Getting Blocked by ICE's (Internal combustion engines)

The four spots to park are probably for future use; they probably didn't know how many charge stations they could afford to install. Like Uncle Bob wrote in his post, park as close as you can; many of the stations I've seen have pretty long cords. You might let the store staff know about the parking of the "regular" Prius; that misinformed person might even work there.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
AChoiredTaste.com

Well Mr. Leisk, it is a "plug-in", and thereby allowed to use the facilities, whereas a "non-plugin" may not. Semantics, semantics, semantics!

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AChoiredTaste.com

Yeah but they also have a budget! Costco, Walmart, and Target don't offer any charging at all in my area, and they ain't no financial slouches! Unfortunately, I just never need to shop at Ikea.

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AChoiredTaste.com

Yeah, and they should adopt my idea of running a green painted stripe from the driveway entrance to the charging stations, so that people looking for charge stations can easily find them.

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AChoiredTaste.com

I'm being a snot here, but they should have thought of that when they didn't buy a Prime! Also, most of the stations I see these days are not free (they require payment, and are frequently not available --not "free"!)

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AChoiredTaste.com

 

To argue with myself, and echo what a few others have said: if a freebie charge at Ikea is needed for your Electric Vehicle to be viable, you've bought the wrong car.

Addendum:

Typed that indepently @HPrimeAdvanced , didn't see your posting. But it seems we're on the same wavelength?

Bottom line, Ikea charge stations are kinda like bird feed stations for wild birds, maybe cause more harm than good?

I like that green stripe idea too: like hospitals, stripes running this way and that, just don't follow the black one, har har har.

 

Who'd go to that lowlife place anyway!! Ban my car from charging, will you!!

Yeah, Mr. Bisco!! I could be running out of gas and need electric to get home. They shouldn't judge us PHEVs (plug-in hybrids). Since they now are usually requiring payment to charge, it's unimportant whether you're a PHEV or a dedicated electric (BEV). If the poor BEV owners are unhappy, they should do better planning or buy a Prime!

What, you don't have free gas pumps!!??

 

Totally agree on charging for the charging being the solution. Beverly Hills also implemented this for public chargers. Odds are there is an element of classism at play there.

Locality needs to be considered. California has a high density of chargers, attractive incentives for BEV buyers, and high residential electric costs. This leads to more BEVs on the road, and makes squatting at free chargers attractive. There are some BEV drivers there that can't even charge at home.

Other areas of the country have fewer chargers, and even have real winters to reduce EV range. Finding a charger could be more critical for a BEV there than an PHEV. Banning PHEVs might be a good decision until local infrastructure matches the plug in population.

Otherwise, I don't care is PHEVs use public chargers. I just think its rude and a bit wasteful. A PHEV has an ICE, and it will need to be used at some point. At the very least to burn off old gas. Then the various fluids have time related lifespans. Toyota wants you to change the oil every 10k miles or once a year regardless of how long the ICE actually ran. Get your PHEV to 100% EV. Great, should have bought a BEV.

How many gas stations did you pass to get to that charger?

 

I VERY carefully plan my gasoline purchases, and likewise my electric hookups. Unfortunately, the current infrastructure mandates this care for my driving style. Being in the Eco Dashboard foolishness, I'm encouraged to buy no gas.
I only buy gas at 1 Arco (cheap) station, whose prices are suddenly moving to the stratosphere!! Can't say I'm not gloating, surrounded as I am by MASSIVE Land Barges!! From the info I get with ChargePoint etc., and based on my knowledge of gas station locations, the charge stations I pass are rapidly approaching the number of gas stations I pass. We have seen a dramatic decrease in the number of gas stations here in Socal in the last 15 years.

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AChoiredTaste.com

 

This statement deserves more credit.

Some of you say that a BEV owner bought the wrong car if he can't get to a certain place without a public charger, but I would argue if the vast majority of your miles are electric only and own a PHEV you bought the wrong car. You do realize you are continually hauling around hundreds of pounds in unused mechanical material?

Don't get me wrong, I think PHEV's are great. I own one and have loved it. I'm just tired of people thinking they are the absolute perfect car without any negatives. News flash, there is no such car. Every car has a weakness even if your mind is trying to convince you otherwise via confirmation bias.

 

Time to pull the ICE for more battery.

Unless those charge points are all quick DC chargers, you'll need more to keep up with what the number of cars a gas station can service.

 

I'm happy as a clam in a hybrid. Different folks, different strokes.

 

All of us....including me....need to be focusing on the big picture and not fight amongst ourselves. The more traditional ICE vehicles we can get off the road the better. Hybrid, PHEV, BEV...they're all important.

 

Does the same hold true for folks who run out of gas?

 

no, they don't whine about the gas pump being blocked, they find a way to get a couple gallons.

 

You can bring those gallons to the car. For a BEV you need a tow truck to get it to a charger.

 

who's problem is that?

 

And up until recently here in Socal, the person who ran out of gas on the freeway, had a nice long walk and a ticket. Now we have freeway trucks who'll bail out drivers encountering this kind of problem. Eventually we'll get through this transitional access to chargers problem, especially as the charging infrastructure grows.

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AChoiredTaste.com

 

Attributed to Ben Franklin:

“If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.”

Agree with others, if you are trying to get 100% EV out of a PHEV, you bought the wrong car. FWIW I am 50% in our plugin Prius. Maybe 20-80% might make sense. There was no better car for my needs at the time and it would not have been the best fit for many others.

As for not being able to charge at home or at your destination - if plugging in is important, then perhaps one should have bought a PHEV or Tesla for supercharging.

 

I'm sure as demand grows, we'll see emergency trucks with charging capability to bail out BEVs. Technology moves on!

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AChoiredTaste.com

 

Or you can bring the electrons to the car.

AAA Mobile Charging Trucks Seek to Remedy EV Range Anxiety – News – Car and Driver

Story is 1.5 years old, so not sure of the status of the AAA program, but as of the story:

Currently the service remains in a pilot phase, available in areas surrounding Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Denver, Phoenix, and Orlando, generally with several such trucks per market. The first unit was deployed in 2011. The EV rescue trucks were conceived in part as an R&D project, with sourcing of hardware varied and the build itself by a range of upfitters. The trucks all use onboard generators—powered by diesel, gasoline, or LP natural gas—and are capable of providing 240-volt Level 2 charging, with most also compatible with Level 3 fast charging (good for all three standards: CHAdeMo, CCS, and Tesla Supercharger).​

Some day, perhaps mobile rescue supercharging up to 20-30 miles in a few minutes, who knows?

 

Bet on it!!

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AChoiredTaste.com

 

Calm my friends. Requirements can change in response to external events. It is requirements that should drive our decisions. For example, let's move to:

• Glendive Montana - work vehicle ICE or diesel, commuting a hybrid.
• Huntsville Alabama - work vehicle diesel, commuting a plug-in hybrid.
• Freemont California - work vehicle BEV, commuting vehicle BEV.

I chose a plug-in hybrid because I wanted options and testing has shown it worked. If BEV bigots don't want to share, I'll get a coffee-coco at 7/11 or an adult beverage at a bar. For what it is worth:

The EVSE on the wall, a JuiceBox 40, is my first one. The 40A circuit provided by Propst. If a BEV bigot wants to deny my access, I can take my toys and go home. Yes, I have seen a BEV plugged in and I drove on by to complete my errands.

If I paid California taxes in Beverly Hills, I might find a clever lawyer to point out that my taxes can not be selectively given as exclusive service to a special class of vehicle owners. But I would wonder who made this decision?

Bob Wilson

 

I'll ask again: if one runs out of gas, they bought the wrong car?