Special Investigative Report
Bethesda is known as a progressive, enlightened and environmentally-conscious town. But that isn't on display beneath its urban streets. Drivers of gasoline vehicles are regularly hogging spaces reserved for electric vehicles (EVs) in the new Capital Crescent Garage at Bethesda and Woodmont Avenues, and enforcement appears lax.
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Whoops, Hyundai doesn't
make an EV Tiburon |
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BMW and
Honda Accord in
EV spaces Friday
evening |
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Honda makes EVs, but
this ain't one of them |
On Friday evening during the busiest dinner hour, several EV charging spaces were taken up by gas vehicles, ranging from Hyundais to expensive BMWs. Subsequent spot checks turned up the same abuse, including on Monday night, again during the 6:00 PM hour.
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Volvo on Monday evening
during dinner hour |
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Nope, these aren't
EVs |
 |
| Neither is this |
 |
| Nor this |
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Space after space was available
on lower levels of the 900+ space
garage - over 600, to be exact -
for gasoline-powered vehicles |
With over 600 parking spaces available, non-EV drivers were still parking in the limited-but-convenient EV spaces - including a Porsche. The EV spaces were conveniently located as another incentive for choosing alternative fuel vehicles, much like the HOV access EV drivers often enjoy.
 |
Only one offending driver
had been ticketed |
Only one vehicle had been ticketed by parking enforcement during the times shown here. With Bethesda having one of the largest percentages of EVs in America, the rampant abuse could mean EV drivers planning to park and charge their vehicle would be blocked out by an ineligible driver.
The Capital Crescent Garage is also known as Public Parking Garage 31, and is operated by Montgomery County Government.
32 comments:
Thank you for reporting on this! This is a complete outrage and shows the rampant abuse of resources. I am not surprised one bit that the majority of the offending cars were expensive models. This is exactly the sort of abuse I would expect the 1%'ers to be guilty of.
It was so bad on Friday night that I was unable to park and charge my $105,000 Tesla Model S P85D because some rich jerk had parked his $89,000 Porsche in my space!
War on Cars III: Gasoline v. Electric
But seriously fudge these guys.
Show their license plates! We need a witch hunt.
Not all EVs are $100K Teslas.
Example: The Chevy Spark EV is $13,000 in Maryland with tax credits.
Would be nice if folks with Sparks, Nissan Leafs, etc. could plug in.
But if you park for a minute on the street without paying the little man in the car will show up.
The parking fine is probably not high enough to hurt these luxury German car driving a-holes. Only thing that would hurt these jerks would be taking the brand emblem off the front of their car.
If you're going to be a douchebag at least have an expensive car.
@5:59
You make a very good point, but how many Chevy Sparks do you see cruising Bethesda row on a Friday night for every Tesla that rolls by?
I can't wait to get my electric Apple Car.
6:17 AM
Agreed that there are more per capita Teslas in Bethesda compared to any other part of our region. I do see other EVs however. I saw a Leaf the other night.
Point is, we need to encourage EV adoption. Having spaces available are part of that.
Ugh, as a automotive enthusiast it is embarrassing to see someone blatantly act like a douche and make us all sport car owners look bad. Regardless of where the car brand is from (Germany, Japan, America, etc..) these people do not represent the whole industry/hobby/enthusiast. Nor would I consider these people the " 1%'s " as someone else has proclaimed them; that just sounds your jealous. Three of the seven cars in those picture are under $30k. Anyone can lease a BMW 3 Series and act like they can "afford" it.
These are probably the same people who weave through highway traffic with disregard for others in stead of properly keeping to the left lane; as faster traffic should always be left and slower to the right. But I shoudln't get started on that as most people (~60%) in this area completely ignore that rule/law. Even if the speed is above the speed limit one should always let the fast traffic stay on their left and not pass on right.
Anyways, you don't need to blur their license plates. You can't search DMV databases for that information anymore. I hope the parking enforcement keeps it up with watching these spots. It would also be hilarious to keep posting pictures of the offending cars.
Boot them and tow them.
I think we need to be fair and recognize that the county also needs to shoulder some of the blame for this problem. The signs on those spaces are only in one language, English.
Even to a native English speaker, the signs are very vague as to just what the restriction applies to. Every single one of the cars photographed in this article has an electrical system. The owners of those cars could have meant no ill and simply interpreted the sign to specify that 'electric vehicles' meant any car with an electrical system.
6:54: Oh come on! These people aren't stupid. They knowingly and willfully are breaking the rules. That is the logic of a bratty 5th grader trying to get away with something.
6:54 - You seem to have a good grasp of the English language, and stupidity is not excuse for ignorance.
Well, there's a cost to having those EV spaces. They're not 'free' as they take away 'regular' parking spots. I don't know how many there are, but I bet there are way too many. That's why the people are parking there. They're valuable spots (close to retail/exit). Typical MoCo, it doesn't value those spot properly and the people think it doesn't make any sense. There's probably way more EV spots than necessary.
Is it just a Bethesda thing? Rockville Town Square has probably one EV space and no one violates the rules there.
@7:29
Of course those are valuable spots close to retail/exit. Don't I deserve something for being forward thinking and enlightened enough to drive a Tesla? Don't you think I should have the best parking spot in the garage for seeing to it that your grandchildren's grandchildren inherit a cleaner earth? I do.
Consider yourself lucky there isn't a law requiring you gas guzzlers to valet park our Teslas when we arrive in town. Actually, I should consider myself lucky that is not a law; I don't want your McDonalds stains on my leather seats.
7:29 take a look at the last picture. There are plenty of open spots. The people wrongfully taking these "valuable spots" aren't paying anymore to park there and if they had to they would probably lie about where they parked given their obvious penchant for being d-bags.
There is an obvious value statement being made and it is to promote EV cars. If these people don't like it move to Beijing and enjoy the value statement they are making with the ample smog.
Time to join society and obey simple rules.
Kinda funny how Dyer's pictures don't show people parking anywhere BUT in those four spaces. Smells kinda fishy.
@7:42. Funny, maybe YOU should be the one in Beijing. They have tons of self proclaimed forward and enlightened thinkers there. They also have a deep desire to protect the earth for our children and grandchildren (where do you think the one-child policy came from?). A law for everything that you believe in probably isn't a good idea.
BTW, my first set of comments here, but wanted to give a shout out to Robert. A lot of trolls here but there are a lot of silent readers that appreciate all your hard work. Keep up the great work!
Did you report this to the county parking enforcement division? I believe you can file complaints via 311. Squeeky wheel gets the grease.
There's no need to obscure the license plate numbers. You're on public property. Taking photos of ANYTHING from public property is a-okay.
yo, 6:37:
"in stead of properly keeping to the left lane"
No one is supposed to keep in the left lane. It's a passing lane, not the fast lane. Pass, then get back over to the right.
Sorry to get off-topic, but I can't let that pass.
@10:34 this is 6:37 AM - That is 100% what I meant; sorry I was a little sleepy and didn't fully think out my thoughts.
10:17 AM These EV spaces are closest to the garage security/management office.
Enforcement isn't a priority right now it seems.
10:32 AM
You're right and I don't think it'd matter to show plates. But I don't see it adding to the story really.
I don't know how people miss the signs and the fact that these spaces have special green stripes, the charger right there, etc.
I guess it saves a couple of minutes from driving down another level or two.
9:06 AM - Silent readers should be seen and not heard. Otherwise, it just defeats the purpose.
Long time reader, first time commenter.
MoCo is one of the few counties where there's a specific law on the books for when an EV spot is "ICEd" (Internal Combustion Engine car) by a non-EV. The parking people seem excellent at enforcing every other parking-related rule in Bethesda, even at 9:45 at night, so they need to step up and enforce the EV space laws as well.
I own an EV -- a Chevy Volt -- and it's less than half the cost of a Tesla. Most EVs in MD have the Plug-In Electric Vehicle sticker issued by MD MVA on the back, since it lets you use the HOV lanes in MD without being HOV. The sticker is free but MD MVA checks that your car complies when they process your application.
In other words, there's an easy way to identify EVs; there are laws on the books to fine non-EV drivers for parking in EV spaces... so it's just a matter of enforcement.
@ 2:13 PM - "Megadittos, Robert!"
@8:47
Never heard the term ICEd before. Do the more hardcore environmentalists get mad at you for using the EV spaces in your volt because it has . . . . an internal combustion engine?
@3:18 I'm not really into the EV thing like as a hobby -- we just have a Volt because my wife's office has an EV charging station and it means she can do her entire commute electric only. We visit the gas station about once every 6 months, after a long drive where we ran out of electric range.
From the EV get-togethers I've seen (online -- I don't attend them), people don't mind the Volt or other cars with backup generators at all. As long as your car drives on electric most of the time, it seems fine.
I'm completely with Robert on this. Some of us actually follow the rules. Park in 1 of the 15,000 open spots and leave the reserved spots alone. Not hard...
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