evchels said:
Btw, just got confirmation that there was no signing addition. The current version of the bill stands as is.
Thanks so much, Chelsea, for keeping us informed about this nefarious issue all the way to the bitter end.
So let's review what GM has "accomplished" by pushing through this law, without input from other OEMs, and ignoring the concerns and advice of the EV community itself.
- PHEVs can now legally park in public EV charging slots. (To be quite frank, I wonder just how much of a problem this really was. Do we know if there have been, in fact, multiple incidents of the police ticketing Volts, despite huge J1772 connectors sticking out of their front left fender? Their very names, lightning bolt logos, and charging ports just fail to register with meter maids that they have an electric drivetrain?) Well, regardless, GM has now killed that mosquito with a bazooka, so Volts can now legally park in those spots.
- Owners of EVs from other OEMs must now adhere to this law, even though their manufacturers had no role in writing or implementing it.
- Public sites with one EVSE to serve two --or even four-- EV parking spots now face two choices: (1) They have to eliminate all the other spots except one, thus shrinking the EV infrastructure; or (2) They will have to purchase and install more EVSEs, one for each slot, thus spending two to four times more money.
- It is no longer possible to share public charging, either by letting other EV drivers know when they are welcome to unplug a vehicle, or by asking them to plug in another vehicle when they leave.
- Any vehicle --EV or not-- that is discovered unplugged in a designated parking slot, for whatever reason, will now be ticketed and towed.
- EV owners will need to purchase and use a lock to secure the J1772 to their charging ports, lest they be towed if a curious passerby or mischievous kid pulls the plug.
- ICEs can now legally park in those spots, provided they have an extension cord plugged into the EVSE's outlet and leading to their car to provide power for... you name it (12V battery, engine block heater, cell phone, MP3 player, laptop, crock pot... whatever).
- Each EVSE per space will actually just sit idle most of the time, not charging the connected vehicle anymore, but... at least plugged into it.
- EVs' access to HOV lanes, their registration, perhaps even their fair share of road tax, will all require more time, effort, and regulation to resolve separately, while the alternative solution of a simple license plate decal could have taken care of ALL those issues in one fell swoop.
- Oh... and let's not forget this jewel: EV owners will be able to precondition their vehicles' cabin via their cell phone a few minutes before returning, a convenient luxury afforded them by inconveniently blocking the EVSE from other drivers for hours, even days or weeks, while they're gone.
- To overcome all the above setbacks, literally hundreds of townships, municipalities, cities, counties will all have to draft, approve, and implement their own local ordinances.
- And the "pièce de résistance"? GM has now complicated, made more expensive, and thus delayed even further the rollout of the public EV infrastructure. The "range anxiety" exacerbated by that prolonged lack of public charging will consequently discourage consumers from buying pure EVs, and instead purchase a PHEV Volt. After all, the Volt is... "More Car Than Electric."
Whether or not this last point was GM's true intention all along, they have only managed to pour salt into the wounds inflicted by their previous fiasco of crushing the EV1 and selling the NiMH patents to Chevron. One would think that a corporation would learn from such disastrous mistakes, and take careful steps to redeem itself. Apparently not. GM has now flushed down the toilet all the benefit of the doubt that EV advocates were willing to give them since that debacle. It's just sewage under the bridge at this point. Fool me twice...? Stupid is as stupid does.
They. Don't. Care. As far as GM is concerned, ours is but a "small group of fanatics" whose support they are more than willing to shrug off as long as they can eventually make a sizable profit off of the millions of potential customers who have never even heard of
Who Killed the Electric Car--let alone seen it.
Even though we have lost this particular battle, we have to commend you, Chelsea, for having the courage to stand up for what is right, proper, fair, decent, considerate, ethical. We are fortunate to have an advocate with your expertise, talent, and persistence in the EV movement. Any time a similar issue arises that merits input from the community, please let us know: we are there to support you!