this post was submitted on 02 Dec 2025
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In one Canadian town, the issue is whether the parking space becomes a space for anyone, or whether it is reserved for a charger technician. No rule on this is written and one has to guess. What do you think?

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[–] CompactFlax@discuss.tchncs.de 8 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (15 children)

Is it charging parking or EV Parking? From an enforcement perspective, the space should stay as EV parking because it’s much simpler. ALPR is used commonly for parking enforcement and it’s not worth the hassle to reprogram it based on the status of the charger. In no scenario does it make sense that an ICE vehicle can park there.

If the space is reserved for vehicle charging, that needs to be clearly signed. If it is for EV parking in general then this conversation is moot. Unless there’s a sign, there is no way to determine that the space is reserved for a repair technician - or even if the charger is working. Changing street parking rules based on whether a dongle is working is problematic.

[–] betanumerus@lemmy.ca -4 points 2 days ago (14 children)

The only reason I see to reserve a space for EV is for charging. Unless there is a working charger, it makes no sense to me to prioritize EVs. The 3 possibilities I see when a charger is broken:

  • The space is for anyone, like other spaces in the area (because a broken charger is a brick)
  • The space is reserved for a technician.
  • The space is for any EV.

I see different people having different opinions, which is why I need this discussion.

[–] CompactFlax@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

It is slightly ambiguous because if it is labelled as “for EV charging” and you have an EV parked there and it is not charging, you are supposed to vacate the spot. So - if the charger is broken, the spot should be vacant. I can’t see parking enforcement being able to really handle that though unless there’s a connection between charger and enforcement.

But in that case, an ICE vehicle should still never park there.

It’s akin to delivery-only parking on a bank holiday. You still can’t park there even though the shop is closed.

[–] betanumerus@lemmy.ca -3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

The entire issue: by-law, signs, reserved space, is built a charger that is working. The purpose of everything is to charge a car, not to prevent parking. Without a working charger, everything collapses and EV drivers are not affected at all.

[–] CompactFlax@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

The entire premise is built around the idea that the spot is reserved for charging. If the charger is broken, the simple answer is that nobody can park there, not that laws cease to apply and the spot can be ICEd.

The sidewalk is for walking and doesn’t have anyone walking on it, so I parked there.

[–] betanumerus@lemmy.ca -4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Well if a charger is broken, it makes no sense to reserve the space for charging. A sidewalk analogy would be whether a sidewalk is "broken". If 50 feet, or 200 feet of the sidewalk was missing, people would consider parking there.

[–] Mesophar@pawb.social 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Yes, if the charger is broken, it does make sense to reserve the space for charging. To maintain the standard of it being for charging only. If it is reserved for charging, but the charger is broken, then no one parks there until the charger is fixed. Unless the charger is being permanently taken offline, then the space should revert to parking for anyone.

This is because the charger being broken is a temporary status. If it turned into a free parking spot whenever the charger were broken, even if people didn't vandalize the charger they could simply say "oh, I thought it was broken", or "it was broken earlier when I parked here".

[–] betanumerus@lemmy.ca 0 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I've seen chargers being left broken for over a year. In the meantime, there was no way to tell whether they'll ever be back online.

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