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The current public EV charging infrastructure is scarce enough without having internal combustion engine (ICE) cars taking up charging spots. While there may have been some confusion when public car charging first hit the scene, there really isn’t much of an excuse for parking an ICE car in an EV charging spot anymore. Which is why, according to ABC News, in certain parts of Australia, you can actually be fined for doing so, up to $3,200.
Four of Australia’s states and territories—Australia Capital Territory (ACT), Victoria, New South Wales (NSW), and Queensland—have introduced fines for parking an ICE car in an EV charging spot. The fines range from the lowest in Victoria ($369), to the highest in ACT ($3,200) for what is now called “ICE-ing.”
The fines are doled out in penalty units, which are standardized amounts of money used to calculate fine costs and their values are different based on state or territory. For instance, in Victoria, the current penalty unit value is $184.92, so if someone is charged with ten penalty units, they would have to pay $1,849.20.
If these fines seem a bit steep for simply parking in the wrong spot, Australian Electric Vehicle Association national president Chris Jones said they’re necessary to educate the public.
“There needs to be an acknowledgement that there are places you can park and places you can’t, and right in front of an EV charger is one where you can’t.” Jones told ABC News.
The reason for Australia’s emphasis on this issue is the scarcity of public chargers relative to EV customers. According to Electric Vehicle Council policy head Jake Whitehead, there are around 80,000 EVs in Australia and open public chargers are already hard to come by. So a parking mistake by a combustion car owner might seem trivial to them but isn’t trivial to an EV owner in desperate need of a charge.
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