EV Charging Entitlement Syndrome… It’s a thing. Thanks to @GorehamJ for this thoughtful, very current piece about the new issue of EV Charging. The more EVs on the road, the more this issue will present itself.
Has anyone in the Car Talk Community seen this happen, or experienced it themselves?
P.S. This piece is so good, it landed the homepage feature slot. Congrats John!
Any mention in that article about the jerk who intentionally takes up a charging space with their fuel burning vehicle?
The core problem is people are raised to be more and more inconsiderate.
@circuitsmith Yes! John excellently covers the phenomenon called being “ICED out.”
I.C.E. meaning Internal Combustion Engine, taking up a charging space.
Go back to some old time technology and install parking meters on EV charging spaces and levy heavy fines on violators.
@mg1998_177910 Good call. Many EV charging stations use apps to track and pay for time at each station, but not all. I think it is only a matter of time before the EV charging networks are all streamlined, and violators will be charged automatically on their cards, if they stay too long.
Nearly all the situations John describes are entitled owners acting selfishly. Or, in other words, humans being humans. Humans will act in their own best interest, not in the best interest of others in most instances. This behavior is often reinforced when that human believes that they are acting in the greater good for humanity so they can be just that much more selfish in smaller things!
An example of this is the Toyota Pious (sorry, Prius…) owner camping in the left lane locked to the speed limit blocking traffic or driving at 20 mph over because they are getting 50 MPGs and you aren’t!
A surcharge for charger-campers still plugged in after a full charge is a good idea. Doesn’t solve the ICE-ers or EV parkers without charging. A simple tow-away would solve that.
Can’t say I’ve ever seen that, the Prius drivers around here don’t drive any differently than others. Some are jerks, most aren’t, just like everyone else.
+1
However, I have noticed an increasing percentage of them who drive like speed demons.
@VDCdriver I think this is because the newer Prius are more advanced. The old Prius would chug along, with almost no pick-up, humming its familiar tune, frustrating anyone who was unfortunate enough to find themselves behind it at a green light.
The newer models are more savvy. Very zippy, and way more fun to drive. They can speed now, where the capability didn’t really exist before!
Back to EV charging - I’m wondering how Hertz is going to do with its 100,000 Teslas. I know if I was renting a car on a business trip I’d avoid an EV unless I had a guaranteed charging spot. Not likely. It’s a lot different than buying one, with a charger in my garage.
I’ve had this thought as well. They say they will have their own charging infrastructure in place by then. Also a report this morning said they plan to lease half of their fleet to Uber drivers…
I am OK with renting and EV for vacations. If I rent a car it is for local transportation around my vacation spot. I think 300 miles of range would eliminate any need for me to recharge. A little research would show me where a charge point is as a backup.
Plus it gives the the opportunity to try out an EV and the EV experience. We suggest this to car shoppers all the time.
Solution : Embrace your inner neophobe and use fossil fuel vehicles for as long as you can. You won’t have to deal with any of these problems, at least not for while.
Not related to the topic but I took a survey on line about Electric vehicles . Questions like do you have one , do you want one or do not want one. I don’t know how many took the survey but 5 % marked the question ( have you heard of electric vehicles ) as No I have not heard of electric vehicles . Good grief , where do these people live - in a cave ?
I wonder if they will have special Handicap charging spots. also the article said that a lot of charging stations have to be close to buildings because it cost to much to dig the roads up. how will that effect the handicap spots that are always close to buildings?
A lot of hotels now have EV charging stations. I typically see two to four on their parking lot. I didn’t get close enough to see whether the user has to pay for the charge though.
We have a saying around here, “You can’t legislate against stupid”, to which I’d add “lazy, selfish and rude”.
But on a positive note I’d add that this is a temporary problem which will be quickly resolved as EV’s become mainstream and incentives start to disappear.
It’s ok by me if businesses install dedicated EV charging stations in their parking lots, even right at the front, in the premium spots. Provided of course they also have adequate handicap parking in a similar location. This is a very common sight here in the San Jose area, often the charging, with a time limit, is free, paid for by the local governments and/or retailers. Like I say, I think it’s fine by me. With the proviso of course that it remains available to everyone with an EV. If I have to walk an extra 50 feet, good exercise, which I’ll make up by staying 3 fewer minutes at the gym.
Maybe3 they are hard of hearing…
I’ve begun to see some Tesla 3 cars in my area, enough that they don’t seem odd anymore but few enough that their front ends with no grill still catch my attention. But I’ve not seen any public charging spots as yet, although certainly there are some that I’ve simply not noticed.
I’m also seeing more hybrids the past couple of years now that the hybrid batteries don’t take up the entire car trunk or SUV cargo area.
For the most part, a hybrid or EV would be ideal for my average, typical driving use. But as my seven year old car is in excellent condition, paid for, and has relatively low insurance premiums and annual personal property tax I am content to motor on in my ICE 4-cyl. Besides, when I bought it I based my choice in part on the assumption I would be paying $4 to $5 per gallon for gas. The past year and a half of much lower gas prices was nice while it lasted but I have never counted on it being that low for long.
