Vent: The Whole Foods parking lot in Portland made me give up on electric cars

I was sitting in my Prius for 25 minutes last Tuesday waiting for a charging spot near the Hawthorne bridge. Some guy in a Tesla was just parked there scrolling on his phone, not even plugged in. I honked and he flipped me off through the window. I finally gave up, drove home, and plugged into my regular outlet like always. The whole idea of switching to a full EV feels pointless when the infrastructure is this crowded. Has anyone else just walked away from a charging station after waiting too long?

2 comments

2 Comments

murphy.barbara13d ago

Play devil's advocate here, but honestly you're blaming the wrong thing. That Tesla dude was a jerk, sure, but that's a people problem not a car problem. Same thing happens at gas stations all the time, people parked at the pump while they run inside for snacks. The charging infrastructure is growing fast, way faster than gas stations ever did. I've seen two new charging stations pop up within a mile of my house this year alone. And your Prius is basically just a gas car with a tiny battery, you're not even getting the real EV experience where you never have to visit a station except on road trips. The issue is early adoption bumps, not a fundamental flaw with electric cars.

black.joel13d agoMost Upvoted

Yeah @murphy.barbara you're right that people are the problem not the cars. Had a guy in an F-150 Lightning block two chargers last week because he parked crooked. Just walked up and asked him nicely to straighten out and he did. Most people are reasonable if you just talk to them. The trick is finding the less busy charging spots. I use an app that shows live availability and it saves me so much headache. Skip the stations near malls and grocery stores, those are always the worst.