Car Charging Etiquette! :D

[FlufferMew]

My local charge station is located in a parking lot of a Park and Ride. It's always packed, and with only 2 available charge ports, it's frustrating when I drive by to charge and see Volts occupying both spaces. It's even more irritating driving by again, 6-8 hours later after work to see the same Volts still there. Haha. I guess I can't complain considering it's free, but I'd hate to be that Volt owner that takes advantage and leave their car occupying that spot for most of the day, and then not disable the charge alarm on top of that.

Luckily I've only encountered this issue once or twice. Oddly, my town has a young Leaf owner who is notorious for leaving his car there for over a day sometimes, and I think that's more irritating and rude. But it got me thinking about the etiquette in general, since this is still new. Seeing as the consumer/community/group is still small and new, I think we should all be the examples that set up the general etiquette, while the technology grows. Typically, I use the charge station only when I'm very low, like 20%. Seeing as it only takes about 3 hours to charge, I typically just stay in my car and work on my laptop, so I can leave as soon as I'm done so I don't occupy the space longer than needed. If not that, then I'll just walk to surrounding businesses. And if my car only needs to charge a little bit, I'll charge at home on the 110.

I stumbled upon this video about Charge Station Etiquette that I thought was interesting, and figured I'd share. (I like how it stars a FFE too!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_u_9WAolYw

Haha, yeah it's a little tacky. But it made me chuckle, and I thought it had some great tips overall!

 

[WattsUp]

Of course there are some basics:

• Don't unplug another car that is still charging, or might still be charging. You wouldn't like it done to you; don't do it to someone else.
• When finished, especially if charging is free, consider plugging in the next car that might be waiting, but only if you know they are waiting. The universal symbol for "I'm waiting to charge" is an open charging door.

But, beyond the basics, it is surprising that some people (EV owners!) haven't grasped this concept yet: EV charging spots are for charging, not parking.

EV spots do not exist to give EV drivers good parking. They exist to be shared by EV drivers to fuel their cars. And when fueling is done, EV drivers should make every effort to move their cars from the charging spot (that they are now rudely occupying) into a normal parking spot as soon as possible.

People who leave their EV in a charging spot for hours after their charge has finished are ******-BAGS, and are as bad as the people who selfishly park their gas car in an EV charging spot.

 

[FlufferMew]

Of course there are some basics:

• Don't unplug another car that is still charging, or might still be charging. You wouldn't like it done to you; don't do it to someone else.
• When finished, especially if charging is free, consider plugging in the next car that might be waiting, but only if you know they are waiting. The universal symbol for "I'm waiting to charge" is an open charging door.

But, beyond the basics, it is surprising that some people (EV owners!) haven't grasped this concept yet: EV charging spots are for charging, not parking.

EV spots do not exist to give EV drivers good parking. They exist to be shared by EV drivers to fuel their cars. And when fueling is done, EV drivers should make every effort to move their cars from the charging spot (that they are now rudely occupying) into a normal parking spot as soon as possible.

People who leave their EV in a charging spot for hours after their charge has finished are ******-BAGS, and are as bad as the people who selfishly park their gas car in an EV charging spot.

Yeah I was sitting in my car charging, with a Volt next to me. Another guy drove up and parked next to the Volt and unplugged it for his Leaf. Luckily the Volt's Alarm only sounds for about a minute or so before shutting off on it's own. Makes me wonder what the purpose of that is. Seems completely useless, especially since it has two methods of fuel, but that's a different discussion I guess. Anyway, I'm not against unplugging other vehicles so long as it's obvious they're done charging. But I completely agree that people shouldn't treat charge spots as parking spaces. It's going to be a hard concept for a lot of people to understand, I'm sure. I'm lucky I'm surrounded by businesses, I have plenty of options to fill up a couple of hours as well as plenty of Electronics to stay entertained. Maybe it's too idealistic to expect people to only stay there until they're done. At least not until everyone has Super Chargers. Lol.

We have a Magne Charger as well, I wish they're replace it so there would be 3 chargers. I've never seen anyone use that old thing. :lol:

 

[WattsUp]

But I completely agree that people shouldn't treat charge spots as parking spaces. It's going to be a hard concept for a lot of people to understand, I'm sure.

I wish public charging units made it more obvious when charging was occurring or not. Like, maybe obvious, big illuminated words... "NOW CHARGING" and "CHARGING DONE". That way, it would be obvious when an EV is legitimately charging, and when it is just squatting.

This would make it simple (and fair) for parking enforcement to generically recognize and cite overstayers (i.e., without having to understand how each EV signals its charging status). Once the unit itself says you're done, and you stay too long after, you might get a ticket, or towed, or maybe simply auto-billed (through the DMV based on your plate) for the overstay time. Hit people with real fines if they are going to be jerks.

I think more enforcement, sadly, might be the only way people will get the message that EV charging spots are for temporary usage only.

 

[WattsUp]

Yeah I was sitting in my car charging, with a Volt next to me. Another guy drove up and parked next to the Volt and unplugged it for his Leaf.

:roll:

If I saw that, I'd probably swap his plug back to the Volt before I left. And I'd leave a note, "Ahhh.. so you don't like being unplugged mid-charge either? I'm not the Volt owner, but I saw your jerk-ass move, and corrected it".

 

[FlufferMew]

But I completely agree that people shouldn't treat charge spots as parking spaces. It's going to be a hard concept for a lot of people to understand, I'm sure.

I wish public charging units made it more obvious when charging was occurring or not. Like, maybe obvious, big illuminated words... "NOW CHARGING" and "CHARGING DONE". That way, it would be obvious when an EV is legitimately charging, and when it is just squatting.

This would make it simple (and fair) for parking enforcement to generically recognize and cite overstayers (i.e., without having to understand how each EV signals its charging status). Once the unit itself says you're done, and you stay too long after, you might get a ticket, or towed, or maybe simply auto-billed (through the DMV based on your plate) for the overstay time. Hit people with real fines if they are going to be jerks.

I think more enforcement, sadly, might be the only way people will get the message that EV charging spots are for temporary usage only.

That's a good idea! And I'm sure changes like that will exist at some point too. At least making them more clearly occupied/not occupied, will exist once EVs are more mainstream. I think it will take a while, and even longer before any actual traffic laws are made. All they would have to do is time how long the car is plugged in after completion, and maybe charge a small fee or something for every hour the car sits after charging. Who knows if it will ever get THAT serious.

I think it would be hard to regulate charge points that exist in actual parking lots. I'd like to see an actual station of some kind that can be separately monitored, which is probably more practical once we have super chargers, because then there would be no purpose in sitting there as if it were a parking spot.

 

[FlufferMew]

Yeah I was sitting in my car charging, with a Volt next to me. Another guy drove up and parked next to the Volt and unplugged it for his Leaf.

:roll:

If I saw that, I'd probably swap his plug back to the Volt before I left. And I'd leave a note, "Ahhh.. so you don't like being unplugged mid-charge either? I'm not the Volt owner, but I saw your jerk-ass move, and corrected it".

I just don't agree with that. As long as the car is done charging, I don't think there's anything wrong with unplugging it. So, in this situation, I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt and assuming it was done charging. If it wasn't, then no, I don't approve of pulling a plug mid-charge.

 

[jmueller065]

Along with that video (yes that is a Ford made video) Ford also had made a poster you could leave in the car; but it appears that the link no longer works to it. Here is an article about it.

 

[EVA]

Along with that video (yes that is a Ford made video) Ford also had made a poster you could leave in the car; but it appears that the link no longer works to it. Here is an article about it.

Thanks for that link. If you click on the image of that card, you land on another page, then if you click on that image, you get the full res image to print. It is a darn cool card.

Cheesy video. I'm surprised Ford made that.

Love the question at the end of the article - if a Leaf, a Focus, and a Tesla show up at the same time, which one gets to use the charging station?

Great question on etiquette. This will get a lot worse when there are more electric cars and the sense of entitlement rears its ugly head.

 

[WattsUp]

Yeah I was sitting in my car charging, with a Volt next to me. Another guy drove up and parked next to the Volt and unplugged it for his Leaf.

:roll:
If I saw that, I'd probably swap his plug back to the Volt before I left. And I'd leave a note, "Ahhh.. so you don't like being unplugged mid-charge either? I'm not the Volt owner, but I saw your jerk-ass move, and corrected it".

I just don't agree with that. As long as the car is done charging, I don't think there's anything wrong with unplugging it. So, in this situation, I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt and assuming it was done charging. If it wasn't, then no, I don't approve of pulling a plug mid-charge.

We're assuming the scenario where the Volt was not done charging and that the Leaf guy was indeed being a jerk.

(Not everyone who drives a Leaf is a nice person. I'm sure there are some who militantly think that gas-burning Volts, or plug-in Priuses, don't "deserve" to charge.)

But yes... if you know for a fact that the car you are unplugging has finished charging, then it should be considered okay to swap the plug to your car. It would be a nice touch to leave a note for the person you unplugged.

 

[hcsharp]

...
Love the question at the end of the article - if a Leaf, a Focus, and a Tesla show up at the same time, which one gets to use the charging station?

It should go to the highest bidder obviously, with the proceeds going to those who lost. Good way to make money if you stop bidding early. With the Tesla there, you could bid it up pretty high without winning. :lol:

I'm joking of course, but it would actually work pretty well. The person with the lowest remaining range doesn't necessarily have the greatest need if they can still make it to their destination. Some people have to get to work or home to kids and can't wait as easily as somebody else might be able to, so they would bid higher.

 

[Vach]

Love the question at the end of the article - if a Leaf, a Focus, and a Tesla show up at the same time, which one gets to use the charging station?

Great question on etiquette. This will get a lot worse when there are more electric cars and the sense of entitlement rears its ugly head.

This kind of stuff gets a lot more confusing when you bring up who has to go where, and who is planning on sitting with their car, and for how long. 100% of the time when I leave, I make sure I can get to my destination, so a charging station is more of a convenience "on my way." HOWEVER, there are times when that charging station IS the destination and I need to charge there in order to get back home from whatever I'm doing.

That said, typically I'll be leaving the car there and someone else will be picking me up... which in the end raises the question, not who arrived first, but "Who needs to charge NOW? I think that should be the determinate factor - especially because if (like in the Tesla's case) your car has 150+ miles of charge left, you should definitely be less of a priority. In that case I'd be fine with leaving my Tesla there and just parking nearby, mutually agreeing to charge my car when so and so is finished.

However, just like you said EVA, it will get a lot worse when entitlement kicks in.

 

[EVA]

Our local mall has a Tesla show room. They have charging stations on the other side of the mall. The sales people said there are Leaf owners that come in demanding that they unlock the stations for them. When they tell the Leaf owners the stations are for Tesla only, they get mad.

 

[WattsUp]

Our local mall has a Tesla show room. They have charging stations on the other side of the mall. The sales people said there are Leaf owners that come in demanding that they unlock the stations for them. When they tell the Leaf owners the stations are for Tesla only, they get mad.

Some people have trouble understanding that there's such a thing as a private EV charging station. If I see a gas pump in a private fleet yard or something, I don't assume that I can go use it to fill up my car too.

 

[hcsharp]

Our local mall has a Tesla show room. They have charging stations on the other side of the mall. The sales people said there are Leaf owners that come in demanding that they unlock the stations for them. When they tell the Leaf owners the stations are for Tesla only, they get mad.

I have mixed feelings about this. Ignoring the fact that the Tesla chargers won't charge a Leaf or FFE, Tesla is paying rent to the mall to reserve those spaces and also pays a fee for the electricity which is generally higher than residential rates due to demand charges. On the other hand, most Nissan dealerships have been very generous to Tesla owners when it comes to letting them charge. It seems a bit selfish for Tesla not to respond in kind.

 

[Vach]

Our local mall has a Tesla show room. They have charging stations on the other side of the mall. The sales people said there are Leaf owners that come in demanding that they unlock the stations for them. When they tell the Leaf owners the stations are for Tesla only, they get mad.

I have mixed feelings about this. Ignoring the fact that the Tesla chargers won't charge a Leaf or FFE, Tesla is paying rent to the mall to reserve those spaces and also pays a fee for the electricity which is generally higher than residential rates due to demand charges. On the other hand, most Nissan dealerships have been very generous to Tesla owners when it comes to letting them charge. It seems a bit selfish for Tesla not to respond in kind.

I have pretty much always had a problem with how Tesla handles their practices. They seem to want absolutely everything to be exclusive to them, which doesn't really work out well for certain types of products, and I believe this is the case. If they sold an economy version of one of their cars that would alleviate a lot of that pressure... but they don't even have that.

It'd be like if you bought some advanced new television that had amazing resolution and weighed nothing ("insert other fancy TV features") but you had to buy special HDMI cables and a special audio receiver and only their "licensed" installers could hook it up and do repairs. If I tried to sell that in a Best Buy I'd be laughed at.

 

[jmueller065]

It'd be like if you bought some advanced new television that had amazing resolution and weighed nothing ("insert other fancy TV features") but you had to buy special HDMI cables and a special audio receiver and only their "licensed" installers could hook it up and do repairs. If I tried to sell that in a Best Buy I'd be laughed at.

Um, you mean like Apple? (iPhone anyone?)

 

[WattsUp]

I have pretty much always had a problem with how Tesla handles their practices. They seem to want absolutely everything to be exclusive to them, which doesn't really work out well for certain types of products, and I believe this is the case. If they sold an economy version of one of their cars that would alleviate a lot of that pressure... but they don't even have that.

Tesla's plan has always been to sell a car to the masses. That's their "Gen 3" model coming in the next few years.

The super-secret long-term Tesla business plan:
1. High price, low volume car. (The Roadster)
2. Mid price, mid volume car. (The Model S)
3. Low price, high volume car. (The Gen 3 and on)

I don't think Tesla "wants" everything exclusive them... it just is and has been the fastest way for them to move. For example, they are not bogged down in standards committees deciding on how fast charging will work and what connectors to use... as a result, they have a growing network of fast-charging stations now!

I have no problem whatsoever with what Tesla is doing. They are showing everyone up.

Indeed, Elon Musk's stated goal is to not necessarily make Tesla the "winner" in the EV marketplace, but simply to show convincingly that somebody can win, and to jump start (no pun intended) the entire EV industry. It seems to be working.

 

[EVA]

Too funny the example of some kind of electronic device that was that special and try to sell it at Best Buy. Um, you picked an interesting thing - 4K or UltraHD. Those televisions are available now. Sony is the only one with a specialized server that plays the content. And you mostly do have a specialist come in and install it. Well mostly because they are so expensive.

I'm with WattsUp on this, I love what Tesla is doing. They did the right thing, they targeted Mercedes S Class and BMW 7 series. They nailed that market with that car. The people willing to drop $100,000 on a car get that special experience. More than they do at a Mercedes or BMW dealership. So the connectors aren't exactly the same, and we can't take advantage of supercharging.

They are an American car company that builds something brand spanking new and extra special. When was the last time we could say that?

 

[hcsharp]

I have pretty much always had a problem with how Tesla handles their practices. They seem to want absolutely everything to be exclusive to them, which doesn't really work out well for certain types of products, and I believe this is the case. If they sold an economy version of one of their cars that would alleviate a lot of that pressure... but they don't even have that.

It'd be like if you bought some advanced new television that had amazing resolution and weighed nothing ("insert other fancy TV features") but you had to buy special HDMI cables and a special audio receiver and only their "licensed" installers could hook it up and do repairs. If I tried to sell that in a Best Buy I'd be laughed at.

I agree with WattsUp's response to this. The problem is not Tesla's proprietary connectors. The problem is the bad designs that keep coming from the SAE and then adopted as standard. SAE J1772 is hopelessly inadequate and Tesla had no choice but to develop their own design. Try pulling 255 amps through the connector you plug into your FFE.

The current J1772 standard didn't exist when the Roadster was designed. So again they had no choice but to design their own connector. There was a standard back then, but it sucked as Elon would say. No way could you charge a car at 70A using that standard. Even the new J1772 connector is barely adequate for 70A charging. Some would argue that it's not. In fact the last J1772 revision recommends a max of 32A when charging at home.