You go to a store. This store has a large parking lot. At the front of the parking lot near the store entrance are 18 spaces. 6 of these spaces are handicapped spaces. The other 12 are marked “Reserved for Energy-Efficient Vehicles.” Half of these spaces are full: 2 hybrids, a minivan, a pickup truck, a sport sedan, and an SUV. Clearly, this rule is not strictly enforced (possibly not at all).
Do you park in one of these spaces?
If my handcycle counts as energy efficient, yes.
There are hybrid SUVs, sport sedans, minivans, and pickups. I’d check the badges on the rear of every car just to be sure. 
Would I park there? Depends on what I’m driving, and how crowded the nearby parking lot is. I’m one of those people who tends to park in uncrowded areas and walk in, because I prefer an easy arrival and departure to the motor ballet near the entrance.
If I wasn’t driving an ‘energy-efficient vehicle’ as defined by the store policy, I wouldn’t park there… but I’d have to check what the policy was. A certain fuel efficiency or above?
If the sign specifically said ‘hybrid, plug-in hybrid, or plug-in electric’, that might be clearer. As an example, there are some spots near Durham College reserved specifically for plug-ins; they are painted green, and have charging stations, so that’s more obvious.
Handicapped plackard, so I have a parking space - however I have a diesel jetta that gets 42 mpg, so I class that as energy efficient. It is doubly good as it is better for the environment than a monstrosity that takes batteries that are a hazmat nightmare - and then need replacing with more batteries that create hazmat to make, and hazmat to dispose of. In an ideal world there would be nonpetroleum biodiesel available at every fuel station so I would be using minimal petroleum in any driving and maintenance that is done.
I find it highly unlikely that a store like that would sell anything I wanted to buy. I’d likely chuckle at a vision of Phil Robertson saying “Yuppies” as I drive away.
Why are they reserved? Do folks who drive energy efficient cars have trouble walking more than a few yards? Are they disabled or differently-abled in some way? Why aren’t the parking spots further from the entrance, since the drivers are presumable enviromentalist fitness fanatics who only drove because their bicycle couldn’t carry all the groceries at once?
I guess they’re being rewarded for conserving fuel. Two classes, the inefficient-car drivers (poor or hicks/republicans) and the enlightened electric car drivers (rich, democrats, elitists). It’s evidence of a class/political struggle.
Seems silly for a hybrid or a clean(ish) diesel. Obviously someone taking up a spot labelled for plug-ins that has a charging station with an SUV is beyond rude.
There’s no charging station. It’s just a parking space.
Then it’s dumb but I’d still only park there with a qualifying vehicle (which I have).
If there’s no charging station then they don’t need to have special parking spots.
If the reason for reserved spots is that it’s a reward, then do they rate the rest of the spots according to MPG?
I voted fuck 'em.
Good points. Did you get clarification from the store as to what qualifies? Here in Virginia, at least for some time, hybrids could get a special license plate that permitted them to drive on certain HOV lanes without the required minimum number of passengers. The DMV decided what was fuel-efficient enough - it wasn’t your own judgment.
You could also make an argument that the mid-1990’s Geo Metro is about as fuel efficient as many recent hybrids and thus should qualify as an energy-efficient vehicle, but I suspect that politics have at least as much importance as science and statistics here and that “energy-efficient” is actually code for a “special”, “non-conventional”, or “alternative” car.
Never seen one of these signs; do they actually exist?
I would park the Ferrari over the lines, taking two spots!
I live in Ithaca with the granoliest of the granola. And not even here would it be a good idea to put up a sign like that. I’m pretty sure it would become a locus point for controversy until the policy was changed.
So to those who say fuck 'em - I agree the store policy is stupid. The issue is whether or not a property owner has the right to demand arbitrary behavior on their property so long as such does not discriminate against a protected class.
The owner wants to market preferentially to those who buy energy efficient cars, percieving perhaps that that demographic will spend more or buy more higher margin products. Do you have the right, on the owner’s property, to ignore the owner’s stated rules and marketing decision because you (and I) believe the rule is stupid? Or do you express your displeasure by shopping elsewhere instead?
My Rogue gets better than 25mpg in the city, so I’ll park there with impunity.
Handicapped parking spaces are mandated by law, and are enforceable, and typically are rather zealously enforced.
Are those energy-efficient parking spaces legally enforceable, or are those just the private policies of the businesses that put up those signs? Will cars be ticketed or towed for wrongly parking there?
The premise was that it is not being enforced. A property owner can of course however post a sign that states violaters will be towed for failure to follow private policies and then do so. The property owner does not choose to do so.
I drive a compact car and I would never drive a gas guzzler, but even if I did, I’d ignore the signs for those spots. No, they’re not legally enforceable.
