Maryland bill to probihit ICE’ing an EV charging station is stuck in committee

Those of us who own electric vehicles know what it’s like to arrive at a charging station, expecting to charge our car, only to find it is blocked by a gas car.  Such a situation is infuriating and endangers the electric car owner because of the increased risk of being unable to make it home when expected.  In Maryland the State Legislature is considering a law to make it a crime (parking offense) to block an electric vehicle charging station.

Maryland 2013 HB 1149 – Vehicle Laws – Stopping, Standing, and Parking – Plug-In Vehicles

For the purpose of prohibiting a person from stopping, standing or parking a vehicle that is not a plug-in vehicle in a space that is marked for the use of plug–in vehicles and provides access to a plug–in vehicle recharging station; defining a certain term; and generally relating to a prohibition against stopping, standing, or parking nonplug – in vehicles in certain spaces.
The law only prohibits non-plug-in vehicles from parking at a EV charging station.  It does not require the plug-in vehicle to be plugged-in to the EV charging station.

It unfortunately is stuck after having received an unfavorable report by Environmental Matters.

According to legislative analysis report, an identical law was considered in 2011-12 (SB240 HB108) and a December 2012 report on the prior bill recommended the bill be deferred “until local governments and/or market forces have had more opportunity to address the nuances.”

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These issues included the amount of time that an electric vehicle should be allowed to be plugged – in to a charger and whether the amount of time should vary for parking spaces located on different types of properties. The report did recognize the difficulty posed by the fact that up to 46% of Maryland residents do not have private access to an electrical outlet for charging an electric vehicle. To address this, the report envisions establishing a pilot project that could include working with county and municipal governments to identify off ‐ street outdoor parking locations for local resident electric vehicle charging.

About David Herron

David Herron is a writer and software engineer living in Silicon Valley. He primarily writes about electric vehicles, clean energy systems, climate change, peak oil and related issues. When not writing he indulges in software projects and is sometimes employed as a software engineer. David has written for sites like PlugInCars and TorqueNews, and worked for companies like Sun Microsystems and Yahoo.

About David Herron

David Herron is a writer and software engineer living in Silicon Valley. He primarily writes about electric vehicles, clean energy systems, climate change, peak oil and related issues. When not writing he indulges in software projects and is sometimes employed as a software engineer. David has written for sites like PlugInCars and TorqueNews, and worked for companies like Sun Microsystems and Yahoo.

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