Behaviour at private destination chargers

[Onshore]

“Poor planning on your part does not necessitate an emergency on mine.”​

I was looking on plugshare recently doing some early planning for some possible trips in regional NSW.

One thing that I noticed that the comments in a few negative "check ins" felt a bit off and I thought I'd see what the forum views are on this.

Scenario is small regional motels/hotels who have put in a Destination Charger for their staying guests use only.

Non customer rocks up with 2% battery and starts using the charger. Going off the write-ups, it usually ends up in a barney with the manager/owner who explains that it's only for customers. Driver doesn't like the answer and appears to act like a pork chop and leave negative reviews of the establishment on social media.

My view is that this is highly destructive behaviour. It's likely to lead to the owner wondering if installing the charger was worth the hassle.

Please don't do this. These establishments have shown a bit of foresight and installed an EV charger to attract customers as a point of difference over their local competitors. Don't make them regret it

Anyone have a different view?

 

[cafz]

Does this question even have to be asked?

It seems unarguable that it's perfectly reasonable for establishments to install chargers for the use of their customers only.

If you're desperate to use it, maybe offer them a payment?

I do wonder if the way that destination chargers are shown in the Tesla app / navigation should make it clearer if they're for customer use only though.

 

[PC__LoadLetter]

This is why you don't leave bad reviews on PlugShare, but instead you assess the vibe you get from the site owner and staff, and incorporate that into the site description itself.

There was an edit war on the UoW Innovation Campus charger in recent months between things like "CCS1 and CHAdeMO only - incompatible with most cars" and "This is a stupid charger blah blah blah". Kept going back and forward. The change I made seems to have stuck. Still kept a slight stab that probably pacified whoever kept making those edits, but also explained away the stab in a reasonable way.

Remember: This is Wollongong University's charger. The University owns a BMW i3 and a Nissan LEAF. They need the obsolete plug for their obsolete BMW. They kindly share their charger with the rest of us when they're not using it. They're not a charging company, and they have no obligation to adhere to the current industry standards. If you'd like to use their charger, bring your adapter.

It's a slightly different situation at AC chargers, but it's the same principle. Private property. Respect who installed it. Their property, their rules. And since people don't just find these chargers by magic (*), they read about them on PlugShare, that's where these rules need to be spelled out. Site by site. Over and over.

(*) Well, OK, a few people might find the chargers on their MCU or in the Tesla app listing nearby destination chargers. But that's about all.

 

[Vostok]

“Pork chop”.. love it. Such an underused phrase these days

Yes, people like that do a disservice to the EV community. I know of one regional hotel that makes their destination chargers available to anyone for payment of a modest fee. Perfectly reasonable.

But if for “guests only” then be respectful - it’s their establishment and abide by their rules. You can’t use their destination charger, in the same way you can‘t strip off and dive into their pool for a swim.

If you’re desperate for a charge, ask the proprietor. I’m sure the majority would be more than happy and some may not even ask you to pay. But ask first!

 

[race4life81]

Whats next with these morons, walking into any cafe they want and helping themselves with the cookies that they give out complimentary? Tesla needs to a better job of explaining what a 'destination charger' is. For a non EV user like me at first instance 'destination charger' reads like its free since its not a ' supercharger' or needs using an app.

Having said that I would definitely ask to use and would offer/insist to pay for being allowed to use what is essentially a service they provide to their customers.

 

[moa999]

There was a similar (now deleted) post made by a senior TOCA official on the TM3 FB page a few days ago about some chargers at a restaurant in regional Victoria.
The PlugShare page for this site makes it pretty clear that the chargers are only for the use of accommodation guests and restaurant customers.
But the Tesla website and in-car maps don't make this very clear, and they've had regular occurrence of people stopping just for a charge - It's definitely something Tesla need to improve, or some owners probably will remove the chargers.

And agree that Tesla need to do a better job educating some drivers, that not all DCs are free.

While Tesla may have provided the charger.. the site owner had to pay for install and power, and I don't believe there was ever any requirement to make it always available, or make it Free.

Reportedly the V3 wall chargers (at the moment still only available in the US) will have the ability to do paid charging in the future (not yet software activated in the US either)

That said, on the flip side, site owners need to be told of the benefits of attracting Tesla customers, particularly restaurants for top-up charges over lunch/dinner, where a few $s of electricity will easily be offset by the margin on food/drinks.
A few places who have flat $ fees lose potential customers over this.

I've got more sympathy for cheap regional motels where someone getting a full charge overnight (possibly $20+ of electricity) could quickly make the room a loss maker.

(As for the UoW charger - surely one of the engineering boffins could work out how to safely secure a CCS1 to CCS2 adapter at the site, so it could be used by more people)

 

[paulp]

Someone who thinks its ok to use free power from a private person or business and provide nothing in return other than a poor review needs to have a good hard look at themself.

 

[Nuclear Fusion]

“Poor planning on your part does not necessitate an emergency on mine.”​

I was looking on plugshare recently doing some early planning for some possible trips in regional NSW.

One thing that I noticed that the comments in a few negative "check ins" felt a bit off and I thought I'd see what the forum views are on this.

Scenario is small regional motels/hotels who have put in a Destination Charger for their staying guests use only.

Non customer rocks up with 2% battery and starts using the charger. Going off the write-ups, it usually ends up in a barney with the manager/owner who explains that it's only for customers. Driver doesn't like the answer and appears to act like a pork chop and leave negative reviews of the establishment on social media.

My view is that this is highly destructive behaviour. It's likely to lead to the owner wondering if installing the charger was worth the hassle.

Please don't do this. These establishments have shown a bit of foresight and installed an EV charger to attract customers as a point of difference over their local competitors. Don't make them regret it

Anyone have a different view?

That’s stealing & the owner of the establishment should call the police to have them charged

 

[Shallowal]

For a non EV user like me at first instance 'destination charger' reads like its free since its not a ' supercharger' or needs using an app.

It never occurred to me that "Destination" implied free. I always thought of it as the end of the journey, which would normally imply that you are at that point for some reason other than charging. eg shopping/eating/sleeping....