Anyone worried about charging their MME at a hotel overnight?

[JimG]

What I mean is their is a difference in the past from parking your car at a hotel for the night. You locked it up and went in and went to bed. I have ordered my MME and am waiting, but does it bother anyone to be plugging their EV in over night and knowing someone could mess with the charger, or unplug your car as a joke? Plus, I assume it is first come first serve, to a hotel charging station. So you navigate to a hotel with an “open” charger, but by the time you get there, it is taken what do you do? Are these things to worry about?

Sponsored

 

[ponydsp]

Hence, plugshare app comes in handy. If a hotel has bad reviews such as chargers near the entrance or frequently ice'd, we either DCFC'd at the end of the day while battery still warm and didn't bother using the hotel's EVSE, or booked another hotel ahead of time.

 

[Jimbo]

I think they are legitimate concerns, although I have no experience with how founded they are.

I am hopeful that as EVs become more common, hotels will have to go from boasting "We have a single level one charging station!" to "We have a region of our parking lot with dedicated L2 EVSEs for each spot. Here's how you reserve one"

 

[JamieGeek]

You can always call the hotel ahead of time along with checking plugshare.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

I think these are all things to consider but not "worry about."
To me it's just like how some hotels seem to be in far sketchier neighborhoods than their online photos would have suggested.

 

[timbop]

When planning your long distance trip, assume you'll have to DCFC but find a hotel en route with L2 charging as a "bonus". As others mentioned, use plugshare to see how frequently the L2 chargers are blocked as well as how many chargers there are - those will increase your odds of being able to wake up the next morning with a 100% charge. I planned a 4 night drive last year, and I only planned for 2 L2 stops because those had DCFC available "just in case".

 

[The Electric Duo]

My only bad charging experience at a hotel was when a Tesla was plugged into the sole charger for 15 hours overnight. I knew there was only one charger so I made sure not to count on it. The hotel clerk was really nice. They moved their maintenance truck that was adjacent to the charger so I'd have easy access if the Tesla unplugged. They also made sure I had a room nearby so I could keep an eye on the charger.

In Vegas, they had 4 chargers at the hotel and it was in their VIP parking area. When I first got there, a Tesla was charging but for the next 3 days, I was the only one charging. I got lots of use and great parking.

 

[leeman]

So many not working these days

 

[ponydsp]

Also some EVSEs couplers can be locked so I bring a 30mm lock with me if you are worried about people unplugging yours.

 

[SWO]

My only problem with hotel charging is that a lot of the chargers were installed 5+ years ago and are beat up/cracked and limited to 32A in most cases. It is actually a good use case for the Tesla Tap, as almost any Tesla destination charger is going to be 40-48A.

I think that as EVs become more prolific and batteries get bigger and bigger, hotels will move from this being a courtesy to being a paid item like fast internet.

 

[ponydsp]

Not to mention some of them charge ridiculous amount (yes I’m looking at you, Marriot and affiliates!)

 

[RickMachE]

What I mean is their is a difference in the past from parking your car at a hotel for the night. You locked it up and went in and went to bed. I have ordered my MME and am waiting, but does it bother anyone to be plugging their EV in over night and knowing someone could mess with the charger, or unplug your car as a joke? Plus, I assume it is first come first serve, to a hotel charging station. So you navigate to a hotel with an “open” charger, but by the time you get there, it is taken what do you do? Are these things to worry about?

The key to traveling with an EV is to plan. Always have options. We called a hotel to verify charger, got there and it didn't work, so,we switched hotels. Had we had a Tesla Tap, it might have worked on the Tesla charger there.

Car will notify you if unplugged.

We are headed somewhere soon with the possibility to charge (campground) as long as all 51 spots aren't taken. If they are, we can use 120v and then drive to DC fast charging.

Always have options.

 

[SnBGC]

What I mean is their is a difference in the past from parking your car at a hotel for the night. You locked it up and went in and went to bed. I have ordered my MME and am waiting, but does it bother anyone to be plugging their EV in over night and knowing someone could mess with the charger, or unplug your car as a joke? Plus, I assume it is first come first serve, to a hotel charging station. So you navigate to a hotel with an “open” charger, but by the time you get there, it is taken what do you do? Are these things to worry about?

The one time I took my car to San Diego, I stayed at a hotel with L2 charging. Their policy was to allow free charging until my car was full and then $5 per hour for parking after that time. It ensured we all went out and moved our car when it was done so nobody left their car in that parking space any longer than necessary.

I don't know if that is a common set up or not but it seemed to work for us. There were 2 or 3 EVs staying there at the time and plug time wasn't an issue that I experienced.

 

[Lynsey]

I bought a mini teslatap too so I would have more options. I also bought these little locks. It will prevent it from being unplugged from the charger. I bought the two pack so I could use one for the teslatap and one for the charger. Either way. then I feel like I have options. I just keep the locks and the keys in the car, so they are always available. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004Y8D0/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[JimG]

Thanks so much for the excellent responses. Still being new to the forum and at least 23weeks out from getting my MME, it is refreshing to have great resources. The forum is a lot of fun to follow and once again the support is awesome. Thanks!

Sponsored