Automatically unlock charging port after charging complete

[father_of_6]

I think this sounds like a good idea on the surface, but comes with a handful of potential downsides.

One downside is just the behavior of people grabbing at other's chargers to see if they're unlocked. Maybe yours is unlocked but you're still charging. Maybe you're in the car playing a game, so it's unlocked. A stranger just unplugs you and plugs the connector into their car (maybe you have tint and they don't see you).

Currently this isn't considered acceptable, because it's not your car (so don't touch it). Now you have to be confrontational to get the connector back.

Perhaps while disconnecting your car, someone scratches it (they're one of those people that like to grab the door handle while holding a janitor's keyring). Or they somehow snap the charge port door off while trying to get the connector unfrozen.

Ultimately, while this may seem "antisocial", I'd rather people don't become comfortable touching other people's car.

 

[ambudriver03]

What's so hard about moving your car when you're done charging?

Yes it's a PITA, and the spot you just gave up might get ICEd anyway. But still. I have plugged in at 6 or 7pm and then gone out at 11 or midnight to move the car, on the off chance someone who has been driving all day might need some power.

 

[RTPEV]

What's so hard about moving your car when you're done charging?

Yes it's a PITA, and the spot you just gave up might get ICEd anyway. But still. I have plugged in at 6 or 7pm and then gone out at 11 or midnight to move the car, on the off chance someone who has been driving all day might need some power.

There are a few charging stations that I've gone to that are near an amphitheater, a performing arts center, a baseball park, and a sports arena. In these cases it is generally not possible to re-enter the facility after you leave (to go move your car), even if you were willing to miss part of the show to do so. Others are in a parking deck that may be several blocks away from where you actually are when you reach the required state of charge.

So there are some use cases where being able to plug share applies. And for sure, with my 2012 LEAF, sometimes it wasn't a matter of even having a choice to charge up ahead of time and skipping the charge: I NEEDED the charge to get back home, and with the smaller battery, I wasn't going to need the entire 4-5 hours that I was at dinner and the ballpark for the car to get a full charge.

Those scenarios are a bit less common with a long range EV, but just this past winter I went to a hockey game in a distant city and therefore did need to charge my car during the game + dinner beforehand. In this instance I was only getting 3kW because I was splitting a charge with another EV owner, so I did actually need the full 5-6 hours (plus some!), but this would have been a scenario where plug sharing could have made sense.

 

[Kandiru]

This is why I put a sticker with my Google phone number on the port door, "Need to charge? Call xxx-xxx-xxxx". I was called x2, every time I unlocked the port from phone app.

 

[Ggggizli]

As this thread demonstrates, I don't think there's a solution that works for everyone. That's why, like in the Kia, this should be an option. I charge most of the time at work so I have very little concern that someone is going to steal my adapter.

TBH, I am even OK with the proposed solution of just unplugging the charger and leaving the adapter in. However.... the problem is that the charging port tries to close and gets stuck halfway (I have a Model 3). The adapter remains locked in. It does not matter what I do on the screen or the app (open/close charging port). I have to gently pry the door open, plug the charger back in, unlock the port then remove the adapter and the charger together. This, to me, is buggy behavior and has not been fixed because Tesla _clearly_ thinks the charger should not be removed without the adapter.

PS: I recently learned that there's a pull tab in the trunk that will manually unlock the port. I have not tried that. Either way, it is not easy to get that adapter out once the charger is removed.

 

[gigawhat?]

This is why I put a sticker with my Google phone number on the port door, "Need to charge? Call xxx-xxx-xxxx". I was called x2, every time I unlocked the port from phone app.

Good work around. i have a hang card (imagine a hotel room do not disturb) that does the same. As EVs become more common, we can expect more waiting and we’ll need something like this to help us all out, in my opinion.

 

[Kandiru]

Good work around. i have a hang card (imagine a hotel room do not disturb) that does the same. As EVs become more common, we can expect more waiting and we’ll need something like this to help us all out, in my opinion.

Sorry, once I let the guy unplug with J1772 adapter remaining locked in port, then second time I had to go downstairs to remove the J1772 male locking ring.

 

[Darmie]

Sounds like a design flaw on the Kia. If I have a charger plugged into my car, then I own that charger and plug. No one should be touching other people's property without consent.

 

[gigawhat?]

Sounds like a design flaw on the Kia. If I have a charger plugged into my car, then I own that charger and plug. No one should be touching other people's property without consent.

I would think the consent is setting it to automatically unlock after charging level is complete.

 

[RTPEV]

Sounds like a design flaw on the Kia. If I have a charger plugged into my car, then I own that charger and plug. No one should be touching other people's property without consent.

No, you do not OWN the charger and the plug!!! At best, you are borrowing it.

And if you are the type of person who feels entitled to leave your car plugged in all day, taking up a charging spot well after your car doesn't need a charge, you are also committing a huge breach of etiquette, possibly preventing someone that needs a charge from being able to get one.

I don't usually take this kind of tone in my posts, but it has to be said. If you don't want someone touching your car, fine. But the charger and connector is definitely not yours.

 

[Darmie]

I don't usually take this kind of tone in my posts, but it has to be said. If you don't want someone touching your car, fine. But the charger and connector is definitely not yours.

I feel different.
If a car is rented to me, it is at that time of rental my property. I feel the same with a charger connected to my vehicle. I may not own it, but at the time of it being hooked into my vehicle, it is then an extension of my property and should be treated as such. Why do you think Tesla locks the charge port when you walk away? How did a market evolve around the sale of J1772 locks? Simple. When chargers are connected to your vehicle, they become an extension of your property I may not have signed over any papers of ownership, but at the time of charging, when it's attached to you vehicle, it becomes yours.

I still think Kia has a design flaw and should not be unlocking the charge port.

If I'm the only one that believes it than so be it. It's just an opinion. Sorry to read you felt that you had to take that kind of a tone in your post. Nothing personnel. It's just an opinion.

 

[ucmndd]

I still think Kia has a design flaw and should not be unlocking the charge port.

In what world is exposing a user-configurable option a “design flaw”?

 

[SVMike]

I feel different.
If a car is rented to me, it is at that time of rental my property. I feel the same with a charger connected to my vehicle.

You'd probably feel differently if you charged at work and had 10 chargers for 20 or 25 people with EVs.
You'd be known as the jerk that doesn't unplug.

We started with 3 chargers and 10 EVs and we'd unplug and plug in each others cars to be good neighbors ...otherwise we'd each never all get charged and have to exit meetings to unplug, move cars, etc. Then we got 10 more chargers...but the number of EVs went to 20, then 30.
We thought the "problem" was solved when we moved and got 48 chargers at the new site. But the builder arranged them stupidly with one parking space per charger. Worked fine for a while but we now have 60 or 80 EVs and since we don't know everyone's car some people just stay plugged in long past when they are done charging. Jerks.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Sounds like a design flaw on the Kia. If I have a charger plugged into my car, then I own that charger and plug. No one should be touching other people's property without consent.

For my Kona the locking behavior is an option. I assume other HyunKias are the same.

LOCK mode only unlocks when you fully unlock the vehicle (all doors).
AUTO mode unlocks when you are done charging, overriding by unlocking the doors while charging.
We use auto because we park in a garage with the vehicle unlocked.

The rules are set by the whoever operates the charger, not the customer. For example, most spaces say that you can only park there while charging. So if your vehicle isn't charging, you're not using the charger. And no, preconditioning is not charging.

I don't touch a plug unless I'm 100% sure they done. It could be that the charger interrupted them, and they're coming back to restart it.

I've only unplugged a car once. This summer I unplugged a Kona to charge my Kona at the DCFC in St Stephen, NB. (I forgot to check ahead. I could have kept charging at a previous location and skipped it.)

The charger reported that they were at 99% for a while and then the charger finally said "Charging stopped by vehicle".

So I unplugged them and plugged my car in. I didn't close their charge port because I didn't want to touch their car.

 

[Darmie]

In what world is exposing a user-configurable option a “design flaw”?

In what word did the OP mention a user configurable option?

 

[ucmndd]

In what word did the OP mention a user configurable option?

Sorry. I assumed you read this thread before you responded to it. My bad.

I’m looking to unlock it to benefit others AFTER I get the charge I need. It’s a setting on Kia.

This is a built-in feature on Kia (to keep it unlocked, locked, or locked after charge completed).

 

[ThePepper]

I notice that Model Ss will allow the wall connector cable to be removed when done charging, but the y and 3 will not.
And yes, it’s very clear when a Tesla is done charging on a Tesla wall connector because the light stops water-falling and goes solid.

In my office parking garage, one wall-connector reaches four different spots. I don’t I’d rest and why it’s better to wait for the car to move than to just be able to unplug a connector that’s not even doing anything.

I would love it if the car automatically unlocked the charge port. There’s no reason to hold a cable that isn’t being used.

 

[ai4px]

I actually do want it. If I only need 3 hours of charge and it would unlock after 3 hours, I’d be happy for someone to take it. The 1772 is either locked with a collar or unlocked. I’m looking to unlock it to benefit others AFTER I get the charge I need. It’s a setting on Kia.

I printed a label inside my charge port that says “need this plug? Txt 803-xxx-xxxx”. I can unlock it remotely.

 

[fholbert]

The Kia EV6 will automatically unlock the charging port when charging is complete. This allows other users (especially at destination / Level 2 chargers to take the plug and charge their vehicle.

Does Tesla have that feature? If not, is this on the request list? It seems like a simple firmware update would help us all have more availability to charge (and still get all of the charge we want).

Where and when exactly do you charge? Inquiring minds want to know.

 

[cdswm3]

OK, and maybe we haven't explained in enough detail why most people not just don't want that feature, but are very opposed to it. If people are plugging in with their mobile charging cable somewhere, like at a campground or RV park, they really don't want it to be loose and unlocked from the port, where it can be stolen easily.

With KIA you can turn that feature on or off as needed. Tesla should add that option as well. We recently used that feature at a Bed and breakfast. We had our EV6 and they had an Ionic 5. We shared the connector and after charge was complete it unlocked. Worked great.

A: ECO Vehicle:
1 Charging connector locking mode
2 Always lock
3 Lock while charging
4 Do not lock

You may select when the charging connector can be locked and unlocked in the charging inlet. Select Settings → Vehicle → ECO Vehicle → Charging connector locking mode