mogur said:
Realistically, what are the odds of this actually happening...
garygid said:
Any passer-by can unplug the "charging" vehicles, which would then
be subject to a ticket, etc.
High enough to be worth figuring out another way. It already happens occasionally now. Usually, it's "benign"- someone gets curious when they see an EV, unplugs it to check out how that works, and just doesn't get it plugged back in properly (or the charger door closes, etc.) Occasionally it seems to happen out of resentment in hopes of leaving someone stranded, but currently there are no huge consequences- in most cases that particular charge isn't going to make the difference between someone getting home or not. Even in the rare event it would, the worst case scenario is that you are delayed while waiting to charge after finding your car unplugged (or with some cars, you go find a fast charger.)
I would hope that parking enforcement folks are bright enough to realize the car is still an EV and not get grumpy about the technicality of not being plugged in. It helps with distinctive-looking vehicles like the Leaf. But as we get EVs and PHEVs that look like their gas or hybrid counterparts (Ford Focus, Prius PHV, Honda Fit...) it'll become more likely that enforcement really does think it's a gas car.
The Volt's horn goes off when someone unplugs it too- owners can disable that to enable sharing (or just cause they don't like it) so while some people will try to plug it back in to make the noise stop, others will freak, drop the connector and quickly walk away. We don't know yet if other cars will have this "feature". Given how many Volt drivers have complained, I hope not.
But to z0ner's point, it's more about this being one of several issues with the current bill, and problems that could be solved by shoring up the language, or simply going back to the original version, which no one but GM seemed to have significant issues with. For reasons I cannot understand, the stickers are a huge issue of "principle" for them. A minor inconvenience, perhaps- and I'd love to get rid of them by revoking the whole law and going back to the local ordinances we've always used to enforce spots, and still do, in the majority of locations. But it takes 10 minutes, a form, and a few dollars to get a sticker, and it costs the state an estimated $1000 per year. One site retrofitting its location with extra chargers for the spots that currently share will outweigh 5 years of those costs. So I fail to see how they're so much worse than all the issues created by the current version. Could also switch to a special license plate, or a marker on the current ones, if aesthetics are a concern.