charging in airport

[epec]

might be a dummy question but I can not find the answer in google. assuming I am going to leave the car in airport parking for couple of days and need charge it. most of airports have EV charging stations for EV user, but with a level 2 you can fully charged in 10 to 12 hours , and the car just parked there for the rest of time and occupy the space ? which means no one can use that spot until i fly back and move my car? that sounds of waste of space but I do not know how to solve that issue if no one move the car for you.

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[hawkeye3point1]

A family member has used an airport Chargepoint for over a week, pretty much unavoidable. Check plugshare.com for comments on using the parking garage chargers.

 

[tuminatr]

might be a dummy question but I can not find the answer in google. assuming I am going to leave the car in airport parking for couple of days and need charge it. most of airports have EV charging stations for EV user, but with a level 2 you can fully charged in 10 to 12 hours , and the car just parked there for the rest of time and occupy the space ? which means no one can use that spot until i fly back and move my car? that sounds of waste of space but I do not know how to solve that issue if no one move the car for you.

Yes, at my home airport there are 16 chargers. Openly they could have 3x that but you can park on both sides of the chargers. I usually leave a note "car is fully charged by 2-15-2023 at 5am feel free to unplug" on a post it by the charge door. Usually no one unplugs but sometimes people do. My last trip I parked by one of the spots but did not plug in someone was charging on the front side someone plugged my car for for me a few days into my trip, thanks whoever you are.

Yes I park at the airport enough that it is set as a preferred charging location so the car don't charge over 90%

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

The airport parking may have some policy, so check that. If I didn't need the charge, I wouldn't plug in. If you need the charge, then there's not much you can do to release the spot while you're gone. This is one of those times when free L1 charging makes more sense. I have plugged my mobile L1 charger into a standard plug for a few days when I didn't need an L2 charger, even though the L2 was nearby.

 

[Dadams]

Wouldn't most people who own an EV know that if the charge indicator is blinking then the car is charging and do not upplug? If it has solid light then you can unplug it, I also get this doesn't move the car out of the parking spot for a new one to park there.

 

[woody]

AP EVSE stations (as in free) are generally poorly designed. And the spots (especially L2) are usually occupied, usually by vehicles that do not need the charge. It is a crap shoot finding a spot w/ a working EVSE.
I just park at a private lot - the charge is included in the (discounted for EVs)parking fee. Not wasting time/space at EVSE - they move it when charged. Covered parking, generally safer.

 

[OON7]

I use one of these when charging and I won't be at my car. The do not unplug side is dry erase to leave a note with contact number. The ok to unplug you can write your contact number in permanent ink.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/TakeChargeandGo

My only other suggestions would be to charge the car beforehand if possible at nearby L3 and use a regular spot at the airport, and to check for idle fees as well if you do take the charging spot.

 

[EVnewbie3000]

Chargers at SFO charge at 1.5 kw/hr so it takes 4-5 days to fully charge if you are close to empty

also, help me understand why would anyone with an EV park in an “EV charging” parking spot if you are planning not to charge?? Like thats as bad if not worse than ICEing the spot…i see it a lot with Teslas. But may just because they are the majority but an equal proportion of EV owners from all makes do the same

 

[woody]

I would be kind and call them jerks.

 

[epec]

i think having multiple accessible point with very long cables will help the situation, in terms of not wasting the charging spot space. but also thinking L1 charging port will make more sense as it take days to fill up the battery

 

[woody]

Charging stations are for charging, not for long term parking. Find another way.
Charge and move your vehicle. If you are charged, don't leave it there.
If your EV is charged and it sits there, no one else can access the EVSE., nearby spaces do not count since they will be occupied as well.
Free or pay charging to the public is not feasible for long term parking. Someone, in the case of free charging, is paying for the electricity, the equipment. If the EVSE is not accessible, then that someone does not have to buy the electricity, less wear and tear, less maintenance, thereby saving money while still using the EVSEs to attract customers.

I used one when DIA installed them years ago- few EVs then. The intent was to use them while waiting to pick up relative or friend.
I have not been able to use one since. On best day 20% of the EVSEs are actually charging.

 

[tuminatr]

Charging stations are for charging, not for long term parking. Find another way.
Charge and move your vehicle. If you are charged, don't leave it there.
If your EV is charged and it sits there, no one else can access the EVSE., nearby spaces do not count since they will be occupied as well.
Free or pay charging to the public is not feasible for long term parking. Someone, in the case of free charging, is paying for the electricity, the equipment. If the EVSE is not accessible, then that someone does not have to buy the electricity, less wear and tear, less maintenance, thereby saving money while still using the EVSEs to attract customers.

I used one when DIA installed them years ago- few EVs then. The intent was to use them while waiting to pick up relative or friend.
I have not been able to use one since. On best day 20% of the EVSEs are actually charging.

The Charging Stations at MSP airport (My home Airport) are on the Top floor of the Long Term parking. The MSP airport doesn't have chargers in the Short Term, or Cell Phone Lot area, maybe they should. Cell Phone lot would be an excellent spot for a DC Fast.

So this is a curiosity, I agree that etiquette is to not leave your car plugged in past its charging time. However, that is not possible in long-term parking at an airport

The airport has 50 spots in the new silver ramp 36 in Terminal 1 parking and an additional 16 in Terminal 2. So there are a bunch

 

[kltye]

I've plugged in my PHEV at the airport for a few days. It had very noticeable charge LEDs and I even left a note saying it's OK to unplug whenever (it would charge to full in about 2.5 hours from zero). No one unplugged me from what I could tell, but so I felt less bad about it.

But yes, it's fine to leave it plugged in for your trip (hopefully it won't be much longer than a week!). My home airport has the chargers accessible from two rows, though only one row is specifically reserved for EVs. It's also another reason I invested in a nice J1772 extension ?

 

[johnmark]

Same for overnight parking ta train stations. In my case I needed to plug in because I didn't have enough charge to get me home when I came back. I felt bad taking up a spot after the charge completed, and the chargers were only accessible from a single row. But I figured there was no other way. I guess I only took up the spot for a total of 24 hours after charging completed so I didn't feel too bad.

In other news the metro north parking lot in New Haven CT has nice L2 chargers (about 6kw/h) and is a convenient way to avoid driving in NYC while you hop on the metro north line.

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