Submitted by Steve Wightman
Saturday, April 15 at 4:45 PM I returned from Lawrence. Hoping to plug in, I pulled my Chevy Bolt EV up to the two charging stations in the Job Lane School parking lot. I was disappointed to find both taken. Darn it! Furthermore, I was steamed to find not only a commercial vehicle, but a Ford dealership van plugged in! I wondered, what is a commercial vehicle doing plugged in to Bedford’s free electric recharging? Could it be that their Lowell dealership has no charging station?
April 17 1:30 PM, I called, and McGovern said they had TWO chargers exclusively for their own commercial vehicles. Scratch that thought. So, Bedford government and residential drivers don’t even think of leveling the score by plugging in at this Ford dealership. You, like me and all the other Bedford EV owners are locked out!
Should our limited tax dollars subsidize commercial enterprises? If so, how can Bedford residents hope to plug in with commercial vehicles competing and draining our energy? I think this is, as of now, an uncommon example of an unethical business practice and it must be stopped. The cure is simple; viewers can text photos of violations to a Bedford authority or post the same on social media. Hmm. Let the power go to the people, not profiteering!
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Agree with Stephen here….why are we giving anyone free* electricity? Install your own charger and pay for it yourself.
Definition: Free – get other people to pay so I can signal how green I am.
Why do they have less of a right to charge than you? They are also tax payers and use works vehicles outside of business hours for personal use. Not sure why my tax dollars are paying for your electric, feel free to send tax dollars to me for my gas and diesel.
Are we talking into account how expenses associated with a business vehicle are tax deductible as business expenses? Whoever owns this vehicle already does not have to pay for registration, insurance, new tires, service, excise taxes, etc, etc, etc, from their own personal income. They already own it and drive it around for free, and now they’re also charging it for free too? Also, how is the electricity provided from those chargers being paid for? I contacted the town about this question months ago and I have yet to receive any answers. If it is being paid from some state/federal fund, I’m more OK with it (not completely, but I’m willing to leave it at that). But if it is being financed from taxes collected by the town from Bedford residents, then I am 100% against these chargers proving any free electricity, period. Anyone using these chargers should be paying for the electricity it provides and any fees attached to it necessary to purchase, install, operate and maintain the chargers. If the town is able to provide the electricity for these chargers at a discounted rate, not less than what the town itself can buy it for, therefore at cost, I’m all for passing that discount
I drove a work truck for many years both on and outside working hours, My employer provided me with a gas card. But the bigger issue is the availability of charging stations paid or free and the courtesy protocol of use. You should never just park your vehicle at one for hours or overnight, preventing its use by someone else in need. Perhaps what will be needed unfortunately, will be a paid meter system that will result in a parking ticket if going over allotted time.