Last week I stayed one night at a hotel in Orlando which (thankfully) had two Level 2 charging stations. I've stayed there before and have never seen another EV charging overnight. But this time, there was a Volt parked in one of the spaces - NOT Plugged In! Clearly, I was totally confused. Why would an EV owner park in a charging stall, and not bother to charge? After some investigation, this is what I learned.
The charging stations are located in an auxiliary parking lot. Technically, it's not a self parking, or valet, or an employee lot. But it's an unattended, gated lot with an intercom. The parking Valet uses the lot to park the occasional EV, but you can also self park your EV there by identifying yourself on the intercom. Apparently, a Valet attendant parked a Volt there, but he didn't know how to plug it in, so he just left it in the EV charging space. I explained to the hotel manager why an EV owner would never do this. I told him, "Imagine a gas station with only two pumps. I park my car in front of one of the pumps, (decide not to refuel) and walk away. Planning to return in several hours." Manager says, "I get it".
The next morning, the Volt was still there, but it was plugged in.
The masses educate ever so slowly.
The charging stations are located in an auxiliary parking lot. Technically, it's not a self parking, or valet, or an employee lot. But it's an unattended, gated lot with an intercom. The parking Valet uses the lot to park the occasional EV, but you can also self park your EV there by identifying yourself on the intercom. Apparently, a Valet attendant parked a Volt there, but he didn't know how to plug it in, so he just left it in the EV charging space. I explained to the hotel manager why an EV owner would never do this. I told him, "Imagine a gas station with only two pumps. I park my car in front of one of the pumps, (decide not to refuel) and walk away. Planning to return in several hours." Manager says, "I get it".
The next morning, the Volt was still there, but it was plugged in.
The masses educate ever so slowly.
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