CA AB475 requires connection to the EVSE to avoid cite/tow

My Nissan Leaf Forum

Help Support My Nissan Leaf Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Yanquetino said:
Unless, of course, you're out of town, on a plane, car pooling, in an important meeting, have your cell phone turned off in a movie, a theater, a doctor's office, a classroom, or... forgot it at home, etc. Ouch.
Click to expand...

Most cell phones have a 'vibrate' option for the theaters, etc. I'm not sure if it's fair to hog a spot while you're out of town. Someone else may need it too. So even if you were allowed to unplug the other car (plug sharing), it would still be using a valuable space for someone else's EV.
 
Yanquetino said:
Stoaty said:
garygid said:
So, somebody unplugs your EV, it is towed, and you are left totally stranded! Totally Unacceptable !!!
Click to expand...
Perhaps that is the reason there is a place to put a lock on to keep the J1772 from being removed by someone else?
Click to expand...
And this opens a whole new can of worms. I can well imagine that many EVSE providers and their parking attendants will not be happy about drivers using unremovable padlocks on their equipment.
Click to expand...

This could be solved by technology. The car could have the lock mechanism to hold onto the J-plug while charging. Once charging is done it unlocks so someone else can use it (and you better move your car soon because you aren't charging so risk being towed.) If the EVSE operator needs the plug for some reason they enter some code into the EVSE and it sends a signal to the car to unlock the plug and stop charging early. People other than the EVSE operator or the car owner wouldn't be able to unlock it. Maybe the fire department could have a "master key" just in case...
 
TEG said:
This could be solved by technology. The car could have the lock mechanism to hold onto the J-plug while charging. Once charging is done it unlocks so someone else can use it (and you better move your car soon because you aren't charging so risk being towed.) If the EVSE operator needs the plug for some reason they enter some code into the EVSE and it sends a signal to the car to unlock the plug and stop charging early. People other than the EVSE operator or the car owner wouldn't be able to unlock it. Maybe the fire department could have a "master key" just in case...
Click to expand...
Uh... wow. :shock: Could, yes, but should? Just to solve problems caused by a law that never should have been implemented to begin with? And, if the point of such a release mechanism is to allow sharing... why have the lock? Remember: any unplugged EV can be towed, with or without such a high tech padlock. Easier to just replace AB745 with a law that makes more sense, IMHO. Thank goodness other OEMs are even now working on an alternative to overturn GM's law for the next session in January. Sounds good to me.
 
LEAFfan said:
Most cell phones have a 'vibrate' option for the theaters, etc. I'm not sure if it's fair to hog a spot while you're out of town. Someone else may need it too. So even if you were allowed to unplug the other car (plug sharing), it would still be using a valuable space for someone else's EV.
Click to expand...
Well... I opine that it is a lot more fair to "hog" such a spot while out-of-town when four EVs can all legally share the same EVSE. However, it is definitely unfair to hog it with only one EVSE per slot --as AB745 has made mandatory-- which is what GM's spokesman wants to do, in defense of this law, so that he can pre-condition his cabin as soon as the plane lands:

"One catch – in order to precondition your car, it must remain plugged in."

Real nice...! Too bad the law does nothing to encourage fairness. Just the opposite, really.

Yes, some cell phone have a vibrate option, but I'm not sure that helps if the vibration isn't truly silent (mine isn't), nor if you've forgotten it at home. I also think it quite rude to disturb a row of people to exit a movie or play during the show unless it is a true emergency --but perhaps that's just my own pet peeve. And I confess that an even worse pet peeve of mine is when I am teaching a class and a student get ups and walks out in the middle of my lesson. :x
 
Yanquetino said:
Yes, some cell phone have a vibrate option, but I'm not sure that helps if the vibration isn't truly silent (mine isn't), nor if you've forgotten it at home. I also think it quite rude to disturb a row of people to exit a movie or play during the show unless it is a true emergency --but perhaps that's just my own pet peeve. And I confess that an even worse pet peeve of mine is when I am teaching a class and a student get ups and walks out in the middle of my lesson. :x
Click to expand...

It would be possible to move the vehicle over after the movie and before dinner (or vis-versa)

Likewise a student could move the vehicle between classes rather than occupy the space all day.
 
smkettner said:
It would be possible to move the vehicle over after the movie and before dinner (or vis-versa)

Likewise a student could move the vehicle between classes rather than occupy the space all day.
Click to expand...
Occupy the space all day? We are evidently not addessing the same issue here. My comments about cell phones above were not in response to the need to simply move the vehicle when it is convenient (after a full charge?), but rather if somebody else unplugged it. In that case, if the driver were to return to the car "after the movie" or "before dinner" or "between classes," he/she might very well find that it had already been towed --thanks to AB475. :(
 
If you choose to park where you can legally be towed away ... do not be surprised to find your car GONE if you also chose to leave it unsupervised.

If I NEED to charge at a AB475-posted spot, I would try:
1. parking in an adjacent non-EV spot and doing the charging there.
2. staying with the car to see that it does not get unplugged.
3. locking the charging nozzle (and "hose") to the car.
4. ... going to Plan B.

Also, one might consider installing a VERY LOUD anti-theft system to detect a depress of the un-latch button on the nozzle, or even detect the hatch being raised enough to begin to get to the nozzle's handle. :D
 
garygid said:
If you choose to park where you can legally be towed away ... do not be surprised to find your car GONE if you also chose to leave it unsupervised.

If I NEED to charge at a AB475-posted spot, I would try:
1. parking in an adjacent non-EV spot and doing the charging there.
Click to expand...
That would seem like bad form to me.
 
smkettner said:
Just don't be offended or hold a grudge when someone pulls in the proper space and unplugs you. You can bet I will if needed.
Click to expand...

That would be a misdemeanor under the new law. I remember reading that it will be unlawful to unplug another EV.
 
LEAFfan said:
That would be a misdemeanor under the new law. I remember reading that it will be unlawful to unplug another EV.
Click to expand...
Uh... no. The new law does NOT make it a crime to unplug anyone else's EV. It makes it a crime for an EV to BE disconnected while in a designated space. So the plug puller... gets off scot free. The EV owner whose plug gets pulled... gets his/her EV towed. :shock:
 
smkettner said:
I am amazed at the effort to not live within the rules or the spirit of the law.
I hope there is not too many thinking like this.
Click to expand...
Well, pulling someone else's plug in order to get them towed is certainly within the rules of the law.

So how would one best live within the spirit of the law? I know! Trade in your Leaf on a brand new 2012 Chevy Tahoe SUV!!

Seriously someone, maybe mwalsh?, had what I think is the best suggestion. Just stay away from any charging sites signed for AB475 and tell them exactly why. You're living without those charging stations now, and you can live with them a while longer until the AB475 signs come down or until AB475 is repealed.
 
Or just use the space as intended.

If you arrive and the space is taken just park elsewhere. If you leave your number I will give you a call or text when I pull out.
I would have the intention of moving asap when my vehicle is fully charged.
 

Similar threads

mwalsh
AB266 (Blumenfield) - extends CA HOV privilege by 5 years
Replies
13
Views
6K
laalan
L
DaveEV
California Assembly OKs 33% renewable energy req. by 2020
Replies
5
Views
2K
planet4ever
planet4ever

Latest posts

Back
Top