This picture brings up a lot of questions.
I found this car charging at the Denver International Airport in a somewhat hidden location in what appears to be doing so illegally.
My first thought was, “hey that is not fair” and that is why is costs so much to park at DIA. But I do love alternative energy and DIA has a huge solar array so I guess it is OK. However the solar array there only provides a small faction of the electrical use for the whole airport.
Then I started wondering if there was such a thing as a traffic ticket for this type of violation. Then I thought to myself with all the people that have camera phones I am not sure I would want to try this. But if you can afford a $110,000 Tesla I am sure they can afford the traffic ticket. How much could it be $100?
Yes you can read the plate number, and I know that DIA tracks all plate numbers that park anywhere at DIA. I am sure it would only take them seconds to find out who owns this car and send them a bill in the mail.
Another question I have is, let’s say someone from DIA sees this right after the Tesla is plugged in and disconnects it. The Tesla owner then comes back a few days later to find he has not enough battery to get him out of the parking garage, and someone is there to make sure he does plug in again when he returns. What does the owner do? If he gets a tow truck where does the tow truck take the car? The nearest gas station I am sure does want him stealing electricity either. So does he get towed all the way home?
Update: I was in Boulder the other day and noticed that there is a new Tesla dealership. I hear that DIA actually does have spots for electric cars to charge up for free.
They said it has been the #1 dealership in the country selling over 30 cars.
I don’t think it’s a very big deal. It’s nice to see that someone actually uses their Tesla as a daily driver (I mean, look at that dirt!)which means the aren’t burning gas. This makes it easy to forgive the taking of the very small amount of electricity they can get from a 110 outlet in some parking garage.
Yea, you’re right it is not that big of a deal. We pay so much for parking at DIA I guess they should let us do it for free.
This makes me think of the South Park episode when the kids create a “Smug Alert” by convincing the parents to drive Hybrids. Is the owner of the Tesla so Smug that they are willfully taking advantage of the “free” energy… or are they so unaware that they truly believe this is “free” energy…or are WE unaware of some agreement this eco-conscience sports car driver has entered into with DIA to pay for the energy their car consumes charging while they jet off on their undoubtedly Carbon Offset trip? Hmmmm….
ARN
My wife cracks me up, she calls these cars, “Eco Ego Cars”.
I think this is a bit of an overreaction. Assuming this Tesla driver drove all the way from C-Springs ~85 miles away, worst case Tesla driving consumes about 3 miles per KWh of electricity which at $.10 per KWh (which is slightly above the national average) cost the great city of Denver about $2.80. If it came from Boulder (~44 miles) it would cost about $1.40 in electricity and from Aurora (~17 miles), driving economically (4 mi/KWh), about $0.43. I suspect that the cost of scrubbing the oil stains on the pavement from gas burners at the DIA parking garage exceed this amount per car, as does the need to provide jump starts for gas burners that can’t start in cold weather.
On the other hand, if this Tesla provokes the rest of the auto industry (as well as Tesla) to produce cheaper, affordable electric cars, the savings to everyone will vastly exceed this insignificant cost.
Maybe a $3000 parking meter should be installed next to the outlet so that charging Tesla’s could pay for parking. Let’s see: for the C-spgs case at $3 into the meter, and assuming 100% occupation and 3 day average stays it would take 123 years to even pay for the parking meter. Maybe it would make more sense to just give the guy the juice (plugging is better for his battery, even if he doesn’t actually need to charge) if he pays for parking anyway, at least until there are enough electric cars to matter.
You are over-reacting. It should just be considered part of the rate. It would be like going after the 5 cents of electricity people “steal” form the airport to plug their laptop into the wall at the gate (if they can find one). Honestly, I think the person who did this is lucky thta the normal car thief raoming the lot doesn’t know that extension cord is worth about $200.
The charging cable plugged into the Tesla costs $600 for a replacement.
If the person drove less than 100 miles distance to reach the airport, there was no need to even recharge while on the trip. I would have left my Tesla there (unplugged) as long as it had more than 100 miles of available range.
200+ mile range if the owner left the house fully charged before driving to the airport.
Oops – copied a bad link (Dave, would you mind deleting my previous entry?)
Here’s a better link to Facebook Plug in America (I think).
http://www.facebook.com/notes/plug-in-america/guerrilla-charging-theft-or-public-service/286235752086
No problem, I deleted it.
Thank you Dave! You managed to get people talking with that photo — did you just happen to find the car by complete chance?
Yep, I was just walking passed it and say, “hmmm that looks interesting”.
Have read about your post in three different places. No where did anyone pose this question.
Is it possible that DIA doesn’t mind at all that this EV is plugged in?
Personally, I’d say that it’s very likely the case. Lots like this are patrolled by security and cleaning crews on an ongoing basis. It’s unlikely that they would not have noticed. (After all you did, and you lack the vested interest in the facility that they have.)
I also feel the need to question the presumptive attitude of your initial reaction.
What made you jump to the conclusion that it is a case of theft?
Did you consider that the owner of the car may have asked permission?
Did it occur that the DIA garage might not mind the EV charging there?
(Much as they don’t seem to mind everyone charging their phones and laptops inside the airport.)
Was your initial reaction some deep seeded mistrust of the world, or of EV owners, or was it perhaps an agenda of your own? – To drive traffic to your blog, perhaps?
deKoven,
I sent an email to DIA right after I wrote this post to get their comment but they never got back to me.
I am going to be out to DIA again next week, so I will see if I can find someone to ask if it is ok to charge your car there.
At $18 a day, they should.
Seems like the best way to treat this situation is to encourage the people with electric cars to use them, and plug in where they need to. That promotes their viability and gets more people interested.