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  • Charging station inside parking garage for hybrid cars

    There is a charging station inside one of the parking garages I am responsible for maintaining Monday through Friday for hybrid cars. The property management company that owns that parking garage as well as the other parking garage I work at came up with the idea of having a charging station for hybrid cars in their parking garages. There is a big sign on one of the support beams on the first level stating car charging station, and the equipment to charge the car is attached to the support beam. There is a parking spot in front of the support beam.

    This past Tuesday I was working in that garage a car entered the garage. The customer, a male, saw me, and he temporarily parked his car near where I was working. He got out of his car and walked up to me. Here is what happened.

    male customer: "Why is there a car parked at the charging station?"

    He points to a pickup truck parked in the parking spot at the charging station. The pickup truck is not being charged & so obviously it is not a hybrid car.

    me: "I do not know why."

    male customer: "Well... you should enforce that. I need to park there." *but... his car was not hybrid*

    He gets back into his car.

    There are call boxes on the first level of the parking gargages I work in, & so I motioned for him to drive up to the call box. I press the call button on the call box for him to speak to someone about his complaint. The parking company I work for has employees working inside the parking garage offices. The phone call goes to one of those offices.

    Later on that day I asked someone at the garage office where I clock out for my lunch about what a car charging station is used for. That person explained to me what they are used for, and I told her about the customer who wanted me to enforce the *no parking in the parking spot where the charging equipment is*. She told me that the customers who park at that garage are a bunch of cry babies because they 1) call that office when there are no empty spots in the parking garage *however, there is parking on the roof, which is rarely used*, 2) call the office when the spot they normally park in *which is not a reserved spot; it is an unreserved spot; the reserved spots are numbered* has a car already parked in it, and so on.

    Then when I got to the garage the next morning I noticed the same car was parked in the parking spot where the car charging station is. It was also there the following morning.

    This past Friday that car was not parked in the garage, but later on that morning another car, which was not a hybrid car because it was not hooked up to the charging equipment, was parked in the parking spot where the car charging station is.

    The parking company I work for manages the parking garages meaning that the company makes sure that the garages a cleaned and maintained and that the entrance gate and exit gate equipment is working properly. It is up to the property management company to do something about cars parking in the car charging station parking spot since that was their idea to have them.
    Last edited by snugglegirl05; 06-09-2013, 01:24 AM.

  • #2
    Maybe start ticketing them?

    Like say $300?
    The best professors are mad scientists! -Zoom

    Now queen of USSR-Land...

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    • #3
      Put the charging stations on the parking spots on the roof! A hybrid guy needing a charge will go the extra distance and inconvenience of parking on the roof and be grateful there is a plug in anywhere.

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      • #4
        Quoth jiarby View Post
        Put the charging stations on the parking spots on the roof! A hybrid guy needing a charge will go the extra distance and inconvenience of parking on the roof and be grateful there is a plug in anywhere.
        Excellent idea!!

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        • #5
          Quoth jiarby View Post
          Put the charging stations on the parking spots on the roof! A hybrid guy needing a charge will go the extra distance and inconvenience of parking on the roof and be grateful there is a plug in anywhere.
          Quoth laborcat View Post
          Excellent idea!!
          Hmm...I'm no expert, but perhaps they prefer to have a roof over the charging equipment to protect it in case of rain. While I believe I've seen chargers in open-air parking lots, it may be this particular equipment isn't quite as weather-resistant.

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          • #6
            Did the complaint come from someone that actually needed the spot? It sure seemed like it wasn't. It'll be interesting to see how things shake out as BEVs and PHEVs become more prevalent, and spots like that become highly coveted.
            But the paint on me is beginning to dry
            And it's not what I wanted to be
            The weight on me
            Is Hanging on to a weary angel - Sister Hazel

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            • #7
              Quoth Ophbalance View Post
              Did the complaint come from someone that actually needed the spot? It sure seemed like it wasn't. It'll be interesting to see how things shake out as BEVs and PHEVs become more prevalent, and spots like that become highly coveted.
              No, the customer did not have a hybrid car.

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              • #8
                Then he doesn't have a complaint.

                But it does seem odd that they would put in a charging station and not put in a sign that says "Reserved for charging station use only " or something like that. And enforce it.
                Life is too short to not eat popcorn.
                Save the Ales!
                Toys for Tots at Rooster's Cafe

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                • #9
                  How about putting up a sign that all non-hybrid cars that park in front of the charging station will be towed at the owner's expense? If someone's that big of a dick bag to take up the spot intended for a specific purpose, than they deserve to pay the idiot tax.

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                  • #10
                    Quoth Moosenogger View Post
                    How about putting up a sign that all non-hybrid cars that park in front of the charging station will be towed at the owner's expense? If someone's that big of a dick bag to take up the spot intended for a specific purpose, than they deserve to pay the idiot tax.
                    You'd likely have to be even more granular than that. There's far more hybrid vehicles out there that are not Plugin Hybrid's or pure Battery Electrics. It's just sad that, like handicap spaces, there's dicks out in the world that won't obey even simple societal rules. It doesn't affect them, right? Why should they care?
                    But the paint on me is beginning to dry
                    And it's not what I wanted to be
                    The weight on me
                    Is Hanging on to a weary angel - Sister Hazel

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                    • #11
                      Update

                      Turns out there is a sign stating that if a car does park in that spot, and that car is not using the charging equipment, then the car could get towed. However, that sign is not easily seen because it is on the right hand side of the support beam next to the charging equipment.

                      I let my immediate supervisor know that a car, which was not hybrid, was parked in that spot a couple of weeks ago. She told me today that the sign will be moved and placed where it can be easily seen. After it is moved, and if a car, which is not hybrid, does park there, then I can issue that car a parking violation.

                      Today I had to issue a motorcyle which was parked in a handicapped spot near the elevator that leads to a walkway a parking violation because the motorcycle had no handiapped sign nor the handicapped symbol on the license plate.

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                      • #12
                        [QUOTE=snugglegirl05;1147325]After it is moved, and if a car, which is not hybrid, does park there, then I can issue that car a parking violation./QUOTE]

                        Out of curiosity, how are you going to determine if the car should be there? A "hybrid" is a bit too generic here, to be honest. There's a few factory Prius Plugins out there. A smattering modified Prius running various conversions for a second pack. The Volt, unique in that it has a gasoline generator that charges the pack, but not the drive wheels. An even smaller group of modified gasers to Battery Electric.

                        And then you have the factory Battery Electrics, such as the Fit EV, Leaf, Mini E and a handful of various city cars (limited to 45MPH).

                        I suppose what I'm getting at, unless it's actually plugged in, it's going to be hard to say if it should actually be in that space .
                        But the paint on me is beginning to dry
                        And it's not what I wanted to be
                        The weight on me
                        Is Hanging on to a weary angel - Sister Hazel

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                        • #13
                          How long does it take to charge a car? And how much does it cost? just curious.

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