The Times Article: The end to ICEing

[Tango130]

Smart spaces will fine petrol and diesel car owners illegally parking in electric bays

Petrol and diesel car owners could be fined for parking in electric vehicle charging bays under an automated system designed to stop “bay blocking”.Sensors inst

www.thetimes.co.uk

"Petrol and diesel car owners could be fined for parking in electric vehicle charging bays under an automated system designed to stop “bay blocking”.

Sensors installed in electric bays can be used to detect the presence of a vehicle and whether it is being used to recharge the car battery.

Motorists could face £70 fines under the scheme, which is designed to encourage more drivers to switch to zero-emission electric cars.

The move is made amid concern that some bays doubling as electric car charge points are being blocked by vehicles with internal combustion engines, a problem that has come to be known as “ICEing”.

More than 144,000 plug-in cars — pure electric or plug-in hybrids — have been sold so far this year, more than double the number in the same period in 2019. They make up almost 10 per cent of registrations since January compared with less than 3 per cent a year earlier. Numbers are expected to soar in coming years following the government’s decision to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030.

However, the availability of roadside chargers remains a major barrier for some motorists, particularly the estimated third of households with no dedicated off-street parking provision such as a driveway or garage, making it almost impossible to install a domestic charge point.

Councils can already fine drivers for parking a combustion engine car in a designated electric bay if offences are spotted by traffic wardens.

However, Coventry council is now considering using a smart parking system installed in bays to crack down on drivers who flout the rules. It has rolled out sensors across the city that detect when a vehicle is parked within it. The system, established by Appyway, the tech firm and parking platform, provides data through an app on vacant bays.

“We are not using them for enforcement currently but the potential is there for the sensors to inform enforcement officers of bay misuse in the future,” the council said.

Appyway has already installed sensor technology in parking bays in Harrogate and Halifax, and disabled parking spaces in the City of London. The sensors are due to be deployed in Portsmouth next year."

 

[Kithmo]

This echoes of big brother. What happens if you left your EV charging merrily away then it stops for some reason, does the sensor know ?

 

[Deleted member 823]

This echoes of big brother. What happens if you left your EV charging merrily away then it stops for some reason, does the sensor know ?

I was going to say just that! We need to know a bit more about the sensor system. Also, who pays for this? Will it be passed on to charge bay users? In principle, I like the idea.

 

[Stuart Wright]

It's reasonable to assume that the sensor reads number plates. It would have to to issue fines. And it can use the DVLA database to determine whether a car is plug-in or not.
And it recognises and can make logical 'decisions' based on these four events:

1. a car entering the bay
2. a car leaving the bay
3. a charging session starting
4. a charging session ending

What needs to be decided is the amount of time a car can block the (rapid charging) bay without being fined.
15 minutes?

Therefore it's easy enough to set up conditions when to fine.
Examples
EV: 1 + 3 + 4 + < 15 minutes + 2 = no fine.
Non-EV: 1 + >=15 minutes + 2 = fine

There will be lots of permutations to program in, but it's a great idea provided the limitations on parking are clearly marked.

There are a fair few rapids around Coventry and I walk past them regularly. They have never been in use. Probably because they are quite expensive.

 

[mystreet]

It's going to sense if your number plate has the ? strip or not

 

[Kithmo]

It's going to sense if your number plate has the ? strip or not

It won't take ICErs long to work that one out and put some green tape on their number plate.

 

[Noraf142]

Well, as the charger is detecting a connected car, it shouldn't be difficult for the system to differentiate between cars. And a not connected ev isn't mutch better than an ice occupying the space, is it?


Also, I see you lot over there have a bit of catching up to do for % of sold ev vs ice... ?

 

[Stuart Wright]

Also, I see you lot over there have a bit of catching up to do for % of sold ev vs ice... ?

Very true