Suggestions needed- charging etiquette

[mkhuffman]

I was looking for a thread about how to lock my Ford charger to the car, and came across this thread. So I will use it to vent a little about charger etiquette.

I have never had anyone unplug me while charging (yet, this is all new), but multiple times I have seen cars fully charged and still plugged in. That really pisses me off, especially when there are no parking spaces close enough so I can unplug that guy and plug my MME in.

Hogging chargers has to be a huge violation of etiquette, right? It definitely should be. I really needed to get charged and obviously a fully charged car does not need to be charged.

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[generaltso]

Hogging chargers has to be a huge violation of etiquette, right?

Yes

 

[RickMachE]

And charging etiquette says that if a vehicle is fully charged, and the people aren't around, you should unplug it and plug in your vehicle. If they don't like it, that's there problem. At a hotel, I would have the front desk try to find them, but not for too long.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

Hogging chargers has to be a huge violation of etiquette, right? It definitely should be. I really needed to get charged and obviously a fully charged car does not need to be charged.

Yes

Generally yes. There could be unique circumstances to the location that makes it a “no” though. As an example, one of our local airports has charging locations with a 4-hour session via ChargePoint and signs saying “No Overnight Parking.” Ok clear enough. But flying to the nearest city and back the same day for a business meeting will take more than the 4-hour session. And would make it impossible to unplug at 109%. Each location is unique. It all depends upon the circumstances.

 

[agoldman]

the question comes to mind .... what the hell is wrong with people these days?

 

[generaltso]

And could make it impossible to unplug at 109%.

My car never charges to 109%! I bet Ford installed the wrong battery in my car. No wonder my range is decreasing in the cold!

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

My car never charges to 109%! I bet Ford installed the wrong battery in my car. No wonder my range is decreasing in the cold!

Mine is just so happy it lives Hawaii.

Or it could be typing on an iPhone in the dark. Nah.

 

[generaltso]

Mine is just so happy it lives Hawaii.

I wouldn't be a bit surprised if a Mach-E living in paradise has evolved into accepting a 109% charge.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

I wouldn't be a bit surprised if a Mach-E living in paradise has evolved into accepting a 109% charge.

It’s much more laid back. 109% would be a New Jersey thing. Ask @timbop . Mine is almost exactly like this … (A genuine unretouched picture). AWD er. There’s a price to be paid for living on the side of the world's tallest mountain.*

* Measured from its base Maunakea is 10,200 meters (33,476 ft) tall passing Everest at 8848 meters (29,028 ft)

 

[timbop]

I was looking for a thread about how to lock my Ford charger to the car, and came across this thread. So I will use it to vent a little about charger etiquette.

I have never had anyone unplug me while charging (yet, this is all new), but multiple times I have seen cars fully charged and still plugged in. That really pisses me off, especially when there are no parking spaces close enough so I can unplug that guy and plug my MME in.

Hogging chargers has to be a huge violation of etiquette, right? It definitely should be. I really needed to get charged and obviously a fully charged car does not need to be charged.

Sort of. At a hotel or parking garage L2 if you park in the spot with >90% then yes, faux pas. If instead the car is parked for 8 to 12 hours and charging for 6 to 8 of those hours then I would not expect the owner to come back immediately and move it once done - especially if it completed in the middle of the night at a hotel. At a DCFC yes it should be moved within a few minutes of completing.

Generally yes. There could be unique circumstances to the location that makes it a “no” though. As an example, one of our local airports has charging locations with a 4-hour session via ChargePoint and signs saying “No Overnight Parking.” Ok clear enough. But flying to the nearest city and back the same day for a business meeting will take more than the 4-hour session. And would make it impossible to unplug at 109%. Each location is unique. It all depends upon the circumstances.

exactly.

It’s much more laid back. 109% would be a New Jersey thing. Ask @timbop . Mine is almost exactly like this … (A genuine unretouched picture). AWD er. There’s a price to be paid for living on the side of the tallest mountain.*

* Measured from its base Maunakea is 10,200 meters (33,476 ft) tall passing Everest at 848 meters (29,028 ft)

True long winded story: My brother used to have an above ground oil tank that he though was only 150 gallons or so. He used the rough dimensions of a gallon milk container to estimate the volume of the tank to come up with that figure. When the oil company charged him for 250 gallons to completely fill his empty tank he called them criminals that were ripping him off and insisted that they prove how much they put in by pumping it back out while he watched. Lo and behold they pumped out 250 gallons.

He couldn't understand how he was so far off so I measured it in centimeters and compensated for the oblong shape of the tank. My approximation came out to about 235 gallons so clearly my adjusting for the shape was imperfect, but a far better estimate than his method.

The real lesson from the exercise was that the metric system is perfectly designed for such calculations, and the sloped top and opening around the handle of a milk jug wastes a lot more volume than you realize

 

[mkhuffman]

Sort of. At a hotel or parking garage L2 if you park in the spot with >90% then yes, faux pas. If instead the car is parked for 8 to 12 hours and charging for 6 to 8 of those hours then I would not expect the owner to come back immediately and move it once done - especially if it completed in the middle of the night at a hotel. At a DCFC yes it should be moved within a few minutes of completing.

I think it is the owner's responsibility to monitor the charge state of their car and move it when it is sufficiently charged. If you are unable to move your car when it is fully charged, like you are out of town, you should not park in the space to begin with, IMO. It is not considerate to tie up that charger regardless of the reason.

I do agree it is not reasonable to expect someone to set their alarm for 2:00 AM so they can wake up and move their car, but all the examples I have witnessed where not at 2:00 AM.

One was at a hotel, but it was before 10:00 PM and the Tesla was already fully charged. That owner could have moved it. Luckily there was a spare space for me to park and charge, but if anyone came up after me, they were screwed. In fact, when I pulled out of my space at 6:00 AM the next morning, there was another Tesla waiting to pull into my space to charge, and that Tesla from the night before was still in the space, and still fully charged.

The other example was at an office building with free charging (the hotel was free also). When I arrived at around 9:00 AM all 8 spaces were full, and there was a Leaf already fully charged. I parked across from the charging spaces so when one of the thoughtful owners came out to move their cars, I could move mine in. None of them were thoughtful.

I kept checking all morning and by 11:45 AM there were four cars fully charged. All of them sat there fully charged all afternoon. That one really pissed me off. I bet they do that every day. Luckily I rarely go into the office so I don't have to deal with them, but still. That one really got under my skin.

 

[BMT1071]

I think it is the owner's responsibility to monitor the charge state of their car and move it when it is sufficiently charged. If you are unable to move your car when it is fully charged, like you are out of town, you should not park in the space to begin with, IMO. It is not considerate to tie up that charger regardless of the reason.

I do agree it is not reasonable to expect someone to set their alarm for 2:00 AM so they can wake up and move their car, but all the examples I have witnessed where not at 2:00 AM.

One was at a hotel, but it was before 10:00 PM and the Tesla was already fully charged. That owner could have moved it. Luckily there was a spare space for me to park and charge, but if anyone came up after me, they were screwed. In fact, when I pulled out of my space at 6:00 AM the next morning, there was another Tesla waiting to pull into my space to charge, and that Tesla from the night before was still in the space, and still fully charged.

The other example was at an office building with free charging (the hotel was free also). When I arrived at around 9:00 AM all 8 spaces were full, and there was a Leaf already fully charged. I parked across from the charging spaces so when one of the thoughtful owners came out to move their cars, I could move mine in. None of them were thoughtful.

I kept checking all morning and by 11:45 AM there were four cars fully charged. All of them sat there fully charged all afternoon. That one really pissed me off. I bet they do that every day. Luckily I rarely go into the office so I don't have to deal with them, but still. That one really got under my skin.

Ok, I'll throw my 2 cents in. At a hotel L2 it seems reasonable to plug in when you're in for the night and stay there until morning.
The office building situation is a bit murkier. If the building owner/tenant/employer has designated those spots as essentially 'belonging' to those employees, then it is what it is. Or it could be that there is low BEV adoption in the area and there had been no/few instances when there was someone else that wanted to charge.
As BEVs proliferate I expect a general set of unwritten rules will evolve. Of course there will always be people that ignore those rules. ?

 

[mkhuffman]

Ok, I'll throw my 2 cents in. At a hotel L2 it seems reasonable to plug in when you're in for the night and stay there until morning.
The office building situation is a bit murkier. If the building owner/tenant/employer has designated those spots as essentially 'belonging' to those employees, then it is what it is. Or it could be that there is low BEV adoption in the area and there had been no/few instances when there was someone else that wanted to charge.
As BEVs proliferate I expect a general set of unwritten rules will evolve. Of course there will always be people that ignore those rules. ?

It is reasonable to plug in for the night if you need a charge that is going to last most of the night. If you are fully charged before 10 PM, your car does not need to occupy that charger for the entire night. It was really important for me to get a charge at that hotel because the town has no public chargers and I had to be charged to make it back to the EA charger 2 hours away. I would have moved my car at 80% but this guy was fully charged. It was rude and totally inconsiderate.

The other example are chargers in a public garage with office buildings all around. There is retail shopping there also, but those cars were there before the retail opened. So obviously commuters. They should be able to use the chargers but not occupy them when done regardless of where they work.

I think the proper way to handle this is to only charge what you need, and move your car if you have what you need. I get it that people like free stuff, but if you have enough charge to make it home you should move your car so others who cannot make it home can get a charge. I had to drive 150 miles home and did not have enough charge to make it maybe 1/4 of the way. So I really needed the charge. I obviously had to stop at a public charger, no problem, but if those rude a-holes had been a little more considerate, maybe I could have charged enough to make it home.

 

[timbop]

I think it is the owner's responsibility to monitor the charge state of their car and move it when it is sufficiently charged. If you are unable to move your car when it is fully charged, like you are out of town, you should not park in the space to begin with, IMO. It is not considerate to tie up that charger regardless of the reason.

I do agree it is not reasonable to expect someone to set their alarm for 2:00 AM so they can wake up and move their car, but all the examples I have witnessed where not at 2:00 AM.

One was at a hotel, but it was before 10:00 PM and the Tesla was already fully charged. That owner could have moved it. Luckily there was a spare space for me to park and charge, but if anyone came up after me, they were screwed. In fact, when I pulled out of my space at 6:00 AM the next morning, there was another Tesla waiting to pull into my space to charge, and that Tesla from the night before was still in the space, and still fully charged.

The other example was at an office building with free charging (the hotel was free also). When I arrived at around 9:00 AM all 8 spaces were full, and there was a Leaf already fully charged. I parked across from the charging spaces so when one of the thoughtful owners came out to move their cars, I could move mine in. None of them were thoughtful.

I kept checking all morning and by 11:45 AM there were four cars fully charged. All of them sat there fully charged all afternoon. That one really pissed me off. I bet they do that every day. Luckily I rarely go into the office so I don't have to deal with them, but still. That one really got under my skin.

Yes, in those cases that sounds like those owners simply treated the charging spots as their own. I've actually seen several times where Tesla owners have parked their cars in charging spots without even plugging in at free J1772 chargers. I actually had it out with a guy who pulled his model 3 into a CCS space and started to walk away. First he tried to lie his way out of it by saying he was going to plug in when he came back out of the store. When I called his bluff and pointed out he couldn't use the charger he started to get nasty. Eventually the jackass moved the car.

 

[mkhuffman]

Yes, in those cases that sounds like those owners simply treated the charging spots as their own. I've actually seen several times where Tesla owners have parked their cars in charging spots without even plugging in at free J1772 chargers. I actually had it out with a guy who pulled his model 3 into a CCS space and started to walk away. First he tried to lie his way out of it by saying he was going to plug in when he came back out of the store. When I called his bluff and pointed out he couldn't use the charger he started to get nasty. Eventually the jackass moved the car.

I am sure no MME owner would behave like that. ;-)

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