Free gas

[dalola]

Show me where you can get free gas.

My cousin Sal in Cleveland, his chili usually does the trick...

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[Mr. Toejam]

You are clueless. When I get free charging at Target or Home Depot near my apartment I then shop there. They are getting traffic and customers. When I get free charging at my work they are rewarding me for great work.

Easy there SLO-town. (Cal Poly grad here) What @Maquis is saying is that someone paid to install the equipment and and they are paying for the electricity in order to boost business. You are doing it right. Charge at target, you buy stuff at Target. If you charge at a company, you work at that company.

In 2021 and 2022, many businesses started putting complementary chargers in to attract business. But many people took advantage of the situation and would plug there all day and then walk home or got to work (you know who I am talking about). They we not supporting those businesses. They were just stealing electricity and a parking space. So that business gave them $10-$15 of electricity and they gave no business back.

There were many discussions on this forum that people were basically stealing from businesses. The only people who disagreed and said they weren't stealing were the ones that were...stealing.

My company had 40 level 2 charges (they installed more after I retired). It was a great employee incentive and really helped offset commuting costs. There was a 4 hour limit per day and you could only charge on days that you were working. The 40 chargers cost over $1000 each + $500,000 to upgrade our site power and run the lines. Our facilities guy told me it was $15k-$20k per month added to our electricity bill but well worth it. But even our own employees would charge past the max 4 hour limit per day, including charging on weekends when they weren't working. Some would just drop the charging handle on the ground or toss it into the planters after they were done instead of coiling up the cables and holstering the connector. We were replacing 2-3 chargers a year just because of damage. Our security team started logging charging times and monitoring people and they pulled access from employees that abused the system. It only took a few people getting caught to change behaviors.

But, we were also onstantly chasing people away trying to get free charging even when signs were posted for our parking lot access and for charging access was restricted for employees only.

So, as @Maquis said, it isn't free. Somebody pays for it.

 

[ponEpwr]

You are clueless. When I get free charging at Target or Home Depot near my apartment I then shop there. They are getting traffic and customers. When I get free charging at my work they are rewarding me for great work.

Might be on to something here. Business might completely boom if Target or Home Depot could set up a program where you could take your qualifying receipt to a gas station and get a quarter gallon of gas on them.

 

[Mr. Toejam]

Might be on to something here. Business might completely boom if Target or Home Depot could set up a program where you could take your qualifying receipt to a gas station and get a quarter gallon of gas on

Grocery stores have been doing that. The gas stations were ok with the discounts because people would fill their tanks full, thus worsening the fuel economy just to save $1. But in reality, the consumer was wasting $2-$5 because they were hauling around the extra weight.

 

[RickMachE]

My son was driving our car for a month, with free charging available at his work. He would arrive at 7:15, and all 6 chargers were full, employees that arrived at 6AM. He figured out the game, and was able to get free charging a few days a week. 4 hour limit.

He then pointed out to me that "it's a game". I said, "it's an optional game that you're choosing to play to not spend money out of your pocket to charge". He acknowledged that he was saving about $4.50 or so per day if he got the charging time.

Right now he's signing paperwork on a new Toyota SUV gas vehicle about 90 minutes west of here, and then headed to work, so no more loaner.

 

[gavine]

The parking garage at my apartment has free charging.

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