Etiquette Question: When is a Super Charger not a Super Charger?

[dprisoner]

In another thread some one stated that - per etiquette - you should not leave your car taking up a spot on a Super Charger overnight, but you can do so at a destination charger. What if your destination charger is a Super Charger? I recently did a trip from the Bay Area to Boise, and two of my hotels had a bank of Super Chargers (the Atlantis in Reno and the Oxford Suites in Boise). The other thing I should add in this mix is that I saw maybe three or four other Teslas using Super Chargers outside of California the entire trip (and this was the Wednesday through Monday of Memorial Day weekend).

 

[MXFan]

A supercharger is always a supercharger and you shouldn't treat it like a destination charger. Charge for 30-50 minutes and then move your car elsewhere to allow others to use it. Besides, Tesla will charge by the minute if you overstay your welcome.

 

[bonnie]

In another thread some one stated that - per etiquette - you should not leave your car taking up a spot on a Super Charger overnight, but you can do so at a destination charger. What if your destination charger is a Super Charger? I recently did a trip from the Bay Area to Boise, and two of my hotels had a bank of Super Chargers (the Atlantis in Reno and the Oxford Suites in Boise). The other thing I should add in this mix is that I saw maybe three or four other Teslas using Super Chargers outside of California the entire trip (and this was the Wednesday through Monday of Memorial Day weekend).

Since it takes so little time to charge your car at a supercharger, there is no reason not to move it when it's full.

Some people make the mistake of thinking 'oh it's empty, no one will show up' ... but then a bunch of Teslas on a group roadtrip show up & they need every spot.

Move the car when it's full.

 

[sammyfan711]

In another thread some one stated that - per etiquette - you should not leave your car taking up a spot on a Super Charger overnight, but you can do so at a destination charger. What if your destination charger is a Super Charger? I recently did a trip from the Bay Area to Boise, and two of my hotels had a bank of Super Chargers (the Atlantis in Reno and the Oxford Suites in Boise). The other thing I should add in this mix is that I saw maybe three or four other Teslas using Super Chargers outside of California the entire trip (and this was the Wednesday through Monday of Memorial Day weekend).

I always drop off the wife at the front desk and then drive to the supercharger. From there I'll walk in with about half of the luggage and then come back to park (at 90% charge), bringing in the other half.

I met another owner at a best western in South Dakota, he waits until the morning, plugs in, then by the time he is done showering the car is charged.

Either way - staying at the hotel with the super chargers is the way to do it

 

[dprisoner]

The problem is that I'm going to charge up to 100% for the next day, and having rolled in at 11pm I am not going to be in a good mood when at 12:30/1am it tells me to get my sorry ass out of bed to go move my car. So, the bigger question this scenario raises is why is Tesla installing Super Chargers at destinations, if they don't intend for them to be treated as a destination?

 

[SMSMD]

I recently took a trip on the long weekend to Revelstoke bc Canada. I went straight to the supercharger which was right behind my hotel room. Checked my phone and moved my car to the parking area at 90% charge. I was the only one charging.
I do the Same at destination charger , got my charge I get out of the spot. What if there is someone really needs to charge ?
There is no reason whatsoever to treat charging spots as parking spots.
Charge it , shut it , and move it.

 

[stopcrazypp]

In another thread some one stated that - per etiquette - you should not leave your car taking up a spot on a Super Charger overnight, but you can do so at a destination charger. What if your destination charger is a Super Charger? I recently did a trip from the Bay Area to Boise, and two of my hotels had a bank of Super Chargers (the Atlantis in Reno and the Oxford Suites in Boise). The other thing I should add in this mix is that I saw maybe three or four other Teslas using Super Chargers outside of California the entire trip (and this was the Wednesday through Monday of Memorial Day weekend).

My impression is a supercharger is always a supercharger. Destination chargers refer to Level 2 chargers. They are listed separately.

Destination Charging | Tesla

 

[bonnie]

The problem is that I'm going to charge up to 100% for the next day, and having rolled in at 11pm I am not going to be in a good mood when at 12:30/1am it tells me to get my sorry ass out of bed to go move my car. So, the bigger question this scenario raises is why is Tesla installing Super Chargers at destinations, if they don't intend for them to be treated as a destination?

And I can imagine how I'd feel if I rolled in at 1am, exhausted, and every car at the supercharger was full & blocking me. I have no idea why Tesla chose the locations they did. Usually there are a number of restaurants around. Most people like that option. Perhaps they weren't located there as a destination charger.

In any case, you asked about etiquette. Assuming Tesla doesn't charge you an idling fee (which they have the right to do), you could at least leave your cell phone number on your car, so that if someone needed to charge, you could move your car. I always leave my number right on the charge port anytime I leave my car charging. Doesn't matter if it's a supercharger, destination charger, or a J1772 out in the wild. Doesn't matter if I'm sleeping - I don't ever want to be the reason that another EV driver couldn't charge.

I carry this hangtag for that reason:

 

[chillaban]

As an etiquette question there's only one right answer here: Treat every supercharger like a supercharger, especially if you can't be bothered to keep 24/7 surveillance on whether or not anyone is using the spot. Especially since one of the chargers you mentioned (Atlantis in Reno) is pretty frequented by Tesla road trip convoys that may suddenly arrive in the middle of the night and need all the chargers.

They are built near destinations for your convenience/enjoyment/entertainment while waiting for the car to charge. Not as an open invitation to idle on them.

The most meaningful part of a supercharger charge takes 30 minutes. If you can't be inconvenienced to go unplug your car after that amount of time settling into your hotel, perhaps charge in the morning. Or if you want to soak up a long charge, split it between the night before and the morning of.

 

[Mark Z]

During winter weather, the Tesla will supercharge slower if the battery is cold. Supercharge when arriving at your destination and not the next morning.

 

[DOCAL]

So, the bigger question this scenario raises is why is Tesla installing Super Chargers at destinations, if they don't intend for them to be treated as a destination?

Only Tesla could answer for certain, but my guess is that availability of space, proximity to major highways, willingness to host the chargers (and possibly pay towards the costs), availability of bathrooms and food (preferably 24/7).

The Atlantis in Reno is about 0.5 miles from 580, and 4-5 miles from 80. So it serves north/south traffic and east/west traffic very well, it's open all the time, with easy bathroom access and food. Seems like an ideal place.

I'm not familiar with the one in Boise, but from the map it looks to also serve major routes well.

 

[Az_Rael]

I don't even leave my car overnight on a destination charger. Yes, it was a pain to get up at 1AM and move my car on our last trip, but I knew all the spots were full (there were only 3 total filled with two Teslas and an Audi e-tron on the J1772) and if one more Tesla/EV rolled in that night they would be out of luck. My final morning when I needed 100% top-up charge, I got up and moved the car onto the destination charger first thing, then showered, ate breakfast, etc and it was ready to go when we were.

I noticed the other Tesla staying at the same time as me was also very contentious about moving their car when they were done and keeping the spots open as much as possible. The Audi e-tron, not so much.


A supercharger at a hotel just makes those logistics easier - but I can see it being problematic with folks leaving their cars overnight because there is a hotel.

 

[chillaban]

Ditto. Every time I arrive at a destination charger with a Valet operated charger, I say something like I only need 200 miles, if someone else arrives later feel free to unplug me. Like the sentiment expressed earlier, as a fellow EV driver I never want to be the reason someone else has range anxiety.

I’ve only had one case where the valets said they’d plug me in, but did not. It wasn’t the worst thing in the world, I called in the morning to plug me in, and by the time I checked out I had 150 miles and could make it to the next supercharger.

 

[SMSMD]

I always leave this visible on the dashboard with my cell number.

 

[scaesare]

In support of the Treat it like any other Supercharger sentiment, I'll add: the supercharger is going to showup on the route planning tools that people use for planning their distance driving, including the car's own NAV.

As such, people unfamiliar with the location and driving through have every reason to expect to be able to utilize it like any other supercharger... that is to say even if they show up at 3am, they rightly expect cars won't be camped there all night no longer charging.

For the earlier scenario of needing a 100% charge... i'd charge it up to 90% the night before, and then move it. The next morning I'd plug it back in for the final 10% as I was preparing to leave...

 

[vandacca]

The problem is that I'm going to charge up to 100% for the next day, and having rolled in at 11pm I am not going to be in a good mood when at 12:30/1am it tells me to get my sorry ass out of bed to go move my car. So, the bigger question this scenario raises is why is Tesla installing Super Chargers at destinations, if they don't intend for them to be treated as a destination?

(1) You don't want to charge to 100% at night because leaving your vehicle at 100% for 6-7 hours overnight will severely impact your battery longevity.
(2) If you charge to 80-90% when you arrive, it'll only take 30-45 minutes, and then you can go to bed. Charge for another 30-45 minutes in the morning to 100% for best results.

 

[dprisoner]

Well, maybe we should lobby Tesla to install a couple of Destination Chargers when they install Super Chargers at actual destinations. I'm not complaining about having to stop along the way to charge, but to delay getting to sleep and then having to wake up an hour earlier to finish charging before a 13 hour drive is not a good thing. I may have AP, but I still need to be awake when I drive (especially since the AP likes to swerve into Nevada's off ramps...)

 

[HankLloydRight]

Just for future reference, at the Atlantis in Reno, there are two HPWC in the parking lot across the street.

 

[COrich]

It all boils down to common courtesy and treating others as you would like to be treated. The accepted behavior is to move the vehicle after charging is complete (either as determined by the trip planner or your own estimate). If everybody decides that they are the exception to this accepted behavior, then eventually we will all be confronted with blocked supercharger stalls and have nobody to blame but ourselves.

So, be polite and move when the charging is complete even if there are stalls available. We can't put our own convenience above the needs of others.

 

[cpa]

I think part of this situation has to do with the fact that we human beings generally develop routines and patterns to our lives. We have all taken road trips in ICE before. We have a schedule for arrival, and we have a schedule for departure. Our routines may be tailored differently when we travel solo versus traveling with family. Regardless, now that we are driving Teslas, we ought to rethink our routines a little bit if we are staying at hotels with Superchargers and/or destination chargers.

I fall into the camp that we should not park overnight at a SC if at all possible. If that means splitting my charge in two (arrival to 90%, move car, plug in for 100% in the AM) so be it. If it means rising 30 minutes early and plugging in at 6:30 for an 8:00 departure, fine. Moreover, I think that we are setting a standard or a precedent. Others see me plugging in overnight, so they join me.

(As a parenthesis, I stayed at the Best Western in Mt. Shasta last summer. That location has a 4-stall SC. I counted five (!) Teslas in the parking lot. Not one person to my knowledge charged overnight. The SC was vacant at 10:30 PM when I walked back from downtown. The following morning, I plugged in at 6:30, and there was one other owner charging. When I departed at 7:45, the first guy had left, and two others had plugged in.)

I think the implied contract of Supercharging has always been to charge what you need to reach your next stop, and then move your vehicle. It makes no difference whether the charging is diurnal or nocturnal.

When the time comes, and there are scores of EV charging stations in parking lots across the country, we can revert to our prior habits. Until that day, I think we need to adjust our behavior and thinking to be courteous to others.