Sydney council urged to make electric vehicle spaces more identifiable as social media erupts over one driver's fail

Sky News AU

3 days ago

A Sydney council has been urged to make car spaces for electric vehicles (EVs) more easily identifiable, as social media erupts over one driver's fail.
The furore began when a Reddit user shared a photo on Tuesday of a black Toyota Corolla parked in front of an EV charger on a street in the Sydney suburb of Kogarah, 14 kilometres southwest of the city's CBD.
The disgruntled local said "every day", a non-electric vehicle is incorrectly parked in the spot, "blocking the EV charger in Kogarah."
"Do these people not read the sign?" they wrote.
"Calling the council gets the rangers out there quickly for an easy fine, but the station is virtually always occupied by a non-EV…"
The spot is marked by signage indicating it is reserved for EV vehicles for up to one hour, "while charging only", as well as yellow paint on the curb.
However, commentators argued drivers could easily miss this and therefore called on the council, Georges River, to make it more obvious.
"In my area, the EV charger spots on the street are labelled 'No Parking - Excepted While Charging'," one person wrote.
"Your council needs to change the signage."
"Until I read the comments, I had no idea what the issue was, super not clear it's for EVs," another person said.
A third person added: "A little more signage and colouring on the parking place would go down well."
Another commentator agreed, calling on the council to put a "bit of coloured paint on the road."
"Like most other kerbside EV charging locations."
"I wonder how many people don't even see the signage," another user chimed, while one more said the yellow paint is too ambiguous.
"What does a yellow and black pole lying in the gutter mean anyway?" they said.
In a statement to SkyNews.com.au on Thursday, a spokesperson for Georges River Council said: "Installation of the proposed permissive 1P signage, associated with the charging station, was supported by Council in its submission to the Local Traffic Advisory Committee in April 2025."
"Council will investigate upgrading signage and distinctive pavement marking according to Transport for NSW guidelines to all our Jolt charging stations in the Georges River area to highlight the parking permitted for EV only while charging."
Nevertheless, other people argued the driver and not the council was to blame, with one person claiming the car owner showed "entitlement".
"Such entitlement! But then, some parking bay lines may assist in resolving these selfish acts," the user said.
"Used to work with a guy that did that deliberately. Some people are just a**holes," another person said.
A third asked: 'Who parks somewhere and doesn't check the signage?', while another called for a parking inspector to enforce local regulations.
'Where is a parking officer when you need one? That's a $2200 ticket,' they said.
In Sydney, incorrectly parking in an EV spot can result in a fine of up to $2,200, according to NRMA Insurance.
This applies when a vehicle is parked in an EV charging area without being plugged in, or when a non-electric vehicle is parked in an EV space.
From January 2023 to September 2024, more than $106,000 worth of fines have been issued, Revenue NSW's penalty notice dashboard states.
Of these, the majority ($51,767) were for non-electric vehicles stopping in an EV parking area.
Another $55,090 was allocated for non-electric vehicles that stopped in an EV charging area.