[Paul_Moxhay]

I stopped at Exeter services today and plugged in for 30 mins. There was an Outlander on the other rapid and as you can see from the pic it was occupying 2 bays. With me now on the other charger all the bays were blocked. Shortly after me arriving a Leaf turned up wanting a charge but with me only just plugged in she waited for the Outlander to finish... it was already on 70%.

The Outlander finished charging a few minutes later but the owner was not with the car. I assume they were in the services having coffee or lunch. 20 mins went by and they did not return to their car. In the end the other Leaf decided to move on.

Now, I have done this before by accident (too much talking in my case!)... blocked a rapid bay when the charge has finished and I suspect that we have all done occasionally it so I can't be too critical except to say that we should all try to return to our car at a rapid charger before the charge finishes in case there are others waiting... however, my real moan here is that the Outlander was taking two bays. Had they parked normally the other Leaf could have parked beside and plugged in.

Sometimes a little courtesy goes a long way

PS, when the Outlander owner returned I did point out they were stopping others from charging and he did apologise. Nuff said

 

[GBEV]

Pleased we weren't the other Leaf on our 260 mile journey home, a close shave of less than 24hrs.
Sojourn in Exeter Services?
I may have a had an uncontrollable onset of touring tourettes .

Edit, I see they managed to fold the mirrors back to save them being knocked off by somebody struggling to pull along side?!

 

[Edd Beesley]

Erm, I'm pretty sure the Leaf could have gone 2 wheels up onto the curb and parked next to the outlander....?

Still terrible parking from the outlander though.

 

[Paul_Moxhay]

eeerm... excuse me Mr Beesley but that is not the attitude IMO. We should not be forcing people to drive on pavements just to charge and I certainly wouldn't have done so.

 

[Wowbagger]

No excuse for that sort of parking, but we have reached a situation in which what used to be a standard-sized parking bay is no longer big enough for the enormous Chelsea Tractors that some people insist on driving, and that motor manufacturers encourage them to buy. Quite often it actually takes more driving skill than many drivers possess to get their car into a parking space and allow enough space for the doors to open.

Embiggening stuff is a modern disease. My last toothbrush was too fat to fit in a standard toothbrush holder. Why??

 

[PTM101]

Terrible parking, no excuse. I doubt that even if the Leaf had parked on the kerb that the cable would reach. The other interesting thing is the Leaf moved on. Where did it move on to, why come for a charge if it was not needed?

 

[PaulMorris]

That is amazingly bad parking. I was going to defend it as some of the charger/space placements are a PITA for the Outlander, but that is indefensible. Really the hatching is to partly to blame, there are so many lines there its easy to get confused where the actual parking bay is, so I see what he's done - parked square on to one the two charger.

I've concluded that having the socket on the rear quarter is a really bad idea. Most rapids I can only just about get the connector in when reversed into one of the two bays, and on one occasion I've had to park in the ICE space adjacent. For example that new charger on the right at exeter is unusable from the designated bay. The connector doesn't reach which ever way you park in the bay.

 

[Paul_Moxhay]

The other interesting thing is the Leaf moved on. Where did it move on to, why come for a charge if it was not needed?

Wondered that myself but they might have just moved on to the next charger... Tiverton perhaps?

We have done that ourselves. Turned up at Exeter to charge with enough to get us to Tiverton but only just. When there was a queue we decided to risk it rather than hang around for the best part of an hour. It could have been like that.

Who knows?

She did seem pretty keen to charge so I suspect it wasn't that she didn't need the charge IMO. Sometimes people can't just hang around waiting when they have appointments etc

 

[Casper]

Really the hatching is to partly to blame, there are so many lines there its easy to get confused where the actual parking bay is, so I see what he's done - parked square on to one the two charger.

No I don't think so if you enlarge the photo it becomes obvious that there is a distinct line between the two bays being straddled. we've complained enough about ICE's in EV bays so heavier use of hatching at least in these early days to keep them out is fair enough. It will be newbie who needs to know they are being cited nationally. Can someone refer them to this forum or can we have a wall of shame somehow - twitter storm ???

 

[Paul_Moxhay]

IMO we shouldn't be too hard on people right now. Many people are new EV owners and are still getting used to the way it all works and the etiquette etc. I wasn't harsh with the fella but did point out the consequences of parking across 2 bays. I am pretty sure the message got across.

Keep it friendly and educational rather than confrontational.

I am not sure a "wall of shame" will help tbh. It might have been a simple beginner mistake. Why make it unpleasant for people? I posted here not to shame them but to help educate all of us.

 

[Colin]

Plus as I have stated several times about the Outlander, it's a great car but with the huge charge port door flap it would be sticking out with the CHAdeMO head another foot into the other bay.

 

[Julian Thomas]

I blocked the rapid in Ikea MK last year, and fessed up on here to the aggrieved. That wasn't knobbishness on my part, it was a lack of knowledge... so I think you definitely took the right approach @Paul_Churchley

 

[Edd Beesley]

eeerm... excuse me Mr Beesley but that is not the attitude IMO. We should not be forcing people to drive on pavements just to charge and I certainly wouldn't have done so.

Well it's my attitude

Parking on the grass verge in front of the (iced) EV bays at work was the only way to get security to take note and police the bays. Sometimes we need to bend the rules to change people's behaviours....

 

[John2]

By way of apology I would plead that Outlanders are very new and we are very green and very confused by it all and puzzled why there are different charging standards, different networks, and why we can't unplug etc etc, and why the white lines are so confusing as they don't have them in petrol stations where all the pumps look the same and our cards work in nearly every petrol station in the country but for EVs you need a load of cards to work the charging stations or even apps to make it even more confusing. Sorry!

 

[GBEV]

If you was the who dunnit and you have 2 EVs, sorry but limp.
Woz dat an apology by me too?

 

[flipper]

No I don't think so if you enlarge the photo it becomes obvious that there is a distinct line between the two bays being straddled. we've complained enough about ICE's in EV bays so heavier use of hatching at least in these early days to keep them out is fair enough. It will be newbie who needs to know they are being cited nationally. Can someone refer them to this forum or can we have a wall of shame somehow - twitter storm ???

I'm with @PaulMorris, I find the markings confusing and usually end up straddling the spaces (though not quite this badly!). Usually it doesn't matter as there are 4 spaces, but where it's tighter I'd repark if it was a problem.

 

[Paul_Moxhay]

I totally agree... markings could often be better and standardisation of markings would be of benefit too.

 

[The Badger]

Used my first charging point yesterday and did not need to be a brain surgeon to work out how to park in a hatched bay! That was just laziness..........or they wanted to ensure nobody got close enough to damage the car, look at those parking like that in the supermarket....................Geeeez!

The charging port is an issue on the Outlander but am lucky so far that I can park in a position which has meant that connection has not been an issue.

PS - the wing mirrors fold back every time you lock up the embiggened Chelsea Tractor!!

 

[Dean Hamer]

That is definitely lazy parking, also I blame Mitsubushi for putting the charge port in the wrong location (every EV should be at the front)

 

[Dean Hamer]

Gotta love the A3 E-tron charge port.