LAX free parking (until 3/1), if you can get past a Volt

Well, this morning went to drop off my wife at the "Airport", LAX, and went to get some charging at parking structure 1.
Space available? Check
EVSV available? Check
Try to use it? Over my dead body said the Volt. :twisted:

Check this out!!!
Step #1, park as crooked as possible.
Step #2, drive past the wheel stop so nobody can walk in front of your precious Volt.



Step #3, notice you have parked your front wheel on the cable of an EVSE.
Step #4, disregard the cable, don't give a damn, etc.
Step #5, go and find another available EVSE (being careful not to trip over the cable and EVSE on the ground).
Step #6, plug your precious Volt (again, be careful walking over tripping hazards).
Step #7, walk away like nothing happened.



Your witty comments will be much appreciated, and will bring my pressure down.
I had to drive to parking structure 6 to get some charging.

I would like to get four of those wheeled dolly jack things. A jerk like this would find his precious Volt relocated to the far end of the parking structure. Or maybe he woudn't.

There always seems to be a volt there.... any chance that is an employee?

I'm pretty sure that parking over the EVSE is intentional - as a way to keep his EVSE from being stolen. There was a guy on the EV forums hawking a device that worked in a similar fashion.

The LAX parking issue made today's front page of the Wall Street Journal.

All the visible cables are the airport chargers, EVSE, he or she was not using their own.

completely lost here. why did not simply unplug him and use that EVSE?

he can come out move the Volt and then use that one to plug in with.

also is it common to find the plugs just strewn around on the ground in a pile?

Parking over the cord was 100% intentional, but I'm not sure why he wasn't plugged into the cord he was parked on.

If you want to stir things up - post this over on the gm-volt.com forum and let us know so we can watch the fall-out. We'll get the popcorn ready.

Looks to me as if the Volt driver intentionally parked on the EVSE, probably because they didn't want someone, like the OP, to think they could park in the space to the right and unplug them. Then something happened and this didn't work out -- like someone unplugged them, plugged them in with the EVSE to the left, and then figured out that the cord the Volt was parked on wouldn't stretch far enough.

I doubt anyone would go to the bother of parking on an EVSE they weren't going to use. Too much effort.

The LEAF comes with a jack... put some back into it man!!! :lol:

ztanos said:

The LEAF comes with a jack... put some back into it man!!! :lol:

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When did Nissan start supplying a jack with the LEAF in the US?

Sorry, wishful thinking, I just have like 4 or 5 scissor jacks in my garage and automatically interpreted them as going in...

ebill3 said:

ztanos said:

The LEAF comes with a jack... put some back into it man!!! :lol:

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When did Nissan start supplying a jack with the LEAF in the US?

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SanDust said:

Looks to me as if the Volt driver intentionally parked on the EVSE, probably because they didn't want someone, like the OP, to think they could park in the space to the right and unplug them. Then something happened and this didn't work out -- like someone unplugged them, plugged them in with the EVSE to the left, and then figured out that the cord the Volt was parked on wouldn't stretch far enough.

I doubt anyone would go to the bother of parking on an EVSE they weren't going to use. Too much effort.

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Yeah, I'd give the Volt driver the benefit of the doubt. They probably intended to use the "trapped" plug. If it wasn't functional they might have switched to the other one and figured there was no need to re-park to free up the "dead" plug? Still, I'm not sure I agree with the principle of trapping the plug though I might feel differently if I found myself being rudely unplugged on more than one occasion. It seems like etiquette is problematic over at the airport. There's also the issue of damaging the equipment. How many times can you roll over it with a car before it suffers damage? I don't think I could bring myself to do that to other peoples' equipment. So 1 demerit for the Volt driver at least.

I like the idea of valet parking/charging for EVs in an airport situation. No other way to make efficient use of charging in that environment.

Nubo said:

Yeah, I'd give the Volt driver the benefit of the doubt. They probably intended to use the "trapped" plug. If it wasn't functional they might have switched to the other one and figured there was no need to re-park to free up the "dead" plug? Still, I'm not sure I agree with the principle of trapping the plug though I might feel differently if I found myself being rudely unplugged on more than one occasion. It seems like etiquette is problematic over at the airport. There's also the issue of damaging the equipment. How many times can you roll over it with a car before it suffers damage? I don't think I could bring myself to do that to other peoples' equipment. So 1 demerit for the Volt driver at least.

I like the idea of valet parking/charging for EVs in an airport situation. No other way to make efficient use of charging in that environment.

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Don't see how you can give him the benefit of the doubt. Even if he had originally intended to use the trapped j-plug, it's still inexcusable not to allow someone to unplug him after he's done.

Gotta second the question: Why not just unplug him and use that EVSE? It's a Volt, after all - not like you're going to leave him stranded if his charge didn't complete.

Anyways, as far as bad LAX etiquette issues, those are soon to be just a distant memory.

fooljoe said:

Nubo said:

Yeah, I'd give the Volt driver the benefit of the doubt. They probably intended to use the "trapped" plug. If it wasn't functional they might have switched to the other one and figured there was no need to re-park to free up the "dead" plug? Still, I'm not sure I agree with the principle of trapping the plug though I might feel differently if I found myself being rudely unplugged on more than one occasion. It seems like etiquette is problematic over at the airport. There's also the issue of damaging the equipment. How many times can you roll over it with a car before it suffers damage? I don't think I could bring myself to do that to other peoples' equipment. So 1 demerit for the Volt driver at least.

I like the idea of valet parking/charging for EVs in an airport situation. No other way to make efficient use of charging in that environment.

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Don't see how you can give him the benefit of the doubt. Even if he had originally intended to use the trapped j-plug, it's still inexcusable not to allow someone to unplug him after he's done.

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Just trying to put myself in their shoes. If they've been repeatedly unplugged at LAX before charge completion, by OTHER rude folks (enough people have complained about this so it seems possible), then their aggravation may have led to the entrapment approach. Not saying I condone it, but I can understand.

Gotta second the question: Why not just unplug him and use that EVSE? It's a Volt, after all - not like you're going to leave him stranded if his charge didn't complete.

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Gotta be careful with the "hierarchy of rights" approach to charging. That kind of view kind of feeds into my supposition of what may have played out. Someone comes along, thinking "It's just a Volt, and I'm more important because I really need a charge", unplugs the Volt while it's still charging... If it happens repeatedly the Volt owner gets fed up and eventually fights back. Rudeness begets rudeness.

Nubo said:

Someone comes along, thinking "It's just a Volt, and I'm more important because I really need a charge"

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I see your point, but still. It is just a Volt. Not to be a "pure EV snob" - and I wouldn't do it unless there was really no other option - but there is a clear hierarchy of need.

Looks staged to me. The original plug was switched out for the photo op.

bonaire said:

Looks staged to me. The original plug was switched out for the photo op.

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No doubt there is more to the story than meets the eye (from multiple perspectives/actors_in_the_story)

I don't know who did that. I'm a Volt driver, and I wouldn't have.
It looks like he parked on a charger that would have reached his car fine and plugged into another. Maybe you could swap and still reach your car from next to his with the one that's plugged in.
http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread.php?28649-Black-eye-for-Volt-attitude" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
There's a lot of other Volt drivers that wouldn't do that also. Maybe it was too dark to see what he or she had done at the time?
At any rate, a pic of the vin plate in the window would have brought some shame to the member on GM-Volt.com also, or at least an explanation. I can't picture anyone doing that on purpose and yes, it could have been staged..

i would think the better idea for LAX would be to offer lower rates for EVs than just kicking us out of the in-airport lots.
also too -- charging at offsite lots.