Free prime city parking spots in cities

Sesshoumaru

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/electric-vehicles-to-get-free-parking-if-new-laws-are-put-in-motion-3095415.html

ELECTRIC car drivers could get prime city parking spots free of charge under legislation being introduced by Transport Minister Leo Varadkar.

New measures to allow local authorities to reserve certain parking spots for electric vehicles -- and waive or reduce parking charges for their use -- are set to be tabled within weeks.

The move is aimed at encouraging more drivers to switch to clean electric cars, as currently there are only around 200 such vehicles on the road.

More good news for those of you interested in switching to the dark side! This is a good move as it is usually impossible to use on street refueling when another car is parked there and not refueling. I wonder would they consider letting EV's use the bus lanes at peak hours next?

Alanstrainor

I'll just stick a rechargeable 9v battery in my car and claim the engine is powering the flux capacitor.

kirving

I'm all for greener motoring, but allowing EV users to use bus lanes isn't really on.

I realise part of the reason busses have their own lanes is because they're more envoronmentally friendly than dozens of cars, but it's a traffic issue really, and I wouldn't be in favour of allowing EV's use them.

Introducing more charging spots it great, and they should be limited to only EV's. Free of charge though? That's just rewarding someone who can already afford a new car, and has low fuel costs.

Sesshoumaru

Alanstrainor wrote: »

I'll just stick a rechargeable 9v battery in my car and claim the engine is powering the flux capacitor.

Thanks, I was wondering would the first reply be along the lines of "I'm gonna block that charger as often as I can"

First of all you need a smart card to access the charger, which requires registering with ESB ecars, which requires owning an EV or PHEV. In addition you require a cable with J1772 connectors, quite expensive still. If you're willing to go to all that trouble, then fair play to you

creedp

Sesshoumaru wrote: »

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/electric-vehicles-to-get-free-parking-if-new-laws-are-put-in-motion-3095415.html



More good news for those of you interested in switching to the dark side! This is a good move as it is usually impossible to use on street refueling when another car is parked there and not refueling. I wonder would they consider letting EV's use the bus lanes at peak hours next?

Wouldn't bloody surprise me! I thought one of the big problems with cars in the city is conjestion and that is why bus lanes were created to allow for more efficient public transport. Kind of defeats the purpose if you allow cars to use the lanes .. . yes EV's are cars. This whole thing remind me of the teachers pet syndrome .. EV's can do no wrong at the moment. Why don't we give the owners a blue badge and be done with it!

Sesshoumaru

Kevin Irving wrote: »

I'm all for greener motoring, but allowing EV users to use bus lanes isn't really on.

I realise part of the reason busses have their own lanes is because they're more envoronmentally friendly than dozens of cars, but it's a traffic issue really, and I wouldn't be in favour of allowing EV's use them.

Introducing more charging spots it great, and they should be limited to only EV's. Free of charge though? That's just rewarding someone who can already afford a new car, and has low fuel costs.

I'm only semi serious. As a biker I've been calling for the legal opening of bus lanes for motorcycles for years. As they have done in parts of the UK. What I would be in favour of is and will lobby for is small EV's that are legally classified as quadricycles to be allowed use bus lanes. Example the Twizy:

The ultra-compact footprint of Renault Twizy (length: 2,338 millimeters / width: 1,237 millimeters / height: 1,454 millimeters) is ideally suited to city motoring.

It's so tiny I think it should be allowed in bus lanes for safety reasons and as an incentive to owning these ultra small urban vehicles.

Sesshoumaru

LIGHTNING wrote: »

If the Twizy had actual doors and was very cheap I think it would be a great little car/bike. As it is its really only good for warmer climates.

I don't think of it as a car, I think of it as a maxi-scooter type vehicle, like my 3 wheeled Piaggio MP3. If I was buying a Twizy, I would replace my Piaggio MP3 with one and think of it more as a motorcycle. Which legally it is classified as. With that mindset it suddenly goes from a cold and draft car, to a very comfy maxi-scooter.

For those who think of scooters as 50cc mopeds, I'm talking about the Twizy being aimed at people who buy big scooters like a 500cc Piaggio MP3 or a 650cc BMW C650 GT etc

Terrontress

Sesshoumaru wrote: »

Kevin Irving wrote: »

I'm all for greener motoring, but allowing EV users to use bus lanes isn't really on.

I realise part of the reason busses have their own lanes is because they're more envoronmentally friendly than dozens of cars, but it's a traffic issue really, and I wouldn't be in favour of allowing EV's use them.

Introducing more charging spots it great, and they should be limited to only EV's. Free of charge though? That's just rewarding someone who can already afford a new car, and has low fuel costs.

I'm only semi serious. As a biker I've been calling for the legal opening of bus lanes for motorcycles for years. As they have done in parts of the UK. What I would be in favour of is and will lobby for is small EV's that are legally classified as quadricycles to be allowed use bus lanes. Example the Twizy:

The ultra-compact footprint of Renault Twizy (length: 2,338 millimeters / width: 1,237 millimeters / height: 1,454 millimeters) is ideally suited to city motoring.

It's so tiny I think it should be allowed in bus lanes for safety reasons and as an incentive to owning these ultra small urban vehicles.

If they stay within the bus lane then fine. The issue with bus lanes is that as buses stop, those other vehicles using the lane try to get past it.

Crossing the solid white line of a bus lane should be treated the same as crossing the white line in the middle of a road.

Sesshoumaru

LIGHTNING wrote: »

If it had doors and was cheap enough it would sell like hotcakes. All the reviews I have read said its great fun to drive as it has direct steering and no power assisted brakes.

Whether it sells like hotcakes in Northern Europe, I will admit is not guaranteed. However I do think it is almost guaranteed to do very well in southern Europe. Personally I'd love to hire one while on holidays, seems like a great way to get around.

I've watched several reviews on Youtube and I can't wait to get my hands on one. It looks like a real blast to drive!

Mycroft H

LIGHTNING wrote: »

Slight OT but any video with Robert Llewellyn gets my vote. His Youtube series where he takes famous people out on drives in his Prius is brilliant.

I miss scrapheap challange on a sunday night

Barley Pickers FTW!

/OT

I don't agree with EVs in the bus lane. I've enough problems with taxi drives running me off my bike that I don't need more stupid drivers in there.

It's like the cheap tax for post O8 diesels again, incentives for folks with plenty of cash.

Sesshoumaru

BX 19 wrote: »

I miss scrapheap challange on a sunday night

Barley Pickers FTW!

/OT

I don't agree with EVs in the bus lane. I've enough problems with taxi drives running me off my bike that I don't need more stupid drivers in there.

On the plus side a quadricycle like the Twizy is unlikely to slow down a bus like a cyclist does when they are in front of a Bus on the Chapelizod bypass at peak rush hours In fairness I see most of them move over and let buses pass, but when they don't it is an excruciating experience if you're a passenger on a bus behind them.

In defense of the Twizy being allowed in the bus lanes, it doesn't have windows or a sound system. The driver is far less likely to be off in his/her own world and plough into some cyclist.

Sesshoumaru

RoverJames wrote: »

It's like the cheap tax for post O8 diesels again, incentives for folks with plenty of cash.

In fairness the Twizy starts at 7k and the Renault Zoe will start at 15k. I didn't pay with cash either.

Mycroft H

Sesshoumaru wrote: »

On the plus side a quadricycle like the Twizy is unlikely to slow down a bus like a cyclist does when they are in front of a Bus on the Chapelizod bypass at peak rush hours In fairness I see most of them move over and let buses pass, but when they don't it is an excruciating experience if you're a passenger on a bus behind them.

In defense of the Twizy being allowed in the bus lanes, it doesn't have windows or a sound system. The driver is far less likely to be off in his/her own world and plough into some cyclist.

But like the taxi drivers they will invariably try to overtake in the same lane. Which cant be done safely for either person with a cyclist in the lane.

Now while the twizy thing can probably do it safely, standard things like the prius/leaf what have you, won't be able. And I do pull in every now and then to let traffic pass btw, just when its safe to.

Sesshoumaru

BX 19 wrote: »

But like the taxi drivers they will invariably try to overtake in the same lane. Which cant be done safely for either person with a cyclist in the lane.

Now while the twizy thing can probably do it safely, standard things like the prius/leaf what have you, won't be able. And I do pull in every now and then to let traffic pass btw, just when its safe to.

I'm not actually in favour of letting any cars into the bus lane, EV or ICE. I am in favour of letting tiny quadricycle vehicles like the Twizy in though. I think this is a fair enough incentive for people who buys these vehicles as they are clearing up a lot of road space for everyone else.

Mycroft H

Sesshoumaru wrote: »

I'm not actually in favour of letting any cars into the bus lane, EV or ICE. I am in favour of letting tiny quadricycle vehicles like the Twizy in though. I think this is a fair enough incentive for people who buys these vehicles as they are clearing up a lot of road space for everyone else.

I see no problem with the twizy. Its tiny.

Paparazzo

This is a non story. No one is going to buy an electric car because there's a possibility of a parking space that's cheaper than normal ones. Or even free.
It says it's to stop normal cars hogging EV charge points. So presumable it'll be fast charge and they won't want fully charged EV's hogging the spaces? This is charging points rather than parking spaces they're talking about.

As for bus lanes, that won't happen. Motorcycle groups have been lobbying the government for ages, it won't happen for them. Gay Byrne said bus lanes will be open for bikers in the summer about 6 years ago, still hasn't and won't happen. The cyclists lobby is too powerful, so it's left that motorcyclists can use bus lanes unofficially. So the cyclist lobby are happy. Bizarre, but that's the way it is. And even more bizarre, a thread on the cycling forum a few years ago and I don't think 1 cyclist had a problem with it.

Sesshoumaru

Paparazzo wrote: »

This is a non story. No one is going to buy an electric car because there's a possibility of a parking space that's cheaper than normal ones. Or even free.
It says it's to stop normal cars hogging EV charge points. So presumable it'll be fast charge and they won't want fully charged EV's hogging the spaces? This is charging points rather than parking spaces they're talking about.

As for bus lanes, that won't happen. Motorcycle groups have been lobbying the government for ages, it won't happen for them. Gay Byrne said bus lanes will be open for bikers in the summer about 6 years ago, still hasn't and won't happen. The cyclists lobby is too powerful, so it's left that motorcyclists can use bus lanes unofficially. So the cyclist lobby are happy. Bizarre, but that's the way it is. And even more bizarre, a thread on the cycling forum a few years ago and I don't think 1 cyclist had a problem with it.

I've paid my MAG fees in the past, so I know what you mean. But this time we're saving the planet! In the same way that motorcycles don't add to congestion, little vehicles like the Twizy are the same and should be allowed in bus lanes IMO. That has to be a big incentive to go smaller and electric, without the fear some people have of motorcycles.

It's small and tiny, but you've still got a cage around you, an airbag and 4 wheels. Which would be the big difference for some people.

Mycroft H

Sesshoumaru wrote: »

When they play that at full speed it looks like a toy car bouncing off the wall

Sesshoumaru

BX 19 wrote: »

When they play that at full speed it looks like a toy car bouncing off the wall

I know this isn't a like for like comparison. The Fiat is offset and slightly faster. However I believe at only 1.2 metres in width, a full frontal impact is the more likely scenario in a Twizy. It does show that even small cars have improved immensely in terms of safety.

Eric Cartman

the twizzy shouldnt be allowed in bus lanes, if 2 busses are stuck in the bus lane stopped and theres a twizzy between them that decides to turn onto the normal lanes of traffic, the twizzy would have no way of seeing other cars and the other cars no way of seeing it, and Id pity whoever ended up between the front of a 4x4 and the back of a bus in one of those toys.

Atomic Pineapple

I may have missed it as I skipped over some of the posts that seemed to have nothing to do with the topic but what is the point in giving EV's free parking? Is it simply to encourage people to buy them? I can't see any other logical reason that an EV would get free parking over an ICE car?

Sesshoumaru

Eric Cartman wrote: »

the twizzy shouldnt be allowed in bus lanes, if 2 busses are stuck in the bus lane stopped and theres a twizzy between them that decides to turn onto the normal lanes of traffic, the twizzy would have no way of seeing other cars and the other cars no way of seeing it, and Id pity whoever ended up between the front of a 4x4 and the back of a bus in one of those toys.

That doesn't make any sense...

Sesshoumaru

draffodx wrote: »

I may have missed it as I skipped over some of the posts that seemed to have nothing to do with the topic but what is the point in giving EV's free parking? Is it simply to encourage people to buy them? I can't see any other logical reason that an EV would get free parking over an ICE car?

The point is primarily to stop cars parking in charging bays and stopping other electric cars from refilling.

Atomic Pineapple

Sesshoumaru wrote: »

The point is primarily to stop cars parking in charging bays and stopping other electric cars from refilling.

But how is free parking for EV's going to stop that? Would large fines for non EV's parking there not be a better deterrent?

Eric Cartman

draffodx wrote: »

I may have missed it as I skipped over some of the posts that seemed to have nothing to do with the topic but what is the point in giving EV's free parking? Is it simply to encourage people to buy them? I can't see any other logical reason that an EV would get free parking over an ICE car?

considering parking for an EV = charging, the payment is in the form of using the charging point (which will not be free forever)

Sesshoumaru

draffodx wrote: »

But how is free parking for EV's going to stop that? Would large fines for non EV's parking there not be a better deterrent?

They are planning both. Making it illegal to park there, same as a regular car parking in a handicap spot. Then they are also thinking of making the parking free in order to further encourage people to switch over to electric cars.

Sesshoumaru

Sesshoumaru wrote: »

......... same as a regular car parking in a handicap spot. .............

Disabled spot is the term

Sesshoumaru

RoverJames wrote: »

Disabled spot is the term

My apologies if I offended anyone! I'm pretty sure they were called "handicap spots" when I was kid. But now that you mention it, "disabled spot" does sound more up to date.

Terrontress

Would an EV be ticketed once it had finished charging? If someone parks in a city centre charging point at 8am and returns at 5.30 they are just as bad as someone in a non-EV parking in a charging bay.

I noticed 2 charging bays in Newry last week in between the Quays and the Buttercrane. Both times I went past there were 15 year old cars there, obviously not EV.

Marcusm

LIGHTNING wrote: »

If it had doors and was cheap enough it would sell like hotcakes. All the reviews I have read said its great fun to drive as it has direct steering and no power assisted brakes.

Sat in a Twizy last week; it's definitely a replacement or alternative for a scooter . None of the attributes of a car except or 4 wheels and the price - 7k. It's being marketed in France with 50kmh speed restriction as not needing a driving licence. Woud love one but seat would need to go back about 2 inches more so I coud see out the screen. Even then it would be a massive indulgence.