Coexistence between drivers of internal combustion engine vehicles and electric vehicles may not be as peaceful as it seems if certain attitudes become widespread. A few days ago, a user of the social network The image is taken in the parking lot of the Central Market of Valencia and is a clear case of ‘icing’, a practice imported from the United States that consists of blocking parking spaces equipped with chargers.
The word ‘icing’ is derived from the acronym for internal combustion engines: ICE (internal combustion engine). This word has been adopted in the United States to describe a practice in which drivers of internal combustion vehicles, especially owners of modified pickups, deliberately park in spaces reserved for electric cars, preventing the owners of the latter from being able to recharge their vehicles.
In the United States, various cases of ‘icing’ have been reported through social networks in recent years. One of the cases that gained the greatest notoriety as it was one of the first to be made known, took place in Hickory (North Carolina), at the end of 2018, when the drivers of three pickup trucks blocked the Tesla chargers with their vehicles at the same time. that insulted their owners.
In Spain this behavior is not yet widespread, partly also due to the low weight that electric vehicles have in the vehicle fleet. However, the law requires that all buildings with a use other than private residential, such as shopping centers, supermarkets or restaurants among others, with more than 20 parking spaces, must have electric vehicle charging spaces. The minimum proportion is one charging point for every 40 spaces.
Although in our country it does not seem that the cases of ‘icing’ are aimed at boycotting places for electric vehicles, it is still an infringement. According to Royal Decree 6/2015, of October 30, parking spaces reserved for a certain type of vehicles and/or users cannot be used by others.
In the case of spaces intended for electric vehicles, the regulations are applicable both to charging points located on public roads and in privately owned spaces such as shopping centers, restaurants or similar, the RAE states in its blog. The parking limitation does not exclusively affect combustion vehicles, since an electric or plug-in hybrid car parked in one of these spaces but not recharging its battery can be fined. The same happens if you exceed the maximum recharge time.
The Traffic Law establishes that spaces reserved for recharging electric vehicles must have the S17 sign. Normally, this sign is usually represented by a drawing of a car charging the battery. Sometimes the maximum time that the battery can be recharged is also indicated.
The fine for parking an electric vehicle charging space amounts to up to 200 euros (100 euros in a voluntary period) as it is considered a serious infraction. This non-compliance does not entail the loss of points on the driving license.
