Trip Experience: Areas where Chargers being "ICEed" out / EV vandalism is (sadly) common

[Mach-Evan]

Were there morons a hundred years ago blocking gas pumps with their horse and buggy!?!

I wanted to share a rather disturbing experience my wife and I had in Kentucky charging on a long journey and I'm curious if anyone else has had anything similar?

We planned a RT from the Milwaukee, WI (area) to Greenville, SC for a wedding last weekend. We stopped at a number of EA stations and charged without issue. Most of these chargers are in Walmart/Sam's Club parking lots or similar and stopped at one near Williamsburg. I plugged into the only 150kW charger available but immediately received an error. Tried again and same thing. The only other 150kW charger was being occupied by an old PT Cruiser with a man talking to woman near it.

Me: "Sir, can you please move, this charger isn't working and that's only one left"
Him: Turns, stares for a couple seconds acting irritated "Nooo! You're a--hole!!" while pointing and shaking his finger at me.
Me: "Really?! I just asked if you could please move to any of the other open parking spots" while pointing to the dozens of them surrounding us.
Him: "No, I'm gonna talk to this woman and you can wait until I'm done!"

I again said something back suggesting how much of an inconsiderate jerk of a human he was being and from there it quickly escalated to him threatening me and my wife, to "settle it right here", etc. My wife started recording the altercation with her phone and the woman he was talking to yelled the typical "You can't record me.... blah blah" falsehood. (FYI, I can record what/whoever I want, you have no expectation of privacy in a public area).

After a bit we realized the guy was likely drunk and it was better to disengage/ignore the clown, chuckling that we'll enjoy posting it to youtube. We were able to use another stall that opened up in time and the clown tried to re-engage me and my wife but we again just completely ignored him and after yelling more unintelligible threats/obscenities the jerk left.

While eventually charging in peace, another new MME owner came to juice his up on his lunch break. He was from the area and explained that many locals are so angry about the sheer existence of EVs, they do everything they can to make it all but impossible to use the chargers there. He told us semis often park across the whole row of chargers whenever they can and many EVs have been "key'ed" and chargers vandalized.

I'm just at a loss at attempting to understand this toddler-like mentality. If you don't like a certain car, or EVs, or chargers, that's just fine, don't buy one just like everything else you don't like. I imagine it's a whole mix of anger at "tree-huggers" (I'm not), jealousy, confusion from all the FUD, etc.

I plan to post a journal of our ~1700 mi RT but don't yet have the time and the trip isn't complete as the MME-GT ended up stranding us at a Charger ~50 miles from our destination, but that's in another thread.

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[TonyaE]

PT cruiser and drunk paints the picture. Jealousy is an ugly beast.

 

[Tampamike]

I had an experience in Maine that, initially, I thought was gonna go that way. To my pleasant surprise, I was completely wrong. I pulled up to an I-don’t-remeber-what charger that had only one unit, plug and parking spot in front of it at a convenience store or something. Well, there was a pick-up parked there with a local in the cab talking on the phone. Well, I saw that the cord was long, so I just pulled next to the truck. To my surprise, the guy interrupts his phone call and apologizes and asks if he needs to move so I can use the charger. Didn’t see that coming. I said no because the cord was gonna reach. He ended up moving anyway.

 

[Deleted member 9461]

There's a thread on another from about nasty charging experiences, should we start one also?

Has anyone had someone try and cut you stating they need the charger more than you ?

I am 50/50 on why people don't like EV's, the horse isn't going to last, the gas car isn't going to last, you did the right thing filming, I have a body cam, or have my gopro handy, a dude unplugged my van saying it wasn't electric, and I put the receptical in there to park there, also, had HAWAII/ ELECTRIC VEHICLE PLATES....some peoples only existence is to cause CO2 emissions. stay safe pilots.

 

[MightyJawa]

Banning the sale of gas powered vehicles and implying you are destroying the planet if you own one doesn’t help the situation.

 

[kennethjk]

Were there morons a hundred years ago blocking gas pumps with their horse and buggy!?!

I wanted to share a rather disturbing experience my wife and I had in Kentucky charging on a long journey and I'm curious if anyone else has had anything similar?

We planned a RT from the Milwaukee, WI (area) to Greenville, SC for a wedding last weekend. We stopped at a number of EA stations and charged without issue. Most of these chargers are in Walmart/Sam's Club parking lots or similar and stopped at one near Williamsburg. I plugged into the only 150kW charger available but immediately received an error. Tried again and same thing. The only other 150kW charger was being occupied by an old PT Cruiser with a man talking to woman near it.

Me: "Sir, can you please move, this charger isn't working and that's only one left"
Him: Turns, stares for a couple seconds acting irritated "Nooo! You're a--hole!!" while pointing and shaking his finger at me.
Me: "Really?! I just asked if you could please move to any of the other open parking spots" while pointing to the dozens of them surrounding us.
Him: "No, I'm gonna talk to this woman and you can wait until I'm done!"

I again said something back suggesting how much of an inconsiderate jerk of a human he was being and from there it quickly escalated to him threatening me and my wife, to "settle it right here", etc. My wife started recording the altercation with her phone and the woman he was talking to yelled the typical "You can't record me.... blah blah" falsehood. (FYI, I can record what/whoever I want, you have no expectation of privacy in a public area).

After a bit we realized the guy was likely drunk and it was better to disengage/ignore the clown, chuckling that we'll enjoy posting it to youtube. We were able to use another stall that opened up in time and the clown tried to re-engage me and my wife but we again just completely ignored him and after yelling more unintelligible threats/obscenities the jerk left.

While eventually charging in peace, another new MME owner came to juice his up on his lunch break. He was from the area and explained that many locals are so angry about the sheer existence of EVs, they do everything they can to make it all but impossible to use the chargers there. He told us semis often park across the whole row of chargers whenever they can and many EVs have been "key'ed" and chargers vandalized.

I'm just at a loss at attempting to understand this toddler-like mentality. If you don't like a certain car, or EVs, or chargers, that's just fine, don't buy one just like everything else you don't like. I imagine it's a whole mix of anger at "tree-huggers" (I'm not), jealousy, confusion from all the FUD, etc.

I plan to post a journal of our ~1700 mi RT but don't yet have the time and the trip isn't complete as the MME-GT ended up stranding us at a Charger ~50 miles from our destination, but that's in another thread.

As we all know jerks are everywhere.

more importantly I would like to know how or why you got stranded. Although people tell me it’s just a small percentage and not to worry, probably my biggest fear about the car.

 

[RickMachE]

Yes, @Mach-Evan, others have had this experience. No, it's not common. Your title stated that it is. Having one person, or even a handful of people, tell you that it is doesn't make it a fact.

There are jerks everywhere. Confronting them isn't a great idea. Calling a cop is a better idea. Even if they have no authority to do anything, they can nicely ask the person to move on, and if the person escalates the situation deal with that.

 

[Mach-Evan]

@RickMachE I see my title may be confusing. Talking to the local there, he suggested is sadly does seem to happen in his area a lot. The rest of the trip was fine as I mentioned. You're right there are jerks everywhere. We were did consider calling the police but I didn't want to get delayed and move on.

If it weren't for his state, I would have asked him how he would feel if I parked my EV in front of the only available gas pump and told him to wait!

 

[RickMachE]

We've charged at maybe 15 different EA locations, many in the south. It's clear that there are vast differences, even in the same state. In fact, the demographic at the EA in Williamsburg, yes, the one you cited, is the worst one from a "people" standpoint that we've been to. The vehicles in the lot are in the worst condition, and the store is not as nice. The EA in Georgetown, KY is much nicer.

While I wouldn't want to charge in many locations at night, especially when a store was closed, I would be very cautious at that location.

We had a truck ice a space in Huber Heights, Ohio.

 

[kennethjk]

I came to a hotel yesterday in Bethlehem Pa.

there were 4 EV sports. 30 amp stations. Two had EV parking only signs.

two spots had ICE cars (without the EV parking only sign) and two were open with EV parking only signs. I parked at one and charged up my car. Came outside when it was 90% charged and at the other spot with EV only parking sign was a Tesla not charging.so all 4 spots were taken but only me was using it as a charging station.

spoke to the front desk and thanked them for the charging stations and mentioned the situation. He said sometimes they were so busy they need all parking spots, like yesterday, so they didn’t put EV only parking signs at all 4 spots.

I then mentioned the Tesla using EV parking but not charging and he shrugged his shoulders.

luckily there were two regular spots open and I was able to move otherwise I would not have been able to move my car. I would have left a note in that case for someone to call me if they needed a charge.

this was my first experience charging other than home.

 

[RickMachE]

I came to a hotel yesterday in Bethlehem Pa.

there were 4 EV sports. 30 amp stations. Two had EV parking only signs.

two spots had ICE cars (without the EV parking only sign) and two were open with EV parking only signs. I parked at one and charged up my car. Came outside when it was 90% charged and at the other spot with EV only parking sign was a Tesla not charging.so all 4 spots were taken but only me was using it as a charging station.

spoke to the front desk and thanked them for the charging stations and mentioned the situation. He said sometimes they were so busy they need all parking spots, like yesterday, so they didn’t put EV only parking signs at all 4 spots.

I then mentioned the Tesla using EV parking but not charging and he shrugged his shoulders.

luckily there were two regular spots open and I was able to move otherwise I would not have been able to move my car. I would have left a note in that case for someone to call me if they needed a charge.

this was my first experience charging other than home.

Yes, hotels don't really care. We visited one a few times where one of the EV locations was in a corner, so if vehicles that are longer (i.e. large pickup) park in the opposing corner, then the spots are inaccessible. I suggested signs indicating you can't stick out. GM thanked me. And the other location is next to a handicap section, so people park there despite it not being a handicap spot.

Luckily I've never had to ask the front desk to help me track down who is in the spot that needs to move.

 

[agoldman]

Welcome to the new world... same as the old world..

 

[kdonnel]

I have had an EV for 2 1/2 years now and have yet to experience being ICEd out, EV road rage, or any other negativity. My experiences have all been people asking about electric trying to find out if what they believe to be true is really true, well except for one of my neighbors who hates electric cars with a passion usually reserved for more serious topics. He gets angry when I answer his questions differently than he believes they should be answered.

Sometimes from the questions it is obvious the person wants to like electric but has some reservations because they still believe EVs work like they did in their infancy.

Sometimes from the questions it is obvious the person really wants to own an EV, just not a Tesla and are excited to find out there are EVs other than Tesla.

If only EV charging spaces could be cost effectively placed in inconvenient places in parking lots. Generally though the necessary electrical access is located in prime areas of the parking lot. Instead they are often the best spots available and tempting for all drivers to use.

There are lots of Volta level 2 chargers around where I live. I can almost guarantee that I can park in the first spot at the mall, even at Christmas time. No riding around looking for a spot for me as the Volta charging spots are excellent and rarely being used. I have yet to see an ICE car parked at them despite their prime location.

 

[Mach-Evan]

I'm glad to hear so far that what we experienced is rare. We've gotten a lot of questions about our EV in the brief time we've had it. We live in a pretty conservative suburb of Milwaukee where trucks/suvs are the popular mode of transport.

We've talked some friends and neighbors and I feel like we're EV ambassadors dispelling common EV myths. Like " what do you do if you're in a traffic jam !?!" - I've discovered a rather large % of ppl think that once an EV is unplugged is starts discharging at a high-rate whether it's moving or not.

When we got stuck at the charger in Asheville NC, a man with a jump pack who helped us could not seem to understand how we got from MKE to there. He looked at us so confused and said, I though these things could only go 2-300 miles!?! I explained that stopping at chargers is what got us there but he still just didn't seem to get it. Like he believe any EV only has a 200 mile drive radius from home. LOL

 

[mkhuffman]

Came outside when it was 90% charged and at the other spot with EV only parking sign was a Tesla not charging.so all 4 spots were taken but only me was using it as a charging station.

I then mentioned the Tesla using EV parking but not charging and he shrugged his shoulders.

My problem has not been ICE vehicle owners, it has been EV owners who think they can park in a charging space as long as they want, even after reaching full charge. Kind of like that Tesla you saw. It is much worse than the ICE problem IMO, because EV owners should know better. But so many are just rude and inconsiderate.

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