EV Charging Bays: It’s A Simple Misused Parking Space Issue!

After highlighting all the ups regarding the Malaysian electric vehicle (EV) market space over the last couple of days (best new launches, quadrupled sales volume growth over 2022, and rapid EV ecosystem growth), we are going to end the year on a slightly sour note.

Our aim here is to perhaps get the relevant authorities to act.

Recently The News Straits Times shared via social media of “Netizens outraged as ignorant drivers park petrol-powered cars in EV parking spots”. This garnered rapid virality online and, naturally, bore interesting comments and observations - most of which we have highlighted many times before.

In case you weren’t aware, there is a term for said act: ‘ICEing’. It is an issue faced by all EV owners worldwide, not just Malaysia.

From the comments in the post mentioned, you can observe that most actually are against such an act, some even likening it to the act of wrongfully parking in disabled (OKU) parking lots or even designated ladies-only parking zones. One interesting comment that sums up this act comes from Jagjeet Singh who simply said “common sense is a joke to some people''.

This lack of common sense is why this issue is prevalent in this day and age where people are much more educated. We see these acts being committed by drivers from all walks of life, be it from small Peroduas to larger to fancier BMWs and to some extent even some EVs that are not charging.

To prove this, IOI Mall recently conducted a social experiment on its TikTok page and shed some  light on this matter. It succeeded in proving that many still take misuse of parking spaces lightly.

Mind you, the abuse of parking spaces designated to the disabled is an offence that’s punishable by law under the Road Rules and Regulation 1959 and Road Transport Rules (Vehicle Parking). It seems plenty still take this matter lightly.

As for EV parking on the other hand, technically there isn’t a law in place that says ICE vehicles cannot park at an EV parking space. As user BL Fong points out in the social post, “laws and rules are different. The car owner breaks the rules but there is no specific law for the offence.”

For this, we must also grasp the simple difference between law and rule. Laws are gazetted directives and those who break it can be penalised by enforcement officers or be taken to court. Rules, on the other hand, are simply guidelines placed by the operators or property owners, which in most cases are private entities and going against which will, atmost, see offenders receiving a small fine.

To prevent this, charge point operators (CPO) like ChargeSini and Shell Parkeasy have implemented an automated parking barrier system. This deters ICEing as the barriers open or lowers down only when an EV is charging.

How feasible is this in the long run? Firstly, the cost involved in setting up said barrier systems collectively could be channelled towards setting up more EV charging stations, should all vehicle owners practise simple “common sense”, that is. Secondly, all additional items in place for the simple act of charging and EV would also mean there are more “failure points” should any one item fail to function.

Damaged parking barrier

Perhaps, as we step into the new year, isn't it high time this matter is addressed “lawfully”? Especially when the collective goal between both private and government bodies is to have 10,000 public electric vehicles charging bays (EVCB) by 2025?