Don't block the Chargers!

Good point. I park away from the "EV ONLY" spaces. I'd like to see one in use sometime, though.

And here I thought you were talking about my city's football team.

 

Why buy a fake extension cord and run it from the charger plug to inside yourPrius trunk. That'll get a few heads to turn.


Just kidding....

 

Would it be OK to park next to them and steal a bit of power for my block heater?

 

Nah, just park in the handicapped spaces and be totally rude B)

 

Are there actually any true EV's left on the roads? I was under the impression that between GM crushing them and no other major manufacturer making them, that the only cars left were those home-builts made by enthusiasts...

BTW: If you mod your Prius to accept a true electric charge to top-up the battery, it should be fine.

 

Would it really? Your Prius does not NEED to charge up to get home. If the true EV does need to charge, you would be violating the spirit (and probably the letter) of the EV space.

And of course, they still might have your car towed, because they would have no way of knowing that you've modified it to accept a charge.

I really do not understand why this even comes up. Are Prius owners so full of their own importance that they think they should have special parking privileges just because they are early adopters of a futuristic technology? And do they think that if businesses do not provide them with special parking spaces, they should be able to use others' spaces?

Just because the government is stupid enough to enact incentives for buying a car that's in such high demand already that people wait half a year to get one, does not mean that we can expropriate for ourselves the considerations that are granted to genuine special needs (such as handicapped, who need to park close, and EV, who need to charge.) Hey, people, you drive the coolest car in the universe! What more do you need?

 

Can't say that I've ever seen an "EV Only" parking spot.

 

Nor have I.
But then again, I only had to wait about four days from ordering my Prius to delivery.

 

Thanks for bringing this up Nate. Great idea to mention it here. It wasn't just "one" guy who has tried this trick. I have personally seen it at least half a dozen times. Not just with a Prius, either. I've seen a 5L Mustang with the paddle shoved under the hood!

 

Yes, there most certainly are EVs left on the road. Just not EV1s. There are Toyota Rav4EVs, Ford Ranger EVs, Chevy S10 EVs, Hyperminis, Nissan Altras. All production cars, and not all of them crushed, though the makers sure tried! Even so, the home-brew guys need public charging as well. Many of us volunteer to install, maintain and fund these installations.

It still blocks the charger from those who actually NEED charge. A Plug-in hybrid is able to run on gasoline. A true EV is not, and has a more limited range. The public chargers is our way around the range limitation without burning fossil fuels.

 

In CA, an EV driver must purchase a parking pass for public charging. That's the way that enforcement is supposed to happen. You prove the the DMV that you're an EV, and you are allowed to purchase the sticker (think HOV stickers). These are specialized chargers for 220V, and a PHEV would likely be slow-charged at 110V. The idea behind a PHEV is to charge it over night at home. Yes, it would be a great incentive for shopping centers to offer 110V outlets in the parking lot... but it would be silly to block a real EV charger with a car that just needs a 110V outlet.

Most aren't... but there certainly are some that are! I blame ignorance as much as I blame the dealers. Some dealers are telling Prius buyers that they can park in EV spots because the car says "electric" right on it! These same dealers were also telling Prius drivers that they could drive in the HOV lane long before that law went into effect. I truly believe that there are Prius drivers out there who think they're driving an electric vehicle.

An EV? 

 

Most installations now have at least one inductive paddle and at least one *conductive* charging station. My Ranger requires the second while the Rav requires the first. The federal standard is conductive, while most cars on the road require inductive. Neat, eh? Not.

Indeed. Anybody who's interested can click on the EV pages link in my sig to learn more about battery Electric Vehicles.

 

Just to play devil's advocate here - if someone modded their Prius (ie: the California folks) to have enough storage for a daily commute, IMHO, they have every right to use an EV recharging station in order to avoid using any gas. If EV charging stations were available in my area (and they're not, so it's a moot point), I'd lobby for it...

Just because the Prius can run on both gas/electric, doesn't mean owners shouldn't try to avoid using the gas for anything more than a last-ditch emergency backup should they have long-distance EV capability.

Infact, this is the way I see vehicles going in the future - rely more and more on battery/electric only, with the gas engine only being used as a last-ditch emergency backup. (maybe only a tiny 2 or 3 cylinder gas engine with only a gallon or two of gas in order to provide emergency power to the electric systems).

 

Dave -

I totally understand what you're saying. Believe me, this could get VERY complicated. Hybrids have always offered definition challenges for smog testing, etc. This is just one more on the list!

One thing to consider is that the initial PHEVs will only be charged at 110V, and will not reaquire the the specialty chargers that pure BEVS do. To block those chargers to get at 110V is a big mistake, IMO.

Here's another way to look at this. Pretend I have an EV that can go 300 miles on a charge. My neat car can also use about a quart of gasoline, in a pinch, to drive an extra 30 miles. My pretend town has exactly one gas pump. So I drive downtown in my (mostly) EV, and for three hours, park in front of the ONLY gas station for miles and miles around. The reason? Because my car *can* use gasoline.

But it is worse than that, because those of us with our ancient-technology EVs have limited range, and blocking a charger can strand us. We don't have ANY option of getting home. Nobody can bring us a can of electrons from the next nearest charger. We're screwed. The current EV chargers were installed and are maintained by EV drivers. When PHEVs come online, we'll need a movement to make 110V outlets available for them. But blocking an EV charger is not the answer in my book! And this is coming from a guy who hopes to have both vehicles sooner than later!

I hope it is obvious that I'm a huge proponent of PHEVs, and would certainly like to see them powered from the grid (or local renewables) more often than by gasoline. I mean, that's what I'm all about here! And the main reason I chose the Prius over any other vehicle for my "secondary" car. The current plug-in hack is mostly a way to save gasoline by allow for more boost from the battery with less on-board charging. Full EV mode still has the limits as the factory car. When driving on the freeway, you're going to be using the ICE! When we have full-featured PHEVs, with real full-EV range, this will need to be revisited, of course.

We have gotten a bit off the subject at hand though, and that is to keep gasoline cars like the Prius from blocking chargers that they cannot use!

 

I get to use carpool parking at work even though I don't ride with anybody. The security guard in charge said NO, glad I had the V.P. on my side...

Al...

 

I'm with the security guard on this one.

Look through the parking lot and find the biggest gas guzzler you can find. Get it's owner to carpool with you in your Prius, then use the carpool parking.

You'll be reducing dependancy, helping the environment, and there will be no controversy over the parking.

Win-Win in my book.