The Struggle of EV Parking Etiquette
Electric vehicles (EVs) are becoming more common on the roads, but their integration into existing infrastructure is still a work in progress. One of the biggest challenges is ensuring that parking rules accommodate the unique needs of EVs. While many cities have started to install charging stations, they often fail to consider the practicalities of how these vehicles need to be parked.
I used to care deeply about parking rules, especially when it came to electric vehicles. “ICE-ing,” the act of a gas-powered car blocking a charging stall for an EV, is not only frustrating but also unfair. EV owners should have their own set of rules for good etiquette at DC fast-charging stations. However, enforcing these rules has proven to be a challenge.
The problem is, good luck getting anyone to care. In my old Mitsubishi i-MiEV, I relied on public Level 2 chargers, but I was often blocked by gas cars, and my city’s parking enforcement never did anything about it. So I gave up. But then I got nailed with a parking ticket too—for using a public charging station, but apparently parking the “wrong” way, which happens to be the only way this particular car can park. Now, the City of Ferndale, Michigan, seems to care very much. And I ended up with a fight on my hands because of where the BMW i4’s charging port is located.
A Personal Encounter with Parking Rules
I’ve explained this before here at InsideEVs. I may be based in Columbus, Ohio, but I pick up media-tester cars for my reviews in Detroit. The fleet companies that run this system are content to drive the cars down to me here in Ohio, but sometimes I need a break from Ohio, so I’ll drive there to get them. It kills like three birds with one stone, since it’s a three-hour, roughly 200-mile drive that can include a range test and 10-80% DC fast-charging test, while also making the fleet company’s life a little easier, since they won’t have to send a driver down for basically half of a workday.
Everybody wins, including you, the reader. Plus, I like going to Detroit to see friends or go thrifting or just have lunch.
On this particular late March afternoon, I drove to Ferndale, Michigan, a suburb just outside of Detroit. I headed to a parking lot I know (near a sadly now-closed coffee shop) with public 9.6-kilowatt, Level 2 chargers. In this BMW i4 tester, I reckoned that by the time I had a little snack and sip of coffee, the i4 would have been topped off to 100%—perfect for the pseudo range test I’d be performing all the way home.
These parking spaces are also pull-forward only; no backing in is allowed. That presented a dilemma, however, for the i4, as its charging port is in the rear of the car. So I backed in. I figured that most local parking enforcement wouldn’t be dumb enough to ticket a car that is using the service. After all, I’ve done this before in a Kia EV9 about four months prior, and a Fiat 500e even before that, and nothing ever happened. Also, I’ve paid for the space. I’m not parking illegally.
Welp, I was wrong. The i4 was ticketed for reversing into a pull-in only space. Also, the i4 M50 magically turned into a BMW 1M. I don’t know how they missed the open charge door and plug protruding from the rear of the car.
Parking and Ports: A Growing Problem
I don’t know who on Ferndale’s city council made these pseudo-entrapment EV chargers, because it’s not clear if the charging cable is long enough to reach the rear of every car in a pull-in situation. After all, charging ports are all over the place, and all Teslas—which are still most EVs in America—have always had their ports in the rear. But what this meant was that I’m not the only victim, either. PlugShare has a comment from a Model 3 owner who also got a back-in ticket for charging their car.
You know, the Tesla Model 3. Only the world’s second-best-selling EV, ever. Maybe because it’s these Detroit-area urban planners only considered the mostly front-port EVs of GM and Ford, and nothing else. A Chevy Bolt or Mustang Mach-E would never have these issues, since all of those cars have charging ports on the front of the car.
I was incensed. But then, I’ll admit, part of this story is on me: I should’ve appealed the ticket right away, but kind of forgot about it. The i4 became a Nissan Ariya; the Ariya turned into a Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid. Eventually, I ended up in China (twice), the first trip about 10 days after my ticket. It all kind of fell by the wayside.
But then the ticket worked its way through the city of Ferndale, got passed to BMW North America, which technically owns this car, and then back to me. And yes, If you test cars for a living like we do, you’re still on the hook for tickets and criminal infractions. And I had passed the period in which I could appeal the ticket.
Now, I have a “You Must Pay” summons from the City of Ferndale, giving me 14 days to do so before I face a number of civil infractions, including a potential warrant for my arrest.
Fighting City Hall
All of this, for backing into a parking space that I paid for. To use a free Level 2 charger. I was mad all over again. But, I figured I’d make things right and call the city’s courthouse and figure out why this happened, and if there was anything I could do.
The conversation started nicely. They asked me for the reference number and looked up the ticket. I tried to explain, “Hey, I backed in to use the electric vehicle charger. The car I was driving, a BMW i4, has its EV charging port located in the rear. I don’t think it’s fair that I’ve got a ticket for backing in when I need to do that to use the equipment,” I said.
“Well, you backed in, didn’t you?” replied the other person on the other end of the line at the Ferndale courthouse.
“Yes, but I can’t use the charger without —“
“But, you backed in, right?”
Sensing this wouldn’t go anywhere and that I could feel myself getting more irritated, I changed my approach. Instead, I asked if I could appeal the ticket. At first, they said yes, but I would have to come to court. When I told them I do not live in town, they said, “Oh, well, it’s on Zoom.”
Oh wow, I had the joy of looking forward to spending part of my day fighting a traffic ticket via an online video conferencing software. What a time to be alive. I’m sure a parking ticket is worth the magistrate’s time.
The Zoom court date was moot entirely, as the narrow 10-day window for disputing the charge had passed. The clerk on the other end said, “Oh, well, can’t you just have your job pay it?”
Sure, the ticket is only $78. And I will readily admit that I should’ve done something about this right away, and potentially tried to appeal it in court. I don’t know what that would’ve done, but it might’ve worked.
Ultimately, it’s just the principle of the thing. These laws and rules were made either in ignorance of electric cars or in spite of them. Why install chargers, then penalize folks for using them, especially since not every make and model has the charging port in the same location? We’re seeing this now as the Tesla Supercharger network opens up to more models; charging cables just aren’t compatible with every model without odd parking jobs.
But Tesla’s a private company that’s opening up a “we’ve always done things this way” charging network to lots of other cars. City government and urban planners have to serve everyone. Why didn’t anyone consider this, unless the entire point is purely revenue collection? Is every rear-port EV going to walk away with a ticket if they try to use Ferndale’s EV chargers? How is that fair?
This doesn’t even begin to touch on the terrifying social or civil implications that could come with a bad parking job to charge a car. An arrest warrant? Really?
To me, instances like this are why some EV skeptics and even EV owners get fed up with EVs. It’s hard enough finding a working, high-quality charger. With all these strange caveats can be frustrating and discouraging. Some would even insist, intentionally so.
I reached out to the city of Ferndale for comment on its rules. Someone from ParkFerndale did reach out, and after a short e-mail go-around, I was able to get the ticket dismissed. They explained that they have a new policy to first write a warning to drivers who back in, before going straight to ticketing. However, the representative did say that “The provisions prohibiting backing into parking spaces are applicable to all of our off-street parking lots/facilities in Ferndale and not just EV charging locations.”
So, it seems EV drivers might be out of luck in the future. I got this ticket dismissed because I reached out for comment as a reporter; what happens to normal folks who don’t have that luxury?
I’d say that if you’re driving an EV in Ferndale, watch out. You may find yourself at the end of a nasty ticket and a series of phone calls to get it removed. For now, I hope other cities and urban planners take note of this experience and change their ways.