Plan carefully before you buy that new EV

If you can’t charge it legally, don’t ask your city to break the rules for you

Apparently, even if you don’t build it, they will come.

A Toronto man, Todd Anderson, bought a Chevy Volt even though he has nowhere to park it and no way to legally charge it. Oh, he had a charging station installed on his front lawn, but limited parking means he has to run the extension cord across the sidewalk. He is doing the only thing that makes any sense, telling the city to: a) change the bylaws so he can legally park right in front of his house; and b) let him run his extension cord beneath the sidewalk.

Anderson’s ward councillor, Paula Fletcher, is siding with her constituent, and doesn’t think the city is moving fast enough in providing infrastructure for electrics. While I can sympathize with a city budget that can’t accommodate everything, I wonder at a car owner so itchy to use his provincial new EV rebate of $12,500, he fails to factor in the most obvious problem: He’s got nowhere to put it.

I’ve seen people acquire more cars than they have allotted parking for and then squawk when they get ticketed for parking in designated visitor’s parking areas. They’re all stupid; a change in your circumstances doesn’t warrant a change in bylaws.

When I initially read of Anderson’s parking dilemma, I presumed he’d purchased the Chevy and would be charging it at work each day. It’s a little backassed, but workable. But instead to learn his solution was to street park his car and haul an extension cord across the sidewalk gave me pause. You don’t get to place tripping hazards out for your neighbours because you made a purchase you didn’t think through.

You also don’t get to whine that your government isn’t doing enough to help you. I’d say the fact all those neighbours (and me) provided that $12,500 toward that new car should be evidence you’ve already received more than any other car buyer or transit user. Somebody with no capacity to legally charge an electric vehicle but buying one anyway is like someone with diarrhea buying a box of bran flakes just because he has a coupon.

In California, where sales of electrics are surging, wars are breaking out over charging stations. People unplug others’ vehicles and some take a break from hugging trees to punch each other over an outlet.

Infrastructure is sadly lacking when it comes to charging stations. Governments, not just ours, are tasked with doing the best for the most with ever-tighter margins. New builds are accommodating a change in the automotive landscape, but quite frankly, that landscape is changing at warp speed. Nobody will be able to keep up, not just local governments.

If you’ve lived in an urban core, you know that on-street parking is an ongoing war. Residents perfect the time shuffle, renew permits, put up with tickets and jockey hard for something near their postal code when the weather turns. I’ve even seen neighbours go to battle over designated handicapped parking spots. Make me understand how I’m OK with the guy we just ponied up $12,500 to now receiving red-carpet treatment because he’s “saving the environment.”

No doubt, we need more public charging stations. But the calibre of cars being produced today makes it very easy to find the perfect vehicle for your circumstances. Anderson could have purchased one of dozens of highly fuel-efficient cars in this size segment.

Oh, wait. No thousands in rebates are going that route. Never mind.