ICE vehicles parked in EV charging bays
Discussion
I’ve got my first EV arriving next month, so I’ve started paying closer attention to how public charging works.
One thing that’s already stood out is the number of ICE vehicles parked in EV charging bays - at shops, hotels, gyms, and elsewhere. In many cases, these bays seem to have been placed in prime spots close to entrances, much like disabled bays, which unfortunately makes them easy targets for misuse by people who just want a convenient parking space.
So what’s the realistic solution when this happens? Do you block them in and hope the cable reaches, move on and look for another charger, or wait it out and hope the driver returns in time?
One thing that’s already stood out is the number of ICE vehicles parked in EV charging bays - at shops, hotels, gyms, and elsewhere. In many cases, these bays seem to have been placed in prime spots close to entrances, much like disabled bays, which unfortunately makes them easy targets for misuse by people who just want a convenient parking space.
So what’s the realistic solution when this happens? Do you block them in and hope the cable reaches, move on and look for another charger, or wait it out and hope the driver returns in time?
I've recently switched to EV and it reminds me of when I started cycling to work 20 years ago.
I used to see all the cycle lanes and paths and wonder why nobody ever seemed to use them - it was only when I rode a bike as a commuter that I saw the full picture.
Same with charging - lots of charging bays were set up around ten years ago but they were hardly used because most early adopters could charge at home, and they were all the 'AC' type which maxed out at anything from 7 to 22kW so were pretty slow, especially as most cars are capped at 11kW AC. Fine as destination chargers such as at hotels, but pretty useless at a supermarket where you might only be there for an hour. They were hardly used so ICE drivers got used to parking in them (often prime spots as you've observed) and they're poorly maintained or just ignored by whoever hosts them.
Assuming you'll have home charging, most public charging you do will be at 50kW+ 'DC' chargers which tend to be located in dedicated zones at the back of a car park. ICE parking is a problem in places, but far more of an issue is EV owners leaving a car for hours when their charge might be complete in half an hour - e.g. at hotels they'll kick off a charge then go to their room for the night. Tesla already charge for overstays and others will no doubt follow.
Those older slow chargers are often next to useless unless you can't charge at home, and then they tend to be in locations such as public car parks where you wouldn't want to leave your car overnight.
Personally I think there is a place for those slower AC chargers in places where people will be parked for at least a couple of hours but not next to the disabled bays near the door - and certainly not put there as a form of virtue signalling by business owners as seems to have been the case in the past.
I used to see all the cycle lanes and paths and wonder why nobody ever seemed to use them - it was only when I rode a bike as a commuter that I saw the full picture.
Same with charging - lots of charging bays were set up around ten years ago but they were hardly used because most early adopters could charge at home, and they were all the 'AC' type which maxed out at anything from 7 to 22kW so were pretty slow, especially as most cars are capped at 11kW AC. Fine as destination chargers such as at hotels, but pretty useless at a supermarket where you might only be there for an hour. They were hardly used so ICE drivers got used to parking in them (often prime spots as you've observed) and they're poorly maintained or just ignored by whoever hosts them.
Assuming you'll have home charging, most public charging you do will be at 50kW+ 'DC' chargers which tend to be located in dedicated zones at the back of a car park. ICE parking is a problem in places, but far more of an issue is EV owners leaving a car for hours when their charge might be complete in half an hour - e.g. at hotels they'll kick off a charge then go to their room for the night. Tesla already charge for overstays and others will no doubt follow.
Those older slow chargers are often next to useless unless you can't charge at home, and then they tend to be in locations such as public car parks where you wouldn't want to leave your car overnight.
Personally I think there is a place for those slower AC chargers in places where people will be parked for at least a couple of hours but not next to the disabled bays near the door - and certainly not put there as a form of virtue signalling by business owners as seems to have been the case in the past.
They’ve often closer because the power has to be run to them from the building.
But destination chargers (eg 7kw chargers) at places like shops can be a bit of a waste of time outside areas with little ability to home charge, and if you can’t home charge you should be thinking carefully about getting an EV . They’re typically expensive and if we’re talking shops, not far from where people live, and a 2 hour shopping trip would add maybe only 40-50 miles of range. From my observations, lots of EVs also use these bays but don’t bother actually starting the charge. I can’t remember the last time I destination charged other than overnight at a hotel, it must be 7 or 8 years ago and even then only because it was free at the time.
And on the topic of “free”, 8-9 years ago I used to plug it at the railway station when heading off to London for the day, everyone did, it was a race to get to the chargers. You’d be forgiven for thinking it was essential and a problem with capacity. Then they started charging a token fee, and nobody used them, charging simply wasn’t out of necessity. My mindset has changed greatly over the years and the “always be charging” mantra we had pushed on us by many is simply outdated and does more harm than good.
So essentially there is still a lot of pandering to range anxiety fears in the EV space which is increasingly less relevant with a 200 mile working range in all but the depths of winter being pretty much the entry point.
That all said, they shouldn’t do it
But destination chargers (eg 7kw chargers) at places like shops can be a bit of a waste of time outside areas with little ability to home charge, and if you can’t home charge you should be thinking carefully about getting an EV . They’re typically expensive and if we’re talking shops, not far from where people live, and a 2 hour shopping trip would add maybe only 40-50 miles of range. From my observations, lots of EVs also use these bays but don’t bother actually starting the charge. I can’t remember the last time I destination charged other than overnight at a hotel, it must be 7 or 8 years ago and even then only because it was free at the time.
And on the topic of “free”, 8-9 years ago I used to plug it at the railway station when heading off to London for the day, everyone did, it was a race to get to the chargers. You’d be forgiven for thinking it was essential and a problem with capacity. Then they started charging a token fee, and nobody used them, charging simply wasn’t out of necessity. My mindset has changed greatly over the years and the “always be charging” mantra we had pushed on us by many is simply outdated and does more harm than good.
So essentially there is still a lot of pandering to range anxiety fears in the EV space which is increasingly less relevant with a 200 mile working range in all but the depths of winter being pretty much the entry point.
That all said, they shouldn’t do it
Seems to be much more of an EV problem these days, hardly ever see an ICE parked in charging bays, loads of EVs parked but not charging though 
I was at a hotel last week, 8 charging bays, three had EVs not plugged in and one had a 4x4 parked in it. The other four were empty so not a problem, but I have no idea what the EV drivers were thinking.
I was at a hotel last week, 8 charging bays, three had EVs not plugged in and one had a 4x4 parked in it. The other four were empty so not a problem, but I have no idea what the EV drivers were thinking.
Russet Grange said:
coach said:
Our council (Shropshire) has just started enforcement on anyone parking in EV charging bays who is not charging (ICE and EV). So it is possible if there is a will
They want the money, they don't give a toss where you park.coach said:
Our council (Shropshire) has just started enforcement on anyone parking in EV charging bays who is not charging (ICE and EV). So it is possible if there is a will
They don’t in Whitchurch, brownlow st car park, you will often find a cayenne in the space adjacent to the Chinese; small car park close to theatre Severn in Shrewsbury is the same, every time I go past there is usually 1 space iced & badly parked so you can’t use the adjacent space unless your cable is extra long.I got an earful off an angry pensioner at Gloucester Services for parking in these bays. I have to be honest, I had no idea what the painted symbol meant, and whilst they are 'near' the EV chargers, they aren't actually spaces 'with' chargers. However, as angry pensioner told me "these spaces are for electric cars only". There were a couple of free ones left anyway (see pic) so I didn't (and still don't) know what the issue was...
FlyingPanda said:
I got an earful off an angry pensioner at Gloucester Services for parking in these bays. I have to be honest, I had no idea what the painted symbol meant, and whilst they are 'near' the EV chargers, they aren't actually spaces 'with' chargers. However, as angry pensioner told me "these spaces are for electric cars only". There were a couple of free ones left anyway (see pic) so I didn't (and still don't) know what the issue was...
Those spaces make no sense. As an EV owner myself I'd have no problem with them being used by anybody.FlyingPanda said:
I got an earful off an angry pensioner at Gloucester Services for parking in these bays. I have to be honest, I had no idea what the painted symbol meant, and whilst they are 'near' the EV chargers, they aren't actually spaces 'with' chargers. However, as angry pensioner told me "these spaces are for electric cars only". There were a couple of free ones left anyway (see pic) so I didn't (and still don't) know what the issue was...
They're spaces for EVs to park whilst queuing for the 3 hours it takes to get on a charger... or so I read in the dailymail 
TheDrownedApe said:
Never had this issue, but then I don't public charge much.
I'm guessing you will have a home charger; in which case you probably won't charge at these if they are local to you anyway.
This is true, but there will definitely be times when I am far from home, or I need to recharge quickly and my 7kw home charger won't suffice.I'm guessing you will have a home charger; in which case you probably won't charge at these if they are local to you anyway.
In any case its good to be prepared with how to deal with these edge cases.
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