paw160 said:
But this still brings up an interesting discussion for EV owners.
If I went to a public tennis court and plugged in a radio that would be OK, right? I think there is an assumption in public places that services are available for rasonable use. I do think that if public venues are concerned about how much of their electricity is being used or for what purpose then they would have to start locking down the boxes or posting clear use signage.
It is an interesting discussion. If there's an outlet that's available for public use then I wouldn't see much harm in plugging in your car. It would be no different than plugging in a laptop or a radio. The car still doesn't use very much power.
It would be completely acceptable IMO if you are at a public park and plug in at the picnic shelter than you reserved and paid for. For example, most parks in Minneapolis with shelters & grilles can be rented by residents for around $75 for a half day. Doing so ensures that the picnic shelter will be free for you & that it will have been cleaned by Mpls Parks staff shortly before your arrival. With that you're allowed to use the electricity at the park. When I graduated high school we had my grad party at a local park and hooked up a laptop & speakers for dancing along with lights and some electrical cooking appliances for the food. We had no qualms about doing this because we paid to reserve the park. If we had an EV we could also have plugged it in.
However, none of us would want to give EV owners a bad reputation and that must always be considered. EVs haven't reached their tipping point yet which makes every action of more importance because it has the potential to have a big impact, either positively or negatively.