Company parking lot charger etiquette

[Ardie]

My first thoughts are that charging spots are like parking spots: "first come, first served."

While simple to administer, there is the danger of cars that "need" a charge can't find an open spot.
*This* is the primary indicator that electric cars are catching on, and those in charge (yuk yuk) need to add more charging stations.

Until then, I have no objection to parking in a charging spot, and leaving my phone number for others who may have a greater need for juice to call me so I can let them know when I will vacate the charging spot.

What we need is a charging station reservation / noification system; one that you can reserve a charging station (say, up to an hour in advance if idle, up to 3 hours in advance if its busy), and a notification system to send a message to you when the location becomes available, and will hold it for you for say, 20 minutes to get your car over there.

-- Ardie
Just because I don't *need* a charge shouldn't bar me from filling it up.

 

[GeekGirls]

I'm still experimenting with etiquette where I work. I've come to the conclusion that it's best for me to try to charge in the afternoons. Those with legitimate range anxiety issues tend to arrive early to ensure access to power, and by early afternoon there is often a station available. Tesla indicates that keeping the vehicle plugged in as often as possible gives the charge system the most control over when charging occurs and maximizes the useful life of the battery. That feels like reason enough to charge when possible to protect my investment.

I do agree that first priority should go to those who can't make it home without charging, or who would resort to consuming gasoline. I also believe that keeping the stations occupied is important both for awareness and to ensure that the infrastructure gets ongoing investment. Between two adjacent buildings we have two ChargePoint stations, three EV parking spaces and at least seventeen owners of EVs. I suspect many have simply given up trying to charge at work.

 

[EchoDelta]

Some people have safety concerns about leaving their number. I build mobile stuff using sms and voice and it would be easy to do a 'relay' that preserves your anonymity and gets you the text/SMS (eg Your card could say "Send a text to: 111-222-3333 with this number "345" if you need a charge" - then it's your option to sms or call back the person directly (thus exposing your number), or text them back through the relay.
I may leave my own number at my job, but not at a hospital or airport.

A more advanced option is using smartphone apps, QR codes and whatnots but I wouldn't want to cater to the tech-savvy only.

Would folks be willing to try a prototype?

 

[bonnie]

I haven't had an issue with leaving my cell phone number. I give it out to all sorts of vendors & there is nothing to say it will stay private. My home number, however, does not get shared except with family and friends.

What would be the safety concern with leaving a cell number?

 

[kinddog]

this discussion can be boiled down to this:

- if you don't need the charge, and want to be considerate, don't plug in
- if you don't need the charge, and don't care about other people, plug in
- if you need the charge, plug in

 

[Robert.Boston]

Some people have safety concerns about leaving their number. I build mobile stuff using sms and voice and it would be easy to do a 'relay' that preserves your anonymity and gets you the text/SMS (eg Your card could say "Send a text to: 111-222-3333 with this number "345" if you need a charge" - then it's your option to sms or call back the person directly (thus exposing your number), or text them back through the relay.
I may leave my own number at my job, but not at a hospital or airport.

A more advanced option is using smartphone apps, QR codes and whatnots but I wouldn't want to cater to the tech-savvy only.

Would folks be willing to try a prototype?

I was thinking about something like this as I was reading earlier posts. Great idea.

I haven't had an issue with leaving my cell phone number. I give it out to all sorts of vendors & there is nothing to say it will stay private. My home number, however, does not get shared except with family and friends.

What would be the safety concern with leaving a cell number?

Some people treat their phone numbers are very confidential information. Getting stray calls or texts from people you don't know is annoying. Potentially, your number can be traced to your address, and your ownership of a high-end car tags you as a burglary target. In any case, I like the idea of an intermediary.

 

[Lcaudle24]

I say that you should play it by ear and treat others as they treat you.

 

[bonnie]

Some people treat their phone numbers are very confidential information. Getting stray calls or texts from people you don't know is annoying. Potentially, your number can be traced to your address, and your ownership of a high-end car tags you as a burglary target. In any case, I like the idea of an intermediary.

While the intermediary step would work for those with concerns, to me it's 'just one more complexity' in my life. My cell phone is not easily traced to my address. (My old address, perhaps. Cell numbers typically stay with you, even when you move.) However, my easily visible VIN makes it pretty easy to track me down.

As far as being a burglary target, I almost had my car jacked over a year ago ... broad daylight, nice enough neighborhood (or so I thought). ... Charging Lessons ... If I think I'm being followed, I don't go home. And I never leave my car parked in the driveway, it's always in the garage. If I have contractors around, the car is under cover. But I really don't worry about my cell phone number. I guess I think of that as the 'non private' number, while my home number is rarely shared.

 

[rlpm]

An interesting suggestion to hiding your cell number seen on the TM forums: http://www.curbtxt.com/

 

[brianman]

this discussion can be boiled down to this:

- if you don't need the charge, and want to be considerate, don't plug in
- if you don't need the charge, and don't care about other people, plug in
- if you need the charge, plug in

If you're annoyed at a "faux EV", unplug it. I don't see that option in your list.

 

[Dave5609]

I tend to think of them as "refueling stations"...instead of parking spots, especially at work where there may be limited quantity and you're near the car all day. After the battery is full, move to a normal parking spot and free up the space for someone else. You wouldn't leave your ICE at the pump all day long.

 

[strider]

My work just installed a single chargepoint station last Friday. We have 2 Volts, 1 PiP, 4 Leafs, and my Roadster.

I had assumed it would be a madhouse but yesterday when I came back from lunch both spots were open and this morning when I arrived they were both open. I decided to charge both times as I want our Facilities team to see as much utilization as possible so maybe they'll put in more chargers (yes, I know they're EVSE's, hard habit to break).

I think it's fine that the PHEV's get to charge as that means more electric miles driven - as long as they don't sit on the charger all day. Since our office is using chargepoint you can pull up the station on the app and see if it's In Use or not. That way you'll know if someone's car is done charging but still sitting there you can unplug them.

We're going to start an internal e-mail distro list that folks can join and we'll send out blast notices on that if someone truly needs to charge to get home but we also are learning who drives what and so you just send them an e-mail or call them directly. Obviously that only works at smaller facilities with private parking.

I would put something on my window to the effect of: I am charging to show my support of EV charing infrastructure. If you need to charge in order to get home please call or text me at xyz and you can have my plug.

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

At work, we have 6 ClipperCreek stations out in an exposed surface parking lot and they are usually taken up by LEAFs, Focus Electrics and Volts.

Even if I get to work early enough to get one of these after my ~27 mile one way commute, I end up plugging into a 110V outlet in an EV-only spot 'out back' in an enclosed parking structure. Keeping the car indoors is preferable, of course.

The trickle charge over 8-9 hours while I'm at work is just right to top up and, as has been suggested by TMC battery experts before, I'm not letting the car sit at a high SOC for too long (that'd be the case if it juiced up real quick from the J1772 stations).

For that matter, once I get back home, I'm reclaiming the 27 miles overnight by dialing down to 5A (the minimum allowed by the display config in the car) even when plugged into my NEMA 14-50 at 240V.

Anyway, I'm happy to see several more LEAFs, Volts, PiPs etc. occupying a dozen more EV-only spots with 110V outlets in the parking structures. I'm happy to defer to those if need be; I wouldn't mind leaving an email address (not my primary one but, one that my phone pulls often) on the dash to help coordinate.

 

[EchoDelta]

An interesting suggestion to hiding your cell number seen on the TM forums: http://www.curbtxt.com/

Sweet! Thanks for sharing.

 

[Robert.Boston]

What would be even better than curbtxt, though, is a QCode that brings up a web page; the smartphone owner types in a message, hits Submit, and it sends that message as an SMS text to me without revealing my phone # (or the phone # of the sender).

 

[Robert.Boston]

An interesting mix of vehicles parked at the office garage yesterday (that's my MS on the right):

 

[Kipernicus]

Was counting on a 200v, 30A charge at work today (have 4 stations) but one spot has been taken by a PiP all day (not charging since 9am). The other spots have been rotating with cars, and I saw one guy eating a salad in his Leaf while waiting for a spot to open up. I've gone over there several times to see if anything opened up, because there's no way to monitor the spaces remotely.

This is not efficient. Employees wasting time jockeying for free chargers does not help the corporate bottom line.
Installing tons of 110v outlets would be nice, but also expensive.

I think the inevitable solution is to have a decent number (but not 100's) of 110v outlets scattered about the garage and charge money for the 30A EVSEs. It needs to be a time based fee, not a per-kWh fee, because if you are sitting in the spot and not charging, and not incurring any fees, where is the incentive to move the car? Counting on the good intentions of fellow employees works when the demand is low, but eventually breaks down.

 

[Robert.Boston]

One luxury of the Model S is that it has a large enough battery that many people won't need to charge at work. I don't know the details of your commute, @Kipernicus, but perhaps you could simply park in a regular spot and skip the at-work charging scene altogether. Munching on a salad while stalking a charging spot isn't how I'd want to spend my lunchtime!

 

[Kipernicus]

ah, but it's free electrons! Free makes me do crazy things, like purposely not plug in at home after a weekend of running around.
I know, I know .... but sometimes I can't help it, it's just how I am!

 

[childressmd]

saw one guy eating a salad in his Leaf

What else would you expect?!