PHEV drivers. Generally, pretty obnoxious

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mwalsh

Well-known member
Leaf Supporting Member
Joined
Apr 22, 2010
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Location
Garden Grove, CA
It's a massive generalization, I know, but I've been paying a lot of attention to the way PHEV drivers use the HOV lane of late and my impression is...they're pretty obnoxious as a whole. And the very worst seem to be those drivers with vehicles that have minimal AER. Meaning number one on the list as a group are PIP drivers. I don't know about drivers of the (equally limited AER) Honda Accord PHEV...I'm not sure I've ever seen one.

Next on my list are drivers of any of the two Ford PHEVs, with C-Max Energi drivers for some reason being more so than the Fusion drivers. Though that could be just on numbers, since I see way more of the one than the other.

Volt drivers, on the other hand, are pretty good. And, no, I'm not just saying that because we own one!

I have a theory - when you have such pitiful AER there is little incentive to try and save energy, other than boosting your MPG a bit. And so they don't try. In fact, I'm pretty sure most PHEV drivers, especially those who bought the Prius and Accord (if anyone actually did buy the Accord), just did it specifically so they could get up my chuff as I pootle along at 70MPH. Not that I intend to speed up. Or get over, since I'm already going faster than cars in the regular lanes.
 
I totally concur! And they are likewise at the charging stations...

mwalsh said:
It's a massive generalization, I know, but I've been paying a lot of attention to the way PHEV drivers use the HOV lane of late and my impression is...they're pretty obnoxious as a whole.
 
Oddly, about 5 years ago I was joking around about this... I made an offhand generalized claim that "entitled" drivers (something we all might land in at some point :) used to be BMW drivers, then they moved to the Prius, and as you point out, it's now the low hanging fruit of taking a PHEV hauling ass in the HOV lane. This holiday season I've made a vow to leave early, not rush, and to just let people go first in front of me if they are being impatient... Charming effect on my sense of well being... That said,

Won't work in the HOV lane, however...
 
In my opinion, the minimum AER (all electric range), as rated by the EPA, should be at least 25 miles or so for solo HOV lane access. Because any PHEV with less AER than that is almost certainly burning gasoline while in the HOV lane. We need to raise the bar.
 
abasile said:
In my opinion, the minimum AER (all electric range), as rated by the EPA, should be at least 25 miles or so for solo HOV lane access. Because any PHEV with less AER than that is almost certainly burning gasoline while in the HOV lane. We need to raise the bar.

+1.

There was an interesting article in the OC Register this last week:

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/carpool-645240-lanes-lane.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
mwalsh said:
abasile said:
In my opinion, the minimum AER (all electric range), as rated by the EPA, should be at least 25 miles or so for solo HOV lane access. Because any PHEV with less AER than that is almost certainly burning gasoline while in the HOV lane. We need to raise the bar.

+1.

There was an interesting article in the OC Register this last week:

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/carpool-645240-lanes-lane.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The feds offer four solutions: increase the occupancy requirement, increase tolls on HOV lanes, kick out clean-air vehicles with solo drivers or build more lanes.

The origin of HOV was to get cars off the road, less traffic, less pollution. So, no solo drivers of any type, or better, only non-solo ZEVs. Of course, they're probably addicted to the toll revenue stream, that would be the hardest thing to give up.
 
I never noticed the car pool lane thing as it relates to the plug in Prius. However I did covertly watch a PiP driver leave a little note under my wiper blade, at work.
(btw our paid "charging at work" rules state there is no requirement to move a car that is no longer actively charging. The rationale is it may take away from work - as some people would have to travel quite a bit of distance to undergo the "unplug and remove car" objective ... and so our workplace Chargepoint EVSE's only bill us for actual kWh's drawn - rather than actual hookup time)
In short - the pre written / printed note told me I should not be there unless I'm actively charging. By choice I start at 5 a.m. - specifically so I always have an empty charge spot available. After all - no one in their right mind would willingly wake up at 3:30 a.m. unless they wanted to assure their parking stall ;) by noon - all workplace charged spots are full.

hv74tj.jpg


I have to admit - it kind of made me smirk, thinking someone with an alternate fuel source - who can easily get home w/out electricity is bugged with me always being in "their" way.


.
 
DNAinaGoodWay said:
The feds offer four solutions: increase the occupancy requirement, increase tolls on HOV lanes, kick out clean-air vehicles with solo drivers or build more lanes.

The origin of HOV was to get cars off the road, less traffic, less pollution. So, no solo drivers of any type, or better, only non-solo ZEVs. Of course, they're probably addicted to the toll revenue stream, that would be the hardest thing to give up.

My solutions:

1) Minimum AER range requirement - 40 miles or more (so the Volt could stay) OR kick-out PHEVs altogether.
2) Minimum age or licensed driver requirement for all ICE vehicle occupants - kick-out the mom/dad ferrying their baby/child around.
3) MORE ENFORCEMENT - there is precious little going on right now, which is encouraging scofflaws.
4) Open entrance/exit rather than being forced to bring the whole lane to a halt while trying to get in/out at the designated area.
 
There are a couple of people on this forum that have slammed me for a very similar post, but I will reiterate again because I agree completely on this topic. The PiP is by far the worst offender in my area. With a 62 MPH top speed in EV mode, they are moving FAR slower than everyone else, and yet, they feel entitled to stay in the carpool lane regardless of how many people are backed up behind them. If someone comes up behind me, I always move over.
 
asimba2 said:
There are a couple of people on this forum that have slammed me for a very similar post, but I will reiterate again because I agree completely on this topic. The PiP is by far the worst offender in my area. With a 62 MPH top speed in EV mode, they are moving FAR slower than everyone else, and yet, they feel entitled to stay in the carpool lane regardless of how many people are backed up behind them. If someone comes up behind me, I always move over.

Slower? Oh, god no. Down here they're the lead foots of the PHEV crowd.
 
mwalsh said:
Slower? Oh, god no. Down here they're the lead foots of the PHEV crowd.

Yes, slower, because any faster than 61 MPH and they're blowing through gas at the rate of 1 gallon for every 50 miles, lol. But seriously, the first 5-6 miles of my freeway commute leaving downtown is always behind a PiP doing 60 MPH. After that 6 miles or so at freeway speeds they are out of battery and the gas engine fires up, then I think they finally speed up. But they are super happy to keep everyone waiting in the meantime.
 
+2

I'd make it more like a minimum of 35 though...

abasile said:
In my opinion, the minimum AER (all electric range), as rated by the EPA, should be at least 25 miles or so for solo HOV lane access. Because any PHEV with less AER than that is almost certainly burning gasoline while in the HOV lane. We need to raise the bar.
 
hill said:
(btw our paid "charging at work" rules state there is no requirement to move a car that is no longer actively charging. The rationale is it may take away from work - as some people would have to travel quite a bit of distance to undergo the "unplug and remove car" objective ...

You'd think a big company like Disney could afford to provide an EV valet.

I visited a friend who works at Google for lunch one day. They have EV valets who handle the car moving/plugging in for EV-driving employees.

At my work, we have the policy that you should move your car once it is done charging. The 10 minutes it takes me to leave my office move the car and return is more of a welcome break than an inconvenience.
We also have free charging. . . but just signed a form saying we acknowledge that they reserve the right to start charing us. The stalls are pretty full most days and more and more employees getting BEVs.
 
hill said:
LeftieBiker said:
So, who deleted my on-topic post in this topic?
It was there a while ago .... maybe repost?
.

It's petty-ass "moderation" like that that ensures that I'll never give this site a dime. (If you want to see one this left up, please quote it!) Anyway, I just noted that few states have HOV lanes, that maybe the topic should be more specific about this being a California or HOV-specific gripe, and that the PIP drivers I know are conscientious about plugging in. It's funny: half the complaints here are about PIPs hogging charging stations, and now the other half will be about them not charging. Riiight...
 
One of the problems with HOV lanes is that CA drivers expect an additional perk. I.e., since the HOV lane is left-most, it's also viewed as "the ultimate speeding lane".

So it doesn't matter that the other traffic lanes are doing 20mph, while I am travelling 65mph in the HOV lane. The driver behind me feels they they should be driving 85mph. Not only is such a big speed differential unsafe, I'm not clear on why I'm supposed to crawl into gridlock for their benefit. Especially after they've tailgated me mercilessly. I have a policy of never giving rude people what they want.
 
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