Tesla's Destination Chargers growing rapidly - an under reported story

[Canuck]

Great thread @ecarfan. I agree that destination chargers are rapidly expanding, especially at hotels. But I was surprised to find 2 HPWC's @ 80amps, and 2 Sun County @ 70amps at the gardening store close to my house:

Art Knapp Plantland | Surrey, BC | Electric Car Charging Station | PlugShare

These things are springing up everywhere! What I don't understand is how you can't even buy a car that charges at 80 amps anymore. That's a shame to me.

 

[AB4EJ]

Why not just move the car after the charging is complete?

Sure, well, Hilton wanted it left there because the rest of the lot was full... it would be no problem to move it. Next EV slot was ICE'd.

 

[AB4EJ]

Sure, well, Hilton wanted it left there because the rest of the lot was full... it would be no problem to move it. Next EV slot was ICE'd.

OK, judging by the number of dislikes on the original post, then next time Hilton tells me to "just leave the car in the EV slot," I will refuse!!

 

[thecloud]

OK, judging by the number of dislikes on the original post, then next time Hilton tells me to "just leave the car in the EV slot," I will refuse!!

I appreciated your reply and hearing about your experience. I can certainly see this from the hotel's perspective: they want the spot to always be filled with a Tesla, since it looks good and justifies their installation of the charger. And your instinct to show off your car and promote Tesla was a good one. I realize that people normally aren't trying to be inconsiderate when they stay parked in a charging spot, they're just unaware when others might need it, plus it may be inconvenient or impossible to move if there's no other parking available. And instead of just grumbling, other owners need to not be shy about letting hotel management know they would like to use the charger too.

I wouldn't say you should refuse to park in the spot after you're done charging, especially in a low-volume situation like a 15-room motel, or if no other EV owners are currently checked in. But I would think that there should be a way to contact you in case some other guest rolls up late and needs to charge, so you could move your car then.

I don't think hotel management, in general, has figured out fair use policies for charging. One way to start that conversation would be to make sure the front desk has your mobile number, and will call you to move as soon as the charge finishes and another EV owner needs to use the spot. Other owners need to ask about the spot's availability, instead of just seeing a car there and assuming it's in use. It would be even better if the front desk was proactive about asking, "will you be charging an electric vehicle with us today?"

 

[AB4EJ]

I appreciated your reply and hearing about your experience. I can certainly see this from the hotel's perspective: they want the spot to always be filled with a Tesla, since it looks good and justifies their installation of the charger. And your instinct to show off your car and promote Tesla was a good one. I realize that people normally aren't trying to be inconsiderate when they stay parked in a charging spot, they're just unaware when others might need it, plus it may be inconvenient or impossible to move if there's no other parking available. And instead of just grumbling, other owners need to not be shy about letting hotel management know they would like to use the charger too.

I wouldn't say you should refuse to park in the spot after you're done charging, especially in a low-volume situation like a 15-room motel, or if no other EV owners are currently checked in. But I would think that there should be a way to contact you in case some other guest rolls up late and needs to charge, so you could move your car then.

I don't think hotel management, in general, has figured out fair use policies for charging. One way to start that conversation would be to make sure the front desk has your mobile number, and will call you to move as soon as the charge finishes and another EV owner needs to use the spot. Other owners need to ask about the spot's availability, instead of just seeing a car there and assuming it's in use. It would be even better if the front desk was proactive about asking, "will you be charging an electric vehicle with us today?"

I thought about all that. In this case, it is a large Hilton at the beach, and when parked there, you must display a parking pass with a serial number specific to your check-in credentials; so they do know your cell # to call you in case the slot is needed; in fact, I kind of thought this could happen and kept my cellphone & key fob with me all the time so that I could react. However, no other Tesla drivers ever asked to use the slot. I did give a dirty look to the ICE SUV parked next to me (J1772 charging slot) - I guess because all parking slots in the entire lot were taken...or maybe they weren't and this was just laziness & ignorance. I've thought about making up a little card reading as follows:

"IMAGINE... if you were almost out of gas.... and you came to the only gas station for miles.... and all the gas pumps were blocked by electric cars, and nobody was around.... how would you feel?" - and just slip this under wiper of ICE cars parked in charging slots...

 

[GoTslaGo]

Dumb question about destination charging.

I noticed on the Tesla website there are different charger types listed. 16kW, 13kW, 8kW, 6kW, etc... When we bought our Tesla everything was listed as amps (80A, 40A, etc...). I assume 16kW is approx 80A. Is this correct?

Also does this also reflect the different chargepoint vs. HPWC access that was mentioned up-thread? And if it does, which ones are which?

Thanks!

(I'm clearly not an electrician)

 

[bxr140]

On top of what's been said already, it's a frustrating inconvenience to the next person who wants to charge if they have to go through the hoops to contact you and then wait for you to move your car.

Remember: They're on vacation too.

 

[TexasEV]

Dumb question about destination charging.

I noticed on the Tesla website there are different charger types listed. 16kW, 13kW, 8kW, 6kW, etc... When we bought our Tesla everything was listed as amps (80A, 40A, etc...). I assume 16kW is approx 80A. Is this correct?)

Watts= Volts X Amps
So on a commercial 208V circuit, 80A X 208V = 16,640 watts or approx. 16kW.
If the same HPWC was on a 80A circuit at 240V residential power, it would produce 80 X 240V= 19,200 watts or approx 19kW.

 

[Chuq]

I wouldn't say you should refuse to park in the spot after you're done charging, especially in a low-volume situation like a 15-room motel, or if no other EV owners are currently checked in. But I would think that there should be a way to contact you in case some other guest rolls up late and needs to charge, so you could move your car then.

An ideal solution would be to place the HPWC within reach of two parking spaces, and Tesla unlocks the cable when the car reaches the designated charging target. That way, the next person can just grab the cable and plug in without having to disturb the first person.