Non-EV vehicles taking up chargers

[smunro622]

We have EV chargers at work free to use, but if you are plugged in an hour after fully charged strike 1 3 strikes you get free charging privileges disappear. This is all set up thru charge point app you have to have notifications turned on and you have to register your vehicle which is all free… we are told it is a privilege to use it. Shit I agree and an hour is very lenient past full charge so other people can use the chargers.

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[nvabill]

 

[mkhuffman]

All modern EVs should be just fine sitting in the airport parking garage for a week at 43% SOC. And nearly all have 200+ mile range now.

This is a huge point.

I keep saying how important range is, and so many people disagree and say "we just need more chargers". Well if I can start out with 500 miles of range, I can go a freaking long time without needing to use a charger. I can drive to the airport and home without worrying about it at all. I can do the 290 mile round trip to my office without needing to even look at those free L2 spaces that are clogged with a-holes. It changes the entire discussion if you have a long range BEV.

Of course if you are going to be traveling more than 500 miles, you will have to stop. But the longer range you get out of your car, the less times you have to stop, and the more you can rely on destination chargers only. And that is the ultimate answer if your BEV has sufficient range: proliferation of destination chargers.

 

[mkhuffman]

Really? A bane on EV ownership?

Your are going to continue to be disappointed.

Free charging at Target is an incentive to customers to shop at their store. After the 2 hours, if you don't unplug, your credit card will be billed for additional time.

People being A-holes are the root cause for trying to circumvent parking regulations.

I have traveled 17 states in my Mach e and used free charging several times out of necessity. Twice at Ford dealers, one time at a Nissan dealership and other times at shopping centers. The Nissan dealer was so cool to me, a non customer. If not for them, I would have been stranded.

I support free charging and hope it expands. Plugshare is a great source for free charging when traveling.

Yes, a bane. Free charging sucks. Sure we all like free stuff, but we will always have a-holes, and as long as we have free charging, the a-holes will hog the spaces and there is nothing that will stop them. Except charging them money.

There are people who are using the free spaces in my office building who can charge at home but don't because it is free at work. I need to charge at work so I can make it home.

I would gladly pay to charge at work. If it cost money to use them, the free loaders who are just charging there because it is free will stop, and like magic, I will be able to charge my car.

 

[DevSecOps]

Really? A bane on EV ownership?

Your are going to continue to be disappointed.

Yes really. I think you'll be the one disappointed. Many many people want free public charging to go away.

 

[dbsb3233]

This is a huge point.

I keep saying how important range is, and so many people disagree and say "we just need more chargers". Well if I can start out with 500 miles of range, I can go a freaking long time without needing to use a charger. I can drive to the airport and home without worrying about it at all. I can do the 290 mile round trip to my office without needing to even look at those free L2 spaces that are clogged with a-holes. It changes the entire discussion if you have a long range BEV.

Of course if you are going to be traveling more than 500 miles, you will have to stop. But the longer range you get out of your car, the less times you have to stop, and the more you can rely on destination chargers only. And that is the ultimate answer if your BEV has sufficient range: proliferation of destination chargers.

Yep, long range solves so many issues.

Of course, that has to be balanced with the costs. With current battery tech, it costs a lot more $$, costs a lot more weight, costs a lot more use of still-limited resources and battery production capacity. So it's a trade-off.

270-300 miles (EPA, which is more like a 200 mile realistic highway drive) is about the comfortable range limit at this point for most affordable mainstream EVs. But hopefully battery tech improves significantly this decade so we can get 150 kWh out of the same $$ and weight that a 100 kWh battery pack takes now.

 

[AKgrampy]

Free public charging will eventually go away. It was an incentive/reward but as more and more people purchase EV’s it will begin to cause more and more problems. When it causes enough black eyes then businesses will get rid of the free option. And it is never free - just someone else paying for it.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

I have seen people unplug, and plug back in after the two hours is up.

The best solution I've seen for that was at a Target that allows 4 hours of free L2. They're CP chargers which require an account or credit card to activate. If you stay over 4 hours you get a rather hefty idle fee that adds up in a hurry. If you unplug and plug back in within 24 hours ... You get charged a pretty hefty fee per kWh. Oddly, once they did that the spots opened back up for everyone. Very few folks camping the chargers anymore.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

Or people can just do what they do now with gas -- refuel the car before heading to the airport so you have enough range to get home your trip as well.

Some folks live a fair distance from an airport and, unfortunately, not all airports they're using have any form of public charging nearby to charge the car up before winging your way elsewhere.

 

[kennethjk]

For airports, I think it makes more sense to just put 120V outlets in a bunch of parking spots. They're much less expensive, and people already know how to handle 120V plugs. A lot of cars are left at airports for days while their owners are on trips, so they don't need to charge quickly.

Then the car companies would need to make sure the plug into the car is locked so it isn’t stolen. Of course then you have to worry that someone would break it trying to steal it.

hmmmm

 

[mkhuffman]

The best solution I've seen for that was at a Target that allows 4 hours of free L2. They're CP chargers which require an account or credit card to activate. If you stay over 4 hours you get a rather hefty idle fee that adds up in a hurry. If you unplug and plug back in within 24 hours ... You get charged a pretty hefty fee per kWh. Oddly, once they did that the spots opened back up for everyone. Very few folks camping the chargers anymore.

This is the way to provide free charging and get rid of the a-holes. Win-win.

On a side note, I wonder how many people spend four hours shopping inside Target? Zero? So, how is it cars are staying there for more than four hours? So strange. I can't figure it out... oh, they are a-holes scrapping for free stuff because they cheap freeloaders. Oh, did I say that out loud? ?

 

[dbsb3233]

This is the way to provide free charging and get rid of the a-holes. Win-win.

On a side note, I wonder how many people spend four hours shopping inside Target? Zero? So, how is it cars are staying there for more than four hours? So strange. I can't figure it out... oh, they are a-holes scrapping for free stuff because they cheap freeloaders. Oh, did I say that out loud? ?

Employees of that (or a nearby) business, and nearby residents. Already see that happening in places... someone living in an apartment or condo in the area that hogs the store charger frequently. Or someone that works at the Best Buy store nextdoor, or the office building across the street.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

how is it cars are staying there for more than four hours? So strange. I can't figure it out... oh, they are a-holes scrapping for free stuff because they cheap freeloaders. Oh, did I say that out loud? ?

Yeah pretty much. I used to see a few different Leafs and MYs camping there. Quite often the owners were in the car sleeping. Since the change, I can usually find a spot there if I'm somewhat low on electrons. I'm usually in and out in less than 30 minutes so, honestly, I'm not getting much of a SOC bump anyway. I'd be in a world of hurt if I actually needed to really charge the car at any L2 that is not located inside my home garage. I'd rather take my chance on the Triassic Period EFACEC "fast" chargers down the road than park at Target for 4 hours.

One interesting touch, there are two handicapped stalls with L2 CP units on them. Those stalls are placarded for Handicapped and active charging only.

 

[Ruben Anthony]

I agree. The child in me laughed when I saw it because it's ingenious and creative. $7.99 vs $250 a month. Gotta give credit where it's due.

It's such an easy problem to fix, anyone using the parking lots pays, done. Not shocked that the kids out smarted the educators.

I wouldn't call it "outsmarting" anyone. That's like saying a shop lifter outsmarted the cashier.

I will say that I am not sure there are actual laws on the books about parking in any space other than a space for those with disability placards and first responder vehicles.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

Employees of that (or a nearby) business, and nearby residents. Already see that happening in places... someone living in an apartment or condo in the area that hogs the store charger frequently. Or someone that works at the Best Buy store nextdoor, or the office building across the street.

Certainly a valid observation. In the case of this particular Target, it’s not, but only because of the peculiarities of the shopping area and how the town grew around it. Everywhere else in the known universe though I’d expect you’re right on the mark.

The real solution is more L2 at businesses and multi family dwellings. Lots more. And avoiding too many free units as well.

As an aside, I’m told these particular units are going to be moved to the side of the building which is a more inconvenient location and I'm pretty much in favor of that as well. They currently take up 8 prime parking spaces and there are only 4 Handicapped parking spots for the store.

In the meantime, I’ll be on the lookout for faux EVs conducting fake charging.

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