What is the concept for shopping centers to have free EV charging? In theory it's just for customers, but no one is watching it or enforcing that it's customers only where it requires a validation. I think the only thing they can enforce is the hours the EV charger will work, like some shopping centers may shut them off at night so no one is gonna try get free electricity while the shopping center is closed at 2am.
Maybe someone lives very close to the shopping center and tries to charge for free every single night, but probably won't be practical to do it every single day. But there was an opportunity for me to get free charging nearly the entire trip while I was in AZ. I stayed at my friend's apartment in Glendale which is very close to the State Farm Arena. His apartment though had no EV charging and I really preferred charging overnight instead of waiting an hour each time at a supercharger. There were Voltas nearby, but that shopping center puts up barricades and has security enforcing for no car to be there after closing hours. But there was a free Chargepoint near the Carls Jr with no barricades and there was never a car there at night. So I was lucky and I got free 100% charging every single night we went back to his apartment. Pretty much got to commute everyday for free while in the Phoenix area with no stopping at superchargers because most our commutes were do-able with 100% round trip.
And how I got back to his apartment each night? I had my E-scooter in the trunk so I just use that to commute 1 mile from the apartment to the free chargepoint. So it was super self sufficient, no need to use his gas car or an uber to try get back to his apartment.
I also plan to do this while in Las Vegas, there are alot of free charging options there and I have gotten by getting a free charge the entire trip.
I did go to the Oakley outlet store once though so I guess having that free charging got me to spend some money. Plus I bought food at that Carls Jr. So even though I didn't intend to spend money at the mall, I still did spend money anyways.
I never saw another EV car there charging overnight, so it seems no one is really that interested in taking advantage of free charging at night. But if a gas station has free gas or insanely cheap prices by mistake (which has happened), hoards of people will start showing up until the gas station realizes their mistake. I never seen a shopping center give away free gas or have discounted gas stations to draw in customers. Maybe Costco does though, they give a slight discount on gas and they always got super long lines during prime driving hours.
However, level 2 charging is slow and doesn't really do much if its going to be 0-2 hours. I don't think anyone will force themselves to stay 6+ hours just to charge for free. But if there is free charging near a Dave and Busters, I can be there for 6+ hours because I'm an advantage player so I can actually get a decent charge. The only Dave and Busters I know that have free EV charging are San Diego, Northridge, Long Beach, and Las Vegas. So I get to profit from Dave and Busters and get a free charge. My other AP friend can't do that, he drives a Honda Civic and I'm always the one that ends up driving so he will win me tickets on my card at a profit. Or help me sell some my big prizes (by paying me and sell it later).
Maybe someone lives very close to the shopping center and tries to charge for free every single night, but probably won't be practical to do it every single day. But there was an opportunity for me to get free charging nearly the entire trip while I was in AZ. I stayed at my friend's apartment in Glendale which is very close to the State Farm Arena. His apartment though had no EV charging and I really preferred charging overnight instead of waiting an hour each time at a supercharger. There were Voltas nearby, but that shopping center puts up barricades and has security enforcing for no car to be there after closing hours. But there was a free Chargepoint near the Carls Jr with no barricades and there was never a car there at night. So I was lucky and I got free 100% charging every single night we went back to his apartment. Pretty much got to commute everyday for free while in the Phoenix area with no stopping at superchargers because most our commutes were do-able with 100% round trip.
And how I got back to his apartment each night? I had my E-scooter in the trunk so I just use that to commute 1 mile from the apartment to the free chargepoint. So it was super self sufficient, no need to use his gas car or an uber to try get back to his apartment.
I also plan to do this while in Las Vegas, there are alot of free charging options there and I have gotten by getting a free charge the entire trip.
I did go to the Oakley outlet store once though so I guess having that free charging got me to spend some money. Plus I bought food at that Carls Jr. So even though I didn't intend to spend money at the mall, I still did spend money anyways.
I never saw another EV car there charging overnight, so it seems no one is really that interested in taking advantage of free charging at night. But if a gas station has free gas or insanely cheap prices by mistake (which has happened), hoards of people will start showing up until the gas station realizes their mistake. I never seen a shopping center give away free gas or have discounted gas stations to draw in customers. Maybe Costco does though, they give a slight discount on gas and they always got super long lines during prime driving hours.
However, level 2 charging is slow and doesn't really do much if its going to be 0-2 hours. I don't think anyone will force themselves to stay 6+ hours just to charge for free. But if there is free charging near a Dave and Busters, I can be there for 6+ hours because I'm an advantage player so I can actually get a decent charge. The only Dave and Busters I know that have free EV charging are San Diego, Northridge, Long Beach, and Las Vegas. So I get to profit from Dave and Busters and get a free charge. My other AP friend can't do that, he drives a Honda Civic and I'm always the one that ends up driving so he will win me tickets on my card at a profit. Or help me sell some my big prizes (by paying me and sell it later).
