Supercharging Etiquette (or a complete lack thereof)

[rpo]

Last night, I was somehow stranded for over an hour at a supercharger...unable to charge...at 4 AM...because other owners had left their cars plugged in while sleeping overnight at the hotel next to the supercharger in Mt Shasta, CA. Only one of the four chargers was open, and a few cars arrived back to back in the wee hours of Wednesday morning who all had to queue up for the one available space.

So, if you were one of the three owners who left their cars for hours overnight, I hope you enjoy the angry notes we all left for each of you. (We each added lines to the original notes left by someone who had left even earlier in the night.)

Next time consider that your actions are the equivalent of blocking the only fueling station for 120+ miles in either direction just so you didn't have to walk the 50 feet outside and move the car. Maybe you thought you were the only one leaving their car plugged in for 8 hours, but even one is one too many.

 

[TaoJones]

That's messed up.

I've been ICEd by an 18-wheeler, an asshat in a pickup with a long trailer, and by a Greyhound bus. But in each case, accommodations were made mas
rapido.

Was the hotel front desk of no help? License plates to the clerk and a request to wake the owners would be the first thought that comes to mind.

Edit: Further, iirc, those cars were in violation of state law, so if the clerk route failed, a call to a towing company or the cops wouldn't be untoward. After all, asshats won't take common courtesy seriously until those who are inconvenienced do. No offense meant.

 

[rpo]

That's messed up.

I've been ICEd by an 18-wheeler, an asshat in a pickup with a long trailer, and by a Greyhound bus. But in each case, accommodations were made mas
rapido.

Was the hotel front desk of no help? License plates to the clerk and a request to wake the owners would be the first thought that comes to mind.

Edit: Further, iirc, those cars were in violation of state law, so if the clerk route failed, a call to a towing company or the cops wouldn't be untoward. After all, asshats won't take common courtesy seriously until those who are inconvenienced do. No offense meant.

The front desk had no idea if the owners of the cars were staying there or not. The parking lot was pretty full, but there isn't anywhere else to be at 4 AM in that town but the hotel.

I did try to unplug one car that was in a position where I could have plugged mine in, but the plug was locked. None of the cars were actively charging either (pretty obvious when the chargers are running with the noise they make).

 

[fallen888]

You can create a blacklist of asshats' Teslas (e.g. configuration, plate), and then we can all identify them on the road and give them the stink eye/cold shoulder.

 

[Lump]

Charge for parking after the first 60 minutes, nobody promised free parking.

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

Send the plates to Tesla. Supercharger blocking is a serious issue that needs to be addressed.
Ukiah has only 2 spots and 6- 2 hr parking spots. The 2 dedicated share 1 cabinet, which sucks. I was there today and all 2hr spots were full with pickups except the one I got. When I left 2 cars had arrived in the dedicated spots. Sucks for 1of them!

 

[ReddyLeaf]

RPO, sorry for your experience. I was not one of those, but have experienced something very similar. At the Ellensburg SC (Holiday Inn), the parking lot is often over-filled and the 5 SC stalls are often blocked at night (usually ICE'd, but the same effect). On my last trip, I arrived at 9am to find a line of two other Teslas waiting, while one filled the only available space and a second "double-parked" on the only pull in stall.

However, must admit that I have parked at a SC overnight. Before you flame me, it was after 10 pm, I left my phone number, plus there were 7 empty stalls, and it was snowing hard with 4" on the ground. This was Tremonton, UT in January. I didn't want to block a SC overnight, but I took a calculated risk, and predicted that the chances of 8 additional cars arriving overnight was essentially zero. I did go out at midnight and check to see if anyone else plugged in but nobody showed overnight or the next morning. Still, I wish every SC at a hotel included at least two HPWCs. We should not be forced to supercharge at hotels. I was would have liked to set the HPWC to charge slow enough to keep my battery warm all night (my next leg was 150 mi at 25 F into a 35 mph headwind).

 

[Ciaopec]

They are out there! On a tangent, and not as serious, and mentioned in other threads: Tonight I was the only car at a 6 stall SC on post 1A.
Another car pulled in and plugged into 1B. I went over and politely asked how the trip was and by-the-way were you aware that by using this post we are now sharing juice and our charge times will be longer. She gave me attitude and said "OK I'll move" and I said that I was not trying to make life difficult but just for future references, blah, blah , blah... She said "OK, I get it." Maybe I shouldn't be in the education game but it can only get worse.

 

[cpa]

Tesla is going to have to expand Mt. Shasta City to at least eight stalls real soon.

And, my personal rule when staying at a hotel that has Superchargers is to plug in either around 9PM for the required time or to plug in first thing in the morning after I am cleaned up but before I eat breakfast and pack up. In either case, I move the car out of the stall once I gain my necessary charge.

There is absolutely no excuse for parking overnight at a SC stall. None.

 

[roblab]

However, must admit that I have parked at a SC overnight. Before you flame me, it was after 10 pm, I left my phone number, plus there were 7 empty stalls,...

Yeah, right there you have the difference. **Leave your phone number**. No problem. Ever. If everyone left a phone number it would cut down a lot of the irritation.

Unfortunately, it does not stop locals who "have no where else to charge" from using the superchargers and will block them for near a couple hours, just so they can fill the battery clear up and not have to drive the 5 miles to the charger more than once a week. Or something. And Tesla knows about these (3) supercharger sites and the car owners.

My question was, if they can't afford to get a charger put in near home or work, how can they afford to fix the paint job on their car after I key the door? That is purely a mental exercise, not a threat. All the people near me charge at home, I guess.

 

[TexasEV]

However, must admit that I have parked at a SC overnight. Before you flame me, it was after 10 pm, I left my phone number, plus there were 7 empty stalls, and it was snowing hard with 4" on the ground.

Leaving your phone number is nice in theory but probably not helpful when parked at night. It's unlikely that any car arriving at night would see the note in the windshield, and if they did probably wouldn't be able to read it in the dark.

When you went out at midnight to check on it, you could have moved the car to a parking space.

 

[MP3Mike]

Leaving your phone number is nice in theory but probably not helpful when parked at night. It's unlikely that any car arriving at night would see the note in the windshield, and if they did probably wouldn't be able to read it in the dark. .

Most cell phones now-in-days have this fancy thing called a flashlight mode that could be used to illuminate the phone number making it readable in the dark.

And I suspect that if the stalls are all blocked and someone is waiting for a charge they would take the time to look for any way to contact the person(s) blocking the stalls. (What else do they have to do while they wait?)

 

[ReddyLeaf]

Leaving your phone number is nice in theory but probably not helpful when parked at night. It's unlikely that any car arriving at night would see the note in the windshield, and if they did probably wouldn't be able to read it in the dark.

When you went out at midnight to check on it, you could have moved the car to a parking space.

Yes, OK, next time I'll move it. I didn't really "go out", I just peaked out a window. The snow was pretty heavy and nobody was out on the roads. It took me nearly an hour to clean off the snow/ice the next morning. It was that really hard stuff that coats the car, causes increase air resistance (which was my biggest worry with the next 150 mi leg), and then flies off after the engine has warmed the hood.

 

[CuriousG]

It was that really hard stuff that coats the car, causes increase air resistance (which was my biggest worry with the next 150 mi leg), and then flies off after the engine has warmed the hood.

The motor probably doesn't get warm enough to heat up the hood especially so if you don't have dual motor which is exclusively in the back of the car.

 

[ohmman]

And, my personal rule when staying at a hotel that has Superchargers is to plug in either around 9PM for the required time or to plug in first thing in the morning after I am cleaned up but before I eat breakfast and pack up.

This is similar to what I do. I've stayed at a number of hotels next to Superchargers in the last couple of years. Generally speaking, I scope it when I arrive. If it looks pretty vacant, I charge to 80% or whatever I'll need. If I'm planning to skip the first charger the next morning, I run out before breakfast or shower and finish up my charge before getting on the way. If the chargers are busy when I arrive, I'll do like @cpa and go back out later in the evening before my shower, charge while showering, and unplug before bed.

I can imagine leaving it plugged in overnight, but only if I were arriving very late and needing to leave very early. I'd leave a phone number. Thankfully, I generally plan myself out of that situation and haven't had to deal with it.

 

[nwdiver]

This is similar to what I do. I've stayed at a number of hotels next to Superchargers in the last couple of years.

It drives me crazy that they put superchargers at hotels without HPWCs! Seriously... how much extra would it cost to add a pair of HPWCs... ~$5k? What's $5k on a $250k supercharger?

I understand that the intent is to charge and be on your way... but if it's a location that people are likely to be there for several hours... like a hotel... you're already pulling the permit... you're already hiring a contractor...

Hopefully this will change now that the HPWCs can take 277v... previously they would have needed another transformer to power the HPWCs... they no longer have that excuse.

 

[TexasEV]

It drives me crazy that they put superchargers at hotels without HPWCs! Seriously... how much extra would it cost to add a pair of HPWCs... ~$5k? What's $5k on a $250k supercharger?

I understand that the intent is to charge and be on your way... but if it's a location that people are likely to be there for several hours... like a hotel... you're already pulling the permit... you're already hiring a contractor...

Hopefully this will change now that the HPWCs can take 277v... previously they would have needed another transformer to power the HPWCs... they no longer have that excuse.

It could be a matter of how many parking spaces a hotel is willing to allocate to Tesla. If owners are courteous and move the car to a parking space after supercharging the HPWC wouldn't be needed

 

[CuriousG]

It could be a matter of how many parking spaces a hotel is willing to allocate to Tesla. If owners are courteous and move the car to a parking space after supercharging the HPWC wouldn't be needed

Or it may be that the space gets ICE'd as it's known to happen.

 

[DiveDeep]

Perhaps I'm missing something.. I have the Tesla App on my iPhone and I set notifications to "On".. So I get a notice on my phone when my charge is complete. So what is the big deal? You can set your car up on charge on the SC over dinner, unplug and move your car when it is done before bed, as soon as the App tells you it's done!

And YES Key the F*c&ers who park ICE vehicles in the SC stalls over night... Or at least leave them a REALLY nasty note!

 

[nwdiver]

Perhaps I'm missing something.. I have the Tesla App on my iPhone and I set notifications to "On".. So I get a notice on my phone when my charge is complete. So what is the big deal?

I wouldn't say it's a 'big deal'... but the cost benefit plays out... The purpose of L3 is to give you a quick charge when you need a quick charge. If you're going to be somewhere for a few hours then L2 makes A LOT more sense. It's negligible now but when 3-ma-geddon hits it won't be