What to do when getting ICEd ?

[Simong85]

Hi,
I came back from France this weekend and had an unpleasant first "discussion" with an idiot parking in a Tesla supercharger at the Eurotunnel terminal.
There were plenty of supercharger spots available but he parked there with an old Diesel Audi next to me. When I saw him come back from the terminal, I went politely to tell him he can't park here but I got rejected actively : "I don't care, I hate Tesla and I hate Tesla owners. I pee on you all. Are you the police ? Next time you will have to call your dentist if you talk to me again" Then he left, roaring his engine, and parked somewhere else waiting for his turn for the tunnel.

I did not really know what to answer or how to report this guy. He had a little kid in the back of the car, what a great example he was making...

What could i have done ? Can the police do something ? is there any good way to report these guys ? Do they risk paying anything at all or is it just allowed for him to park in Tesla space and offend me ?

 

[TheEVadvisor]

should have spoken to the eurotunnel security

 

[M3noob]

Hi,
I came back from France this weekend and had an unpleasant first "discussion" with an idiot parking in a Tesla supercharger at the Eurotunnel terminal.
There were plenty of supercharger spots available but he parked there with an old Du iesel Audi next to me. When I saw him come back from the terminal, I went politely to tell him he can't park here but I got rejected actively : "I don't care, I hate Tesla and I hate Tesla owners. I pee on you all. Are you the police ? Next time you will have to call your dentist if you talk to me again" Then he left, roaring his engine, and parked somewhere else waiting for his turn for the tunnel.

I did not really know what to answer or how to report this guy. He had a little kid in the back of the car, what a great example he was making...

What could i have done ? Can the police do something ? is there any good way to report these guys ? Do they risk paying anything at all or is it just allowed for him to park in Tesla space and offend me ?

In the US you would have drawn your 9mm and explained the error of his ways including some pointed advice about how to set an example for children.

In the UK you would draw your phone and take a picture of his reg and forward that to the Eurotunnel security.

Idiots abound. We can't save the world just because we drive great cars (although it helps).

 

[GRiLLA]

There were plenty of supercharger spots available but he parked there with an old Diesel Audi next to me

If it's not inconveniencing you or anyone else, what's the problem? He's clearly an idiot, and pity the poor child, but you don't know his circumstances. Maybe he had an entirely valid reason.

 

[mpandrew]

I can so relate to OP about this, see it regularly at my local Tesco but each time I think carefully, calm myself down and let it go. In these instances, the charge is a nice top-up but not essential so if I miss an opportunity because of a few bottom feeders so be it. To take them on you definitely risk harm, either to yourself or a nice scratch down the car when you leave it alone. The only time I would take action is if I needed to use the charger and would then remain with the car for the duration of the charge assuming the person did agree to move. I console myself with the thought that in five years, EVs will be commonplace and this kind of behaviour will no longer exist.

 

[Glan gluaisne]

Life's too short to worry about the last gasps of a a dinosaur, on it's inevitable path to extinction. The guy hasn't broken any laws, he's probably just demonstrating against EVs, perhaps Tesla in particular. As there were lots of spare bays no harm was done, and his protest had zero impact, so was a waste of his time - no point in wasting more of your time too, chasing it up.

If he'd been actually blocking a charger, then at worst he may have broken some local regulation, still not an offence, AFAIK, at worst he might just get asked to move, I suspect. It's possible that the landowner may have put a policy in place to allow specific parking penalty notices to be handed out for something like this, but I doubt it, TBH.

 

[DJP31]

It is a difficult one as the last thing you want is a punch on the nose or worse still, the car kicked!

It’s only happened a couple of times but I’ve taken the concerned approach, letting the person know the cctv is pretty active and hoping they don’t get a fine. Even though obviously it’s not.

 

[CasperUK]

There was an interesting write up on one approach someone from Texas took on Reddit yesterday, worth a read.

Sulphur Springs, TX to crack down on ICE'ing. More info in comments. : TeslaLounge

 

[Jibjab]

I can so relate to OP about this, see it regularly at my local Tesco but each time I think carefully, calm myself down and let it go. In these instances, the charge is a nice top-up but not essential so if I miss an opportunity because of a few bottom feeders so be it. To take them on you definitely risk harm, either to yourself or a nice scratch down the car when you leave it alone. The only time I would take action is if I needed to use the charger and would then remain with the car for the duration of the charge assuming the person did agree to move. I console myself with the thought that in five years, EVs will be commonplace and this kind of behaviour will no longer exist.

What I don’t understand is why, some, supermarkets, put the chargers as close as possible to the front door? There’s a local Asda that has a couple of bays and I’ve never once seen an EV/plug in hybrid parked there. They have no intention of policing it, as they don’t the parent and child spaces.

If they just put the chargers as far away as possible I think this would save a lot of hassle. Same goes for super chargers at motorway services, the further away they are the less likely they are to be abused.

Personally I’ve always parked as far away as possible in any car to avoid the hassle l of squeezing into a space flanked by a car either side and potential damage of door dents and errant trolleys

 

[hgmichna]

It's easier in Germany. You can come as a friend, just to warn the driver that he'll have to pay €55 (the fine for blocking a charge station), if he gets caught. Many people still have no clue what a charging station is.

 

[Glan gluaisne]

Supermarkets etc have a problem if they put them far away from the entrance, though, as they may get accused of discrimination against EV drivers that happen to have limited mobility. There's also the very valid reason brought up recently that some people may feel vulnerable having to park a long way away, perhaps in a dark area at night.

 

[Mr H]

He’d visit his

What I don’t understand is why, some, supermarkets, put the chargers as close as possible to the front door? There’s a local Asda that has a couple of bays and I’ve never once seen an EV/plug in hybrid parked there. They have no intention of policing it, as they don’t the parent and child spaces.

If they just put the chargers as far away as possible I think this would save a lot of hassle. Same goes for super chargers at motorway services, the further away they are the less likely they are to be abused.

Personally I’ve always parked as far away as possible in any car to avoid the hassle l of squeezing into a space flanked by a car either side and potential damage of door dents and errant trolleys

because it’s usually the shortest route to run the power supply. Different when they build a new store

 

[Jibjab]

Supermarkets etc have a problem if they put them far away from the entrance, though, as they may get accused of discrimination against EV drivers that happen to have limited mobility. There's also the very valid reason brought up recently that some people may feel vulnerable having to park a long way away, perhaps in a dark area at night.

Yes, I was pondering that at the weekend actually as my mum has a blue badge...a bit of conundrum that needs to be thought about and managed as more EVs appear on the roads.

 

[HenryT]

It's not only the ICE drivers who can be a problem - I had to wait nearly an hour to retrieve my charging cable from under the front wheel of a Jaguar iPace. I can understand it wasn't done on purpose and was an easy mistake to make but the thing that did surprise me is that he will have had to virtually stand on my cable to plug his in as the charge port on the Jag is above the front wheel anyway.

68FE61A7-AB44-4969-9E93-77B82DFDD264

• HenryT
• Sep 7, 2020

Charging fail!

 

[fancealot]

What I don’t understand is why, some, supermarkets, put the chargers as close as possible to the front door? There’s a local Asda that has a couple of bays and I’ve never once seen an EV/plug in hybrid parked there. They have no intention of policing it, as they don’t the parent and child spaces.

If they just put the chargers as far away as possible I think this would save a lot of hassle. Same goes for super chargers at motorway services, the further away they are the less likely they are to be abused.

Personally I’ve always parked as far away as possible in any car to avoid the hassle l of squeezing into a space flanked by a car either side and potential damage of door dents and errant trolleys

doesn't help that particular Asda say it's not thier car park and it's the council that has to police the spaces, at least there are some newer chargers over by the TGI Fridays, but I suppose they have similar issues!

In regards to the threatening behaviour, you DO have a right to complain about threats of physical assault, Eurotunnel security can be advised about particular customer's behaviour in case they do anything else (Eurotunnel have a responsibility to the welfare of all customers whilst on thier property) - the ICE driver is probably salty about having to wear a mask too!

 

[bhanorthy]

Until they ANPR spaces and issue fines people won’t care unfortunately.

 

[M3noob]

... I console myself with the thought that in five years, EVs will be commonplace and this kind of behaviour will no longer exist.

Not a chance. The idiots will be driving EVs and running out of charge on Lane 1 on a "Smart" motorway. Darwinism will take care of a few.

Reflect on the fact that on the bell-shaped population IQ curve, half of humanity is below average intelligence.

 

[NigelT]

doesn't help that particular Asda say it's not thier car park and it's the council that has to police the spaces, at least there are some newer chargers over by the TGI Fridays, but I suppose they have similar issues!

If you are describing where I think you are, those Polar chargers opposite TGI Fridays are only 3KW and the spaces are tiny!

 

[Mr H]

Hi,
I came back from France this weekend and had an unpleasant first "discussion" with an idiot parking in a Tesla supercharger at the Eurotunnel terminal.
There were plenty of supercharger spots available but he parked there with an old Diesel Audi next to me. When I saw him come back from the terminal, I went politely to tell him he can't park here but I got rejected actively : "I don't care, I hate Tesla and I hate Tesla owners. I pee on you all. Are you the police ? Next time you will have to call your dentist if you talk to me again" Then he left, roaring his engine, and parked somewhere else waiting for his turn for the tunnel.

I did not really know what to answer or how to report this guy. He had a little kid in the back of the car, what a great example he was making...

What could i have done ? Can the police do something ? is there any good way to report these guys ? Do they risk paying anything at all or is it just allowed for him to park in Tesla space and offend me ?

Charging aside, you were threatened with physical violence - definitely a police matter even if to just teach the idiot a lesson

 

[Mr H]

It's not only the ICE drivers who can be a problem - I had to wait nearly an hour to retrieve my charging cable from under the front wheel of a Jaguar iPace. I can understand it wasn't done on purpose and was an easy mistake to make but the thing that did surprise me is that he will have had to virtually stand on my cable to plug his in as the charge port on the Jag is above the front wheel anyway.

68FE61A7-AB44-4969-9E93-77B82DFDD264

• HenryT
• Sep 7, 2020

Charging fail!

Don't you carry a jack?