July/August 2010 Parking - 15

The vision of the parking operation is to put charging stations in (or sufficiently near) a parking stall, and then enable the driver pay for power if desired—basically to give the parker a choice of paying for parking alone, or paying for parking-plus-power. In this configuration the charging station is disabled until the parker spends a buck or two for some kilowatts. Today some charging stations already have standalone payment options, while more sophisticated chargers can tie into pay-stations, such as those made by pay-by-space manufacturers. For the next wild and crazy idea in EV parking, there’s some suggestion that electric vehicles could become “smart” enough to pump power back into the electrical grid when needed. At times when electricity demand is high, the batteries from a million EVs could augment the grid and diminish the need to produce more power (which for the most part is generated through the inhospitable burning of coal and oil rather than coming from eco-friendly renewable sources like wind, solar and hydro-electric). The EVs would be

smart enough not to deplete their batteries, of course, and would reserve enough juice for the drive home. Drivers might even receive a credit from the electric company for participating in a “smart grid” project. It may not matter whether you agree that EVs are green, or perhaps even less green because of their appetite for electricity and the nasty chemicals in their batteries. Either way, it looks like the EV is back for good this time. And it’s a matter of time before it impacts your parking operation—parking for traditional vehicles will still be around for many years, but there may be opportunity building here for those parking operations who want to embrace—and even cater to—parking the electric vehicle. 
Blake Laufer is a self-proclaimed “technology nerd” who just happens to have fallen into the world of parking. He leads Product Development at parking technology provider T2 Systems. He can be reached at blaufer@T2systems.com. Zack Harmeyer is a parking manager-turned-product manager, also at T2 Systems. He can be reached at zharmeyer@T2systems.com.

The CAB Report Continued...
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Customer Service Human Resources Facility Design Equipment Technology Disaster Planning Safety

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Maintenance Administration Accounting Auditing Marketing Valet Parking

For more information about the CPP Program and to apply, visit the Career Center at www.npapark.org. For details on the exam, call 877.887.9727 or visit www.pcshq.com. 
John Udelson, CPP is chair of NPA’s Certi, fication Advisory Board and president and founder of Curbside Hospitality Services. He can be reached at judelson@curbside.com.

www.npapark.org PARKING July/August 2010

July/August 2010 Parking

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