Certain charging posts "constantly" ICE'd

One of the most annoying aspects of EVing is the problem with ICE'd chargers in towns.

We have a personal problem with the sole Ardee CP which is almost constantly taken by cars. I have contacted Louth CoCo a couple of times with the issue but nothing has been done yet. I emailed to info@louthcoco.ie with following message this week after similar message which was responded and forwarded to Operations who did not come back at the time.

Hi again, happy 2016,

I never hear anything from the Operations Department since I last wrote you in December.

The issue with the sole and regularly blocked charging point at Ardee continues to be a constant issue. My wife visits Ardee on weekly basis from Kildare and requires a recharge to make it back home. For example last night she could not plug in due to both bays taken by non-electric vehicles.

On the previous time we tried to use the charging point there was another EV charging and the second bay was taken by a normal car (ICE). When we returned the following morning the same car was still there but luckily the EV had gone by then. At another time I had to park nose first between the two ICEs. Yet at another time I parked at the adjacent free slot stretching the cable to the limit and beyond which cannot be good for the charging equipment. In the almost best case scenario only one of the bays is taken by an ICE but even then should another EV arrive they could not charge until I have finished in a few hours.

Quite often my wife will need to drive to the charger 2 or 3 times before finally she can charge. So more often than not both of the charging bays are taken by ICEs. Can you please consult ESB ecars (CC'd) to implement the best way to ensure the bays stay free for EV users. We depend on them for our fuel.

samih

I also attached a couple of pictures to clarify the situation. I don't know if people do it on purpose or if they really don't see the charger but it seems that more often than not the carger continues to be ICE'd. I had a chat with another Leaf driver there last month and he confirmed that he also has seen the issue often at that particular CP.

Any suggestions on how to get the Louth County Council to begin the work to mark the charger better?

DrPhilG

I have a load of print outs in the car. Some pictures of various types of charger and a message asking (politely) that people do not block chargers in future as it may prevent someone from charging.

No harm in doing that. Of course arseholes will still always be arseholes but I have met some folk who simply didn't realise (usually in unmarked bays) or who thought it wouldn't matter because they thought that the bays were never used.

By all means keep pestering the council but I would also encourage some education of the offenders.

boardzz

I would suggest contacting the county Councillor directly rather than emailing the council.
I done this and got the space marked within a month.

davidgdlt

While I imagine some people genuinely fail to see the signals, that is also the excuse of choice of those who don't give a damn about other people (what we typically refer to as "the arseholes"), so when somebody tells me they hadn't seen the signals I find it difficult to tell if it's one case or the other.

For example, the other day the rapid charger close to Dublin airport was ICEed. I stepped into the coffee station beside it and asked if somebody was the owner. No response. I waited outside for about 20 minutes and then finally somebody came out of the very place and walked towards the car, looking down and trying to avoid me. I recognized the guy as one of the people inside the coffee station. Of course he used the bullsh*t excuse "I didn't see the signal" (while standing on the very well illuminated and marked bay, just beside the huge only-for-evs signal).

Another time, at the Dublin Port Topaz station, there was a taxi parked at the fast charger bay. This time, luckily, the Topaz staff knew the owner and a staff member kindly came over with the taxi's keys to park it somewhere else. I asked him to tell the taxi driver to please not do it again. Well, I have seen the same car twice already occupying the adjacent slow charger bay.

So yes, in very few cases maybe people don't see the signal, but more often than not they will use that as an excuse when in reality they just don't give a flying f*ck about those electric vehicle owners... they're probably all rich hipsters anyways!