Tesla owners in British Columbia and Alberta were happy when a second Supercharger was opened in Canmore, Alberta last year.
As it turns out, finding an open Supercharger at the new station is proving more difficult than expected, and it’s not because of a massive influx of Tesla owners.
Instead the location has been a frequent victim to ICE’ing, where internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles park and block access to the Superchargers. This was very evident when Drive Tesla reader Anshuman Chhabra was trying to charge his Model X the other day and had to wait 30 minutes for someone to move their vehicle.
Parking violations as all charging spots were blocked at the #Tesla supercharger at @TownofCanmore. No spot for Tesla EVs to charge. Had to wait 30 mins before could find a charging spot. Action needed: @RCMPAlberta @DriveTeslaca pic.twitter.com/sSS0JdTK4Y
— Anshuman Chhabra (@anshumanchhabra) February 18, 2021
While we’re usually quick to blame the ICE owners for being ignorant (which most of the time they are), the problem with ICE’ing at this Supercharger likely has more to do with its location than anything else.
The 8 stalls are located in the same parking lot as a Boston Pizza restaurant. When the restaurant is busy, patrons are unlikely to drive by an open parking spot just feet away from the restaurant, even if the signs say “Vehicle Charging”.
Here is another mass ICE’ing of the Supercharger from Saturday, February 20, 2021.
Making the problem even worse is the eight Superchargers actually take up 16 stalls as they can be accessed from both sides. Trying to enforce the parking to Tesla vehicles only is going to be next to impossible.
Have you encountered ICE’ing at your local Supercharger? Let us know in the comments below.
