawlkus]

Good message there. A little wordy, but definitely well thought out.

Something people might want to add is along these lines: ICEing a charger is equivalent to a battery electric car parking at a gas pump in a gas station. There's no reason for it other than ignorance, or a desire to be obstructionist.

 

[Phillip L]

I wonder if it would be possible for a gate, like those at a parking garage, to be built across frequently "iced" Superchargers such that it only raises once a Tesla approaches close to it, just like the "Homelink" feature for your garage door. Presto...no more icing.

 

[Lon12]

Do you think a Model X could just pull them out like this jeep does?

 

[PLUS EV]

Good message there. A little wordy, but definitely well thought out.

Something people might want to add is along these lines: ICEing a charger is equivalent to a battery electric car parking at a gas pump in a gas station. There's no reason for it other than ignorance, or a desire to be obstructionist.

Except imagine if there was only one gas station in a 100 mile radius. So it's actually quite a bit worse!

 

[Jack007]

Hmmm, I haven't seen them filled up since they put the 2nd sign (something like no parking I forget exactly), but it is definitely getting more use. I only charge there when I'm not feeling too lazy (so much easier to plug in at home ) I might hit up arby's for lunch so I'll check today. If I don't edit this post, it was not blocked.

By the way, anyone heard anything or seen anything in Sicamous? And Montana, could really use that connection to I90.

 

[IdaX]

I was there this past Sunday evening ~5PM. The mall was unbelievably slammed -- did the Queen visit or something? Even with that, the supercharger spots were left open and I was able to charge. Just one data point.

 

[Lon12]

Hmmm, I haven't seen them filled up since they put the 2nd sign (something like no parking I forget exactly), but it is definitely getting more use. I only charge there when I'm not feeling too lazy (so much easier to plug in at home ) I might hit up arby's for lunch so I'll check today. If I don't edit this post, it was not blocked.

By the way, anyone heard anything or seen anything in Sicamous? And Montana, could really use that connection to I90.

I drove through Sicamous a couple weeks ago and didn't see anything. Even drove around the Best Western parking lot beside the Tim's, but didn't see any construction.

 

[PLUS EV]

Hmmm, I haven't seen them filled up since they put the 2nd sign (something like no parking I forget exactly), but it is definitely getting more use. I only charge there when I'm not feeling too lazy (so much easier to plug in at home ) I might hit up arby's for lunch so I'll check today. If I don't edit this post, it was not blocked.

By the way, anyone heard anything or seen anything in Sicamous? And Montana, could really use that connection to I90.

A couple weeks ago, I hunted around Sycamous at the usual suspects and didn't see anything. It was not a thorough hunt though as it was getting dark and I had other supercharger to get to! IIRC I think I scoped out the eastern half of the town pretty well and it didn't seem like there were many likely hosts on the western half of the town.