Note: For more from Alexandra, visit the "Ask Alexandra" tab on the Chevrolet Volt Facebook page.

For over a decade, Southern California electric car drivers have had amazing support from our largest airport, Los Angeles International (called LAX by the locals). There is free parking for up to 30 days in two lots near the gates, and 30 free charging spots for the electric RAV 4, which most EV owners drove until this year. The airport recently added J1772 chargers to accommodate the new plug-in cars. 

When times change we have to make sure our thinking changes with it. For the last 10 years, I always parked at a charging space at LAX whether I needed to charge or not. It was a kick to see all the EVs there, and I wanted to show solidarity by parking there too.   Sometimes I charged just because, well, it’s free, how cool is that?

Nowadays, it is not uncommon to see ¾ of the 40 charging spaces in these 2 lots filled with Volts, Leafs and RAV 4 EVs. It is a beautiful site! However, there is a downside: with more and more people getting plug-in cars, I have to rethink about automatically parking at a charger. After all, the free parking extends to anywhere in those 2 garages. But when I park at a charger, I take up a space for someone in a 100% electric car who might really need the spot. With a Volt, isn’t part of the beauty of the car that I don’t ever have to have a charge? On the other hand, the reason for those chargers was to help lessen smog, so if I go into gasoline on the way home, does foregoing a charge in case a Leaf needs it defeat the purpose of the LAX chargers?

As I dropped Ian off for a flight to Colorado this morning at LAXI saw 8 Leafs and a Volt parked in spaces with SPI chargers – these are small paddle inductive chargers with which the new vehicles are not even compatible. They were essentially blocking access to a RAV 4 EV, which might rely on that charge to get its driver home. These were driven by folks who, like I, either are proud to show off their EVs and wanted to park amongst their electric brethren, or they didn’t realize they could park anywhere in that lot for free. I doubt any of them realized they could be inadvertently stranding a RAV 4 driver.

Speaking for myself, I plan to change my woohoo! Free charging and a chance to park next to another EV mindset. Even though seeing another Volt is like running into someone from your home state while visiting St Petersburg (you immediately feel a kinship) I am going to resist the urge to be clannish and park in a regular spot if I can get home on electric. If I need a charge to avoid starting the gasoline engine when I drive back, I will assess how crowded the spots are now, how long I will be gone and…I don’t know. There is no way to calculate if I am going to be taking a charge away from a 100% electric vehicle while I am away. In 6 hours the charging spots could fill up, or empty. Such is the way of airports. 

As more and more cars get on the road, public charging will raise questions like these, and more. Although I maintain that public chargers around town will not be needed as much as some policy makers think, people usually drive farther to get the airport than to a restaurant or the cinema. The EV community is in deep discussions now about the changing etiquette for public charging. Alexandra Paul is a longtime electric vehicle advocate, actress and former EV1 driver. She is working with Chevrolet to educate consumers about EVs and the Volt. Full disclosure, Chevrolet is paying her for her time, but her opinions will always be hers.