A Tesla Unplugged Me 😡

[Mach-Lee]

So I’m at work charging, and I got an unplugged notification. I was barely charging for an hour and was at 55% when it happened. I look out and see that some jerk in a Model 3 parked next to me and stole my charger! I was busy so I couldn’t get out there right away, I ended up letting him have it for a couple hours. But then I went out and stole it back. No note or anything.

Mind you, it’s only about 7 miles to the nearest Supercharger. If he was desperate, he would only need to charge for 20 minutes to get there. But I figure he ended up with 40+ miles added and was still parked there hours later. To me what happened comes across as a total entitled jerk move. Is it just me, or does it seem like Tesla drivers are the worst?

There are only a few chargers at work and they are often full, it’s rare I get a chance to use them anymore. They are free, which leads to these kind of problems. There are PHEVs that frequently hog the charging spots all day even though they’re done charging by 11AM, outsiders that park their cars at the chargers after the buildings are closed, and now we’ve moved on to unplugging incidents. I’ve about had it with free charging and all the bullshit that comes with it. We’re past the days of free charging being a good thing.

Now the funny thing is I was talking about this video with friends just this morning:


Ignore all the BS in the comments, seems clear to me the Tesla probably stole the Volt’s charger from two spots down rather than using the one on the wall behind him for his spot. And after stealing the charger, he was audacious enough to put a lock ring on it so nobody could steal it back. I feel like the Tesla probably stole that charger more than once for Volt guy to get that angry. You better believe I was feeling a bit like Volt guy this morning when I stole my charger back. It was so ironic it happened to me right after seeing that video.

I think most of you guys are pretty sensible and would never do what Mr. Tesla did to me. I would never unplug someone actively charging unless I was extremely desperate, but I would leave a note. I would only charge as long as I had to before giving it back. Hope he sees my stink eye on his camera footage when I took it back…

 

[breeves002]

I have to agree on the free charging part. While I love free charging as much as the next guy it has turned people into entitled jerks to save a few dollars. Imagine if gas stations gave out free gas just at an extremely slow rate. People would do the same thing to save a few bucks. Human nature.

 

[Ghost Ryder]

It's only going to get worse as more people get EVs. I see fights breaking out in the future.

 

[Electric Goat]

does it seem like Tesla drivers are the worst?

Yes, without a doubt. In my mind, Prius drivers used to be the worst but I think that most of them went out and bought Tesla's

Hope he sees my stink eye on his camera footage when I took it back…

 

[dmastro]

Meh, another driver unplugged my Tesla last week. So I guess that model has the most a-holish drivers in the world now.

I think the reason the number of incidents with Tesla drivers seem so pronounced is because most of the EVs on the road are Teslas. If Ford had been been to market first and 80% of all plug-in vehicles (making that number up but you get the point) were MMEs, Lightnings, Fusions, and CMaxs, we'd all be talking about what a-holes we are.

edit: btw OP, it sucks that this happened to you. People really need to practice etiquette in the absence of a better solution.

 

[Gene Bank]

Gas stations generally have an on-site employee and there is almost always a free nozzle to gas up and go. Charging stations in general have no one to monitor the EV customer. As more EVs come on the road and if plentiful fast chargers do not keep up with demand all kinds of problems will be ahead. Personally, I feel this is the biggest downside of owning an EV if you travel beyond home charging or live in a rental/downtown area. It will continue to get worse and eventually start turning off or slowing down the EV revolution in the US.

 

[Gullwingdmc]

My work has 2 free chargers and a 4 hour limit. The PHEV drivers always seem to “forget” that 4 hour part. I have no problem politely asking them to move their car. Thankfully no one has ever unplugged anyone’s car.

The vindictive part of me would suggest you booby trap the charger handle somehow next time. I’m thinking something stick on the handle that you would clean off when you unplug.

 

[RickMachE]

So how did @mkhuffman get his forum name changed to @Mach-Lee?

 

[SWO]

Meh, another driver unplugged my Tesla last week. So I guess that model has the most a-holish drivers in the world now.

I think the reason the number of incidents with Tesla drivers seem so pronounced is because most of the EVs on the road are Teslas. If Ford had been been to market first and 80% of all plug-in vehicles (making that number up but you get the point) were MMEs, Lightnings, Fusions, and CMaxs, we'd all be talking about what a-holes we are.

edit: btw OP, it sucks that this happened to you. People really need to practice etiquette in the absence of a better solution.

I think many Tesla drivers feel entitled because they're the first adopters in many cases used these chargers for years when they were just empty. Or maybe a$$sholes just buy Teslas.

 

[Ride_the_lightning]

I think many Tesla drivers feel entitled because they're the first adopters in many cases used these chargers for years when they were just empty. Or maybe a$$sholes just buy Teslas.

I also know plenty of a-hole Tesla drivers, but it’s because they are still 80% of EVs. Far more likely the a-hole EV driver also owns a Tesla at the moment.

 

[hawkeye3point1]

This is why I wish the MME had a lockable chargeport, like VW. Maybe someone will discover that in FORScan.

Happened to me years ago at a Mall on my Volt, but the person was very considerate and was there when I got back to the car. She explained that she needed some range to get to a SC. I've also returned to my car to find the coupler on the ground, kids I assumed. Sucks when it happens, but I have had an equal number of good charger etiquette experiences, just have to take the bad with the good.

 

[Maquis]

The coupler should lock in place if the car is locked and still charging.

 

[Logal727]

This is why I wish the MME had a lockable chargeport, like VW. Maybe someone will discover that in FORScan.

Happened to me years ago at a Mall on my Volt, but the person was very considerate and was there when I got back to the car. She explained that she needed some range to get to a SC. I've also returned to my car to find the coupler on the ground, kids I assumed. Sucks when it happens, but I have had an equal number of good charger etiquette experiences, just have to take the bad with the good.

Didn’t seem to do too much to keep that Tesla from being unplugged

 

[hawkeye3point1]

Didn’t seem to do too much to keep that Tesla from being unplugged

On a Tesla the adapter is locked to the car, not the J1772.

 

[Wonky_Donkey]

This is why I wish the MME had a lockable chargeport, like VW.

In Europe & the UK it does - you can’t remove a charge cable without the car being unlocked or you have the key in close proximity to the car’s charge port. Unfortunately Ford have only enabled it on vehicles with a Type2 socket