Tesla chargers are not for parking

[DWhatley]

Hampton Inns often have destination chargers (both Tesla and J1772) and I have been lucky enough to have stayed where they would reserve the charger after you make a reservation. How? They ICE it until you show up. Simple, effective and appreciated.

 

[Carol525]

I've started to make a point of calling hotels ahead of time and asking them to hold the charging spot - and many in fact do with cones or a sign if you ask them to (nicely of course). You need to follow this up with good reviews on Yelp, Google or your travel app of choice and specifically mention the destination charging. Positive reinforcement in the longer term will be effective.

I also brought a notepad and small marker pen for the car specifically for writing (civilized) notes for people who ICE or otherwise block charging.

I found these notes from BLINK for just this situation and I'm thinking of printing a few and keeping them in my car if I run into this problem!

 

[Target]

Interestingly enough the hotel lost your business for the night! You would think that if the GM heard about this he / she would work to make sure that didn't happen again in the future. Last minute rooms are quite profitable and missing out on that high profit opportunity will make him/her unhappy. I would nicely make sure the Hotel GM hears about that so that they can work to fix the issue.

 

[brkaus]

Hampton Inns often have destination chargers (both Tesla and J1772) and I have been lucky enough to have stayed where they would reserve the charger after you make a reservation. How? They ICE it until you show up. Simple, effective and appreciated.

I’ve seen it done too. And I appreciate it.

But I do think it sends the wrong impression to others. The impression that it’s ok to park there.

I like the cone on the spot. I use summon to back in after I move the cone. And summon to pull out, place the cone, and hop in the car.

My stay at a hotel a few weeks ago had a Tesla model 3 in the charging spot - not charging

 

[Wooloomooloo]

I found these notes from BLINK for just this situation and I'm thinking of printing a few and keeping them in my car if I run into this problem!

Ha that last one is a little sterner than the others. Maybe I'll save that for Escalades or Range Rovers (the latter seem to love parking in the Whole Foods EV charging spots in Brooklyn).

 

[MichaelP90DL]

Based upon my super small sample size, the answer is no. On a recent road trip, I spent nine nights at different properties. One asked for the make, model, and license plate.

This experience is a good lesson in not making assumptions about destination charging. Always have a plan B. The chargers might be ICEd, they might be Tesla'd, they might be broken, or they might actually be available and working.

On a different topic (forgive me), that road sign ZZYZX RD is used as a snoring sound in a comic strip I read daily. Cracked me up.

 

[HighZ]

I've been staying at a hotel in the Chicago suburbs for most of the last week that has two Tesla chargers in the back with nice green striping and EV only signs.

Since I have been staying there, I have seen no other EVs use the spots. I had been leaving my M3 plugged in overnight, which is not very good etiquette. The first night, it would not have finished charging until 1am, but some of the other nights, it was done before I went to bed, so will make the effort to move my car the next few days.

On two of the nights, the other spot was ICEd, but didn't want to leave a note lest I find a big scratch on my car the next morning. There were plenty of other open spots around. I check out on Thursday and if there is an ICE car parked, I will leave a note. I would have been a lot more upset if both spots were ICEd.

 

[muleferg]

I have stayed at 5 Tesla destination chargers and they were all valet. They charge it and then move it.

 

[Lucky_Man]

We’re on a 2,000 mile road trip, and it has basically been wonderful, with Tesla Superchargers used for virtually every stop. We wanted to do one destination stay at the Mariott in Salt Lake City, which has 2 Tesla chargers. We called ahead, but they couldn’t confirm their availability, so we stopped to check. Luckily, we didn’t get our room first, because a Model X and a Model S were parked, not charging. They clearly hadn’t been charging, because their cars were parked in the wrong direction. They were only using the chargers as convenient parking spaces. We had to find another hotel without a charger, then find the supercharger the next morning. The whole process added over an 1 1/2 hours to our trip.
Please be considerate and not use chargers for parking spaces. You are no different than the the idiots in ices parking in chargers. Thank you.

We're planning a 4600 mile road trip from CO to Fremont, then up the coast to WA and return. We try to charge up before stopping overnight, so we rarely use destination chargers but in those rare situations, we can gauge an approximate time to complete charging, and will reliably move 'Joules' when we've loaded enough 'joules'. If anyone has an urgent need for the charger, we always leave a whiteboard with our cell #s on the dash - just in case. I would NEVER object to a call to help out another EV'er in need. Hell, I can even unlock the cable remotely, if that's an option. Just call me. Who knows, if your I might even buy you a brew ;^)

You know, if only everyone was just a bit more considerate, we'd all be living in happier times...

 

[Dickson L]

We’re on a 2,000 mile road trip, and it has basically been wonderful, with Tesla Superchargers used for virtually every stop. We wanted to do one destination stay at the Mariott in Salt Lake City, which has 2 Tesla chargers. We called ahead, but they couldn’t confirm their availability, so we stopped to check. Luckily, we didn’t get our room first, because a Model X and a Model S were parked, not charging. They clearly hadn’t been charging, because their cars were parked in the wrong direction. They were only using the chargers as convenient parking spaces. We had to find another hotel without a charger, then find the supercharger the next morning. The whole process added over an 1 1/2 hours to our trip.
Please be considerate and not use chargers for parking spaces. You are no different than the the idiots in ices parking in chargers. Thank you.

I stayed at a La Quinta Inn with 1 destination charger. When I needed to charge before our long trip home in the evening, there was a M3 plugged in, so decided to park in adjacent spot to catch the charge in the early morning before we leave. Turns out the M3 was plugged in all night long and was no longer charging in the morning but still plugged in. I decided to see if I could unplug the cord since the charge cord was very long and could reach beyond the front of the M3. Well it did, so I pulled my MX in front of the M3 hooked up and started charging. I then left a note on the M3 explaining what I did and left my phone # to call if he needed to get out. 2 hrs. later he calls and said he's having breakfast and would like to leave shortly which happen to be enough time my charging. When I arrived he apologized for hogging up the spot and didn't realize there could be others that might need charging.

 

[OCR1]

I found these notes from BLINK for just this situation and I'm thinking of printing a few and keeping them in my car if I run into this problem!

These are great! They get progressively angrier depending on how pissed off you are.

 

[RScottyL]

I wonder if you could use the button on the handle and open the charge port and plug them in! May make them wonder why their car is charging and come to check it out.

 

[RScottyL]

IMO Tesla really has to fix this, and they can. Simply require that any destination chargers they supply at promotional rates, or which are listed in the official map, require signing an agreement by the property owner. The agreement would give Tesla the right to subcontract towing without further approval of any car parked in the spot that isn't actively charging, and post a sign to this effect by the charger. Then Tesla would in turn subcontract in all areas with towing companies that could make profits by towing cars they either find themselves or get reports on via the number on the sign.

They should also charge fees for all destination charger use, again for anything displayed on the map. That way people avoid the charger if they don't need to use it.

Sure, some places would refuse to install destination chargers, and that is fine by me. I think not having a destination charger at a location is better than having one that is blocked when I arrive, because in the former case I can plan to go someplace else in the first place. If you show up at your hotel with nowhere to charge, and with 20 miles or range left on your battery, then you're potentially facing huge delays/issues.

Not sure if they are still doing this, but business can get free charging stations if they meet the requirements:

Tesla launches a new 'Workplace Charging' program to supply free charging stations to businesses - Electrek

 

[srs5694]

I have stayed at 5 Tesla destination chargers and they were all valet. They charge it and then move it.

My experience has been different. I've used two or three Tesla destination chargers. Two were definitely in public parking lots (one at a hotel, one at a restaurant). The third one is uncertain; it was listed on PlugShare as a Tesla-only destination charger at a parking garage in New York City, but the hotel I was staying at recommended the garage for EV charging the Chevy Volt I was driving at the time, and the garage did so. It used valet parking, so I never saw the actual EVSE. It might have been a Tesla EVSE and the garage owned an adapter; or there might have been more than one EVSE (Tesla plus J1772); or it might have actually been a J1772 EVSE and was mis-identified on PlugShare.

I've also used several J1772 EVSEs at hotels and restaurants, and none have involved valet parking.

Even aside from EV charging, valet parking is more common in cities, in my experience. For me personally, when I stay at a hotel overnight and I'm driving, it's usually because I'm on a road trip, and I prefer to stay at a hotel away from a city, so that I don't need to deal with traffic. That would be different, of course, if my destination was a hotel in a city, as it was at the garage in NYC.

 

[devilmountain]

We go to Disneyland often. I like how the Hilton at the convention center handles charging, valet only. Once my car was charged the valet moved my car off of the charger.

Two weeks ago I stayed at the Disneyland hotel, which has Chargepoint chargers when we arrived there were two hybrids charging. I plugged in, notated the time it would take my car to charge, then moved my car once my charge was finished. I noticed the plug-in hybrids were there before me and long after me (probably at the park). I thought about leaving a note on my window stating I will be moving my car at a certain time to inform other owners about what time my spot was going to be vacated. Anyhow, I wish more people showed courtesy and etiquette around chargers.

 

[eCharcoal]

Checking the PlugShare app might also be helpful. A lot of EV owners actually check in in with the app and leave notes in the app telling you things like it’s ok to unplug him or leave message if you need his spot.

 

[srs5694]

Checking the PlugShare app might also be helpful. A lot of EV owners actually check in in with the app and leave notes in the app telling you things like it’s ok to unplug him or leave message if you need his spot.

Not enough do that, in my experience. It's rare for me to encounter a public EVSE that's in use and see that there's a matching check-in on PlugShare. That said, PlugShare is now linking to at least some EVSE networks, and so can show the status of networked EVSEs even if there's no actual check-in. I don't think that helps with Tesla destination sites, which AFAIK are non-networked. It might help with ChargePoint and other big operators, though.

 

[HighZ]

I like this notice I found on the forum because it seems more objective to the 'violation' and not personal, but also because I live in Illinois. I am not sure if other states have similar prohibitions, but it would make sense that they should. Even if I am at a private lot in a hotel or other business, I wouldn't feel bad putting this on someone's windscreen to educate them.

I really like the idea of having a hanging sign stating when I would be done with the charger. When I checked with the hotel I was at, I figured they would have rules on using the charger or at least want to know that I was specifically using it. The front desk person had no clue they even had them.

 

[dmd2005]

If it was a Tesla HPWC and the cable was a 24’ cable, could you have parked in front of the 2 Teslas and still be able to have traffic drive past? I would have plugged in and left a note saying I’d be back in a few hours or leave your number for them to contact you so you can explain to them that it’s not alright to use the charging space as a convenient parking space if a charge is not needed.

 

[HighZ]

For those interested in reading the entire Illinois law, here it is:

(625 ILCS 5/11-1308)
Sec. 11-1308. Unauthorized use of parking places reserved for electric vehicles.
(a) For the purposes of this Section:
"Electric vehicle" means a battery-powered electric vehicle operated solely by electricity or a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle that operates on electricity and gasoline and has a battery that can be recharged from an external source.
"Electric vehicle charging station" means any facility or equipment that is used to charge a battery or other energy storage device of an electric vehicle.
(b) It shall be prohibited to park a non-electric vehicle in an electric vehicle charging station designated for use by electric vehicles, including an electric vehicle charging station on any private or public off-street parking facility. A person may park only an electric vehicle in an electric vehicle charging station space designated for use by electric vehicles.
(c) Any person or local authority owning or operating any public or private off-street parking facility may, after notifying the police or sheriff's department, remove or cause to be removed to the nearest garage or other place of safety any non-electric vehicle parked within an electric vehicle charging station space designated for use by electric vehicles.
(d) It shall not be a defense to a charge under this Section that the sign or notice posted at the electric vehicle charging station or the designated parking space does not comply with applicable rules, regulations, or local ordinances, if a reasonable person would be made aware by the sign or notice on or near the parking space that the space is reserved for electric vehicles.
(e) Any person found guilty of violating the provisions of subsection (b) shall be fined $75 in addition to any costs or charges connected with the removal or storage of the non-electric vehicle; but municipalities by ordinance may impose a fine up to $100.
(Source: P.A. 99-172, eff. 1-1-16.)