Charging etiquette

[Deleted member 19354]

Yesterday I was at EA in the afternoon and with the end of a three day weekend it was busy. I was lucky to snag a spot and begin my charge. Slowly I noticed some EVs showing up with their blinkers on, not in a queue but like a small staging area I’m guessing to wait for the next person to finish and leave. I like this station as it has two stalls for every charger to I suppose to move to whatever side the oort is one.
One vehicle was sitting idle and had 3min before it would be charged idle time. I had a person come to my car and asked. “What is the proper etiquette for a car sitting idle “. They mentioned in the Vancouver BC area if they can access the charger they will disconnect the idle charger and begin charging their car. They asked if we did the same. I mentioned example I have dash cams all over my car and it would record the action of being disconnected. If for whatever reason they broke my port etc I would have the recording and potentially use it as evidence.
I said personally I would not but there seem to be a lineup of cars waiting and I suggested they get in the line.

Personally id like to see some sort of staging area for chargers or some sort of “you’re next “.
I’d love to hear thoughts and suggestions!

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[ack154]

I think a designated "staging area" anywhere there are chargers is honestly asking a lot. It's not like you can necessarily line up cars like the entrance to a car wash or a drive through window or something.

I don't do a lot of charging on the road, so I don't get to experience this much - but my general feeling is that I'm not touching anyone else's car, no matter its charging status, and I'd expect others to do the same.

Though, if I knew I was going to be away from my car for more than a few minutes while it charges and I'd maybe go into idle time, or over 80-90%, I'd probably leave a note on the dash saying that I'd really be right back or what that I'm trying to charge up to a higher % or something.

But that's not any kind of guarantee of someone note messing with things.

People will be shitty while charging or leaving their car while charging and people will be shitty that are waiting to charge and impatient. Just like ICE people that park in charging spaces are shitty. Generally, a lot of people could just be less shitty to each other and it would benefit everyone.

 

[AngryMan]

You'd think just common courtesy would be enough . That car was here before me so he's next but it is Merica 2024 and common courtesy died side by side with common sense

 

[Tampamike]

I think a designated "staging area" anywhere there are chargers is honestly asking a lot. It's not like you can necessarily line up cars like the entrance to a car wash or a drive through window or something.

I don't do a lot of charging on the road, so I don't get to experience this much - but my general feeling is that I'm not touching anyone else's car, no matter its charging status, and I'd expect others to do the same.

Though, if I knew I was going to be away from my car for more than a few minutes while it charges and I'd maybe go into idle time, or over 80-90%, I'd probably leave a note on the dash saying that I'd really be right back or what that I'm trying to charge up to a higher % or something.

But that's not any kind of guarantee of someone note messing with things.

People will be shitty while charging or leaving their car while charging and people will be shitty that are waiting to charge and impatient. Just like ICE people that park in charging spaces are shitty. Generally, a lot of people could just be less shitty to each other and it would benefit everyone.

I’ve seen, twice, the same BMW at a particular charge location parked for hours after it was charged. I would have unplugged it but, because of the geometry, I couldn’t have used that charger with him parked there.
Some people really don’t GAS about anyone else but themselves. For them, there is no courtesy.

 

[ChehRob]

Tesla sometimes charges by the minute after a charge. I don't know if it is capable of doing that after charging to 80%.

 

[RickMachE]

There are many threads on this already.

10 minutes after it's done charging, I'm unplugging it.

 

[Mach e Mark]

At the local market they have a couple of free level 2 chargers for customers. I charge at home with Solar so I don't bother but I have tried it just so I understand it. I usually see the same couple of cars parked at these chargers each time I go. One day while walking from the parking lot I noticed an older gentlemen struggling to get his Kia plugged in. I went over and helped him out. He said his daughter usually does it from him but she's not here yet. I told him it's nice that his daughter helps him shop. He said she doesn't help him shop, she plugs his car in and takes him home while it charges all day.

 

[RickMachE]

At the local market they have a couple of free level 2 chargers for customers. I charge at home with Solar so I don't bother but I have tried it just so I understand it. I usually see the same couple of cars parked at these chargers each time I go. One day while walking from the parking lot I noticed an older gentlemen struggling to get his Kia plugged in. I went over and helped him out. He said his daughter usually does it from him but she's not here yet. I told him it's nice that his daughter helps him shop. He said she doesn't help him shop, she plugs his car in and takes him home while it charges all day.

That's abusing a free charger. I'd tell the local market and encourage them to post signs that say "free charging while shopping only, 2 hour limit" or similar. I would have said something to him. Not nice.

 

[ack154]

At the local market they have a couple of free level 2 chargers for customers. I charge at home with Solar so I don't bother but I have tried it just so I understand it. I usually see the same couple of cars parked at these chargers each time I go. One day while walking from the parking lot I noticed an older gentlemen struggling to get his Kia plugged in. I went over and helped him out. He said his daughter usually does it from him but she's not here yet. I told him it's nice that his daughter helps him shop. He said she doesn't help him shop, she plugs his car in and takes him home while it charges all day.

One of my local town hall's had that same problem. They ended up shutting off or blocking off the chargers because people would do the same thing. They were set as free, so people would just come and leave their cars all day or all night. Really unfortunate that we can't have nice things because of this.

 

[Adventureboy]

One of my local town hall's had that same problem. They ended up shutting off or blocking off the chargers because people would do the same thing. They were set as free, so people would just come and leave their cars all day or all night. Really unfortunate that we can't have nice things because of this.

I've seen chargers that are free only for a period of time, 4 hours in this case, then charge quite a bit beyond the free mark. It works well to encourage good etiquette. I've used these chargers and like clockwork, everyone moves when their 4 hours are up.

 

[RickMachE]

I've seen chargers that are free only for a period of time, 4 hours in this case, then charge quite a bit beyond the free mark. It works well to encourage good etiquette. I've used these chargers and like clockwork, everyone moves when their 4 hours are up.

Many free chargers are not managed by any software, so they have no way to enforce this.

 

[the golden eel]

The only negative charging etiquette i deal with is my wife never remembers to plug the car in when she gets home.

 

[Dear_OP]

I like the idea of setting up a queue line like one sees at drive-thrus.

We have a few "free 4hrs" charging stations at our work. There is a Ford Lightning parked at the stall all day despite many complaints and notes. A colleague of mine suggests that the owner is playing tricks by creating multiple accounts to restart the 4hr free session.

It used to feel communal where EV owners look-out for one another. These days, it feels like a bit tribal.

 

[corradoborg]

It would be great if one could, upon arriving at a fully occupied charging location, claim their place in line electronically. It could be geofenced so you can't claim your place in line until you're actually on site, and then the first available charger would only work for that vehicle/person/account. Have the system give the next person in line 5 minutes to get into the charging space and start charging, or else it moves on to the next in line. In this case, people wouldn't have to form literal queues or staging areas. They could just park wherever there is an open (non-charging) space and wait until they are notified it's their turn.

But this would require everyone to use the same app, or at least for all the major apps, including Ford's onboard Public Charging app, to work with each other. I don't see that happening anytime soon.

 

[Jimrpa]

That's abusing a free charger. I'd tell the local market and encourage them to post signs that say "free charging while shopping only, 2 hour limit" or similar. I would have said something to him. Not nice.

You have to be careful with old people. A lot of them simply don’t understand the concept of sharing public resources. It’s totally foreign to them. You’ll just confuse the poor person and they’ll get agitated.

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