It is not as spooky, or as chilling, as it sounds, but it is becoming a real issue. Find out more about this sneaky parking behaviour.
As the popularity of electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) continue to grow, dedicated changing bays have popped up in many car parks. In theory, they provide a valuable and convenient service for owners who can charge up their vehicles while doing a little shopping or grabbing a coffee.
However, a charging bay is still a parking space, and that means it’s open to abuse – specifically the practice of ‘ghost parking’ – which can cause issues for both EV drivers and car park operators.
What is ‘ghost parking’?
Ghost parking, or ghost charging, is when drivers park in a charging bay without actually charging their vehicle. It could be blatant misuse, where the charging facility is not used at all, or more subtle, where the vehicle is connected but charging is not initiated, or the vehicle is left plugged in for a period of time after charging finishes.
Whatever trickery is at play, it’s frustrating for responsible EV drivers as charging bays are already at a premium, so any misuse is especially limiting. For car park operators, it’s a waste of your costly infrastructure and may negatively affect the parking experience for genuine users.
How much of an issue is ghost parking?
It’s becoming a significant issue. According to research carried out by Sainsbury’s supermarket, 51% of EV drivers admit to having ghost parked in the past. What’s more, a third admit that they have used this tactic to sneakily grab a space on “multiple occasions”. If you’re wondering where in the UK you’re most likely to get ghosted, it’s Cardiff, Birmingham and Belfast – although it’s becoming a problem in many cities.
One of the key takeaways from the Sainbury’s research is that the EV community suffers from a lack of charging etiquette, with 88% of drivers getting hot under the collar due to fellow EV drivers abusing the rules. Which brings us nicely to ICEing…
So what exactly is ‘ICEing’?
This is when drivers don’t even pretend to charge, because they can’t – they’re driving a standard ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) vehicle. They enter the car park in their petrol or diesel motor, spot an empty space, ignore the signage, overlook the shiny and very obvious charging machine, and slide right in. Engine off, and away they trot.
ICEing effectively blocks off the bay, preventing EV users from charging as intended and depriving car park owners from charging revenue. ICEing makes ghosting look good!
How to prevent ghost parking and ICEing
Drivers who exhibit this kind of parking behaviour almost certainly know what they’re doing, so user education through signage is unlikely to have an effect. Instead, we recommend that owners monitor their charging buys and deter misuse by issuing fines to ghosters and ICEers.
This is where Creative Car Park’s SpaceWatch technology comes in. This clever solution watches independent parking bays as opposed to the entire car park, and is perfect for monitoring special bays such as EV charging points.
To find out more about how we can help you clamp down on nuisance parking, using Spacewatch and our other car park management solutions, simply complete the form below and one of our team will be in touch.
