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Public Charging Etiquette - Unplugging Teslas from J1772s
- Thread starter LeafDriver
- Start date
Fair point. But until the Bolt, Tesla and plug ins were really the main abusers that often don’t really need to charge and just want to save a few pennies to get the free electric or just want the better parking space.
Sometimes it's just misconception. I was on my motorcycle, pulled into local supermarket as a Bolt pulled up to the EVGo. She did not plug in. I asked her how long it took to charge and how much. She said "I charge at home". I asked why she parked in the charging space, she said "EV's have to park there" and went into the store with the Bolt unplugged.
Racerx22b
@unplggdd on Instagram
Says the guy that just a page or two ago said to not make decisions based on edge cases. There will always be people that take advantage. You're the EV equivalent of the guy saying stop all food stamps because he saw someone at the grocery store buying a steak one time using WIC.
Racerx22b
@unplggdd on Instagram
Solution A - Buy a car that meets your daily driving needs so you don't encounter this situation. You fail to see who is at fault here. The person that bought the car that doesn't get them home without a charge is the main problem. Now a person using the charger when they don't need to is also to blame but the first mistake was the inappropriate car purchase. This would free up public charging for those that are driving outside of their normal daily driving and truly need it.
Solution B - A less aggressive solution that will not result in your car getting vandalized or a personal confrontation from the person's car you unplugged.... Draft a well written polite note explaining proper public charging etiquette (keep copies in your car) and leave it on their windshield in hopes they will learn something. This is of course assuming they are not exercising proper etiquette already. As a reminder, you have no idea what their situation is. The only possible exception would be if you can without any doubt whatsoever confirm they are at 100% charge.
BTW, I have never ran into a situation in 3+yrs as an EV only household where this was an issue. Mainly because I bought a car that exceeded my daily driving habits.
Teslas and plug ins taking up EV charger parking spaces when they don’t need to charge is not an edge case. It is a daily and wide spread occurrence. And indeed that is what is really the main problem.
Huh? Really? This is really your argument? And of course the corollary is that public chargers should never ever be needed, because people just buy cars that don’t require charging at those locations.
I support, and do not blame, our EV brothers and sisters who out of choice, or necessity, bought EVs with lesser ranges and are more likely to need public chargers. I encourage other thinking and caring Tesla owners to do the same.
Unthinking and uncaring Tesla owners can instead blame them — and thereby entitle me to mock their moral failings.
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Racerx22b
@unplggdd on Instagram
You may wanna read the post again and my previous posts. I said for normal daily driving you shouldn’t need public chargers and leave them open for those going outside their daily habits.
And in previous posts I made it clear that if you bought a short range EV that didn’t satisfy your needs you better be mentally prepared to occasionally deal with occupied chargers. If you thought you’d somehow be entitled to priority at public chargers you made a big mistake. You have no priority.
And for about the tenth time I’m not saying those taking the chargers just to take them when they don’t need them are right. But if I’m in a jam and need that public charger and someone pulls up in a Leaf... guess what... they’re gonna just have to sit and wait. And if they unplugged me when I’m in need of a charge we’re gonna have a serious problem.
My main issue with your premise is you assume Teslas have little to no need for public chargers and you feel it’s ok to determine what they do or don’t need and unplug them without permission.
Personally, I gained some awareness that I did not have before. I was not aware that, because the Tesla does not have pretty blinky lights while it is charging, the blinky-light EV and PHEV drivers think we are not charging, but sitting there hogging the parking space.This thread is still continuing?
Not sure what I will do with that knowledge, but I'm glad I have it.
Maybe I'll invent a blinky light ring for Tesla owners to put around their charge port while plugged in and make billions...
Another bit of useful information is that you can unplug a tesla using a j1772 and the screen will show the charging state which is an imperfect but useful substitute for the blinking light.
Unfortunately people whose moral reasoning is limited to “don’t touch my car” are probably the ones parking their Teslas in the EV parking spaces at the airport 30 miles from their house.
Unfortunately people whose moral reasoning is limited to “don’t touch my car” are probably the ones parking their Teslas in the EV parking spaces at the airport 30 miles from their house.
sakimano
Active Member
That is information, but not really useful to me -- maybe indirectly if the Leafers are aware of it, but I doubt if they are willing to unplug me that they most would bother to plug me back in if they discovered I was still charging. So yes, information of limited value for me to have.
I was probably in the "don't touch my car" camp for the first year of ownership, or until the sliding security gate I was going through turned out to be a gate that swung inward -- not sure which.
I am guilty of opportunity charging at free J1772 locations. Scottish blood in my veins makes it impossible to resist, and I will not dishonor my ancestors. I do need to be more conscious of the needs of other EV drivers and get a sign to put on when I don't really need the juice. I will, however, get a dang lock for the one location that has 3 pay connections and one free one, so that SOB in the PHEV doesn't unplug me again. He doesn't need the power any more than I do, and if there is a Leaf driver, they can pay for their desperately needed power.
But Scottish frugality need not extend to selfishness. Honor your Scottish moral philosopher ancestor:
"When the happiness or misery of others depends in any respect upon our conduct, we dare not, as self–love might suggest to us, prefer the interest of one to that of many. The man within immediately calls to us, that we value ourselves too much and other people too little, and that, by doing so, we render ourselves the proper object of the contempt and indignation of our brethren."
Adam Smith -- Smith: Theory of Moral Sentiments, Part III. Of the Sense of Duty | Library of Economics and Liberty
"When the happiness or misery of others depends in any respect upon our conduct, we dare not, as self–love might suggest to us, prefer the interest of one to that of many. The man within immediately calls to us, that we value ourselves too much and other people too little, and that, by doing so, we render ourselves the proper object of the contempt and indignation of our brethren."
Adam Smith -- Smith: Theory of Moral Sentiments, Part III. Of the Sense of Duty | Library of Economics and Liberty
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bonnie
I play a nice person on twitter.
So two things:
Placards like you mention are already available. And some, like me, always leave a note (whether pre-printed placard or handwritten). And yet, even with that info, I've gotten unplugged by someone who thought they needed it more than I did. No call, no text, just unplugged. So let's not call Tesla & Tesla owners rude and arrogant - unplugging me because someone decided I was 'probably full' without contacting me, however, is rude and arrogant.
The reason for the lights going out while charging has nothing to do with keeping charge levels secret from other EV owners. Seriously, this has nothing to do with you. It's legacy behavior: You're probably not aware that Roadster owners, while on long trips, only had a few options for charging wherever they were. Most locations were in dark, unpopulated places. Think office park, totally deserted late at night. Parking garages, also totally deserted. Charge port lights went dark when the lights went out for safety reasons - we did not want attention drawn to our sports car where it could be easily jacked. Since there were not other EVs on the road needing these spots in those days, the 'lights out' protocol was obviously not to hide charging status from others.
The reason for the lights going out while charging has nothing to do with keeping charge levels secret from other EV owners. Seriously, this has nothing to do with you.
It's legacy behavior: You're probably not aware that Roadster owners, while on long trips, only had a few options for charging wherever they were. Most locations were in dark, unpopulated places. Think office park, totally deserted late at night. Parking garages, also totally deserted. Charge port lights went dark when the lights went out for safety reasons - we did not want attention drawn to our sports car where it could be easily jacked. Since there were not other EVs on the road needing these spots in those days, the 'lights out' protocol was obviously not to hide charging status from others.So all that said, I did send a note over to Tesla last night saying it would be a nice option to be able to leave charge port lights on when charging in a populated place, so that other drivers could tell the status. An option. Because I still want the lights to be out if I'm charging overnight at a hotel or someplace where it will take the night to fully charge on a road trip. I don't want attention drawn to my vehicle. (And yes, this 'rude and arrogant owner' will leave a note, so if someone shows up and also needs juice, they can call me. The answer might be yes, might be no, but at least they can call.)
And lastly, if you unplugged me because you decided my car was 'probably fully charged', you'd be unplugged. If I'm plugged in, I need the charge. Unbelievable that you'd think that was okay. The good news is that I'd receive a notification that my car was unplugged, so I could address the situation rather quickly. Hopefully you'll stick around so we can chat.
Racerx22b
@unplggdd on Instagram
This thread is still continuing?
Says the people still clicking this thread to read it and posting in it to keep it alive.
Sorry guys or gals, couldn't resist pointing out the irony.
I'm not sure you really understand why malls, restaurants, hotels, etc. put up free EV charging stations in the first place. It is to encourage EV drivers to patronize their establishments. Excluding Tesla owners would be a bit silly, since they are the exact type of customer they are trying to attract with the EV chargers.
Use a paid charging site if you need to charge, and leave the free chargers for the site customers. If you are a customer too, great. but just because you have less range does not give you priority for free charging.
I'm not sure you understand the concept of not using a limited resource when you don't need it so that others who do need it can use it.
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