Worse than ICE'd; complete disrespect

[Johan]

Fumes wouldn't ignite without a spark. A spark wouldn't arise unless the pilot pin signal told the charger to open the contactors AND some kind of arching occurred between the charger head and some part of the car. Very unlikely.

 

[NigelM]

It would have been better to simply call 911 and tell them there is a 19KW electrical power cable inserted into someone's gas tank, and it could blow up at any second.

The whole place would have been cordoned off.

And a press story about how dangerous Teslas and their charge stations are, followed by calls to limit their proximity to occupied buildings and other excuses to restrict their use.

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Do pick-up trucks lack the locked gas cap door?

Yes. My 2014 pick-up does not have a locked gas cap/door.

[The pick-up is for towing the horse trailer, it's gone as soon as I get my Model X with tow package. ]

 

[Grendal]

So in this thread we have an original statement, "The truck was parked in an EV space", a couple of comments made in jest, another snarky comment from a moderator, several self-righteous posts from the usual suspects, and potential defenses for the truck owner.

Buried in that mess were three constructive suggestions: 1) notify management (done), 2) call 911 (not done) and 3) call the fire department (not done). Does anyone have experience with magic words or phrases that might be more/most effective in compelling management to act to get the offending vehicle out of the EV space? Please share if you do - it would be really useful to learn what has worked for people (or what might work for people) at the end of a long day of driving when one's mental acuity might not be optimal. My default response when I don't sense that management is compelled to act is to start googling for local towing companies. The towing company either will come right away or will want the property's management to call them. Either way, just the Googling tends to get the manager more motivated to locate the vehicle's owner so it can be moved without any more hassle for anyone.

If you want to emphasize the point to the management, you can say that there might be a fire risk with an electrical cord put into a gas tank. We might know that it is probably safe but the management of the hotel might not and react a little more strongly than "oh well." Then AmpedR's point about threatening never to frequent the establishment would bring the point home as well.

We are still in the early adopter phase of EVs. We might know a lot about them but the general public still does not and it is important to be the ambassadors. You can correct bad behavior by escalating the bad behavior but then it would lead to a general dislike of people who own EVs.

 

[TomServo]

Hey you folks need to see this

http://pluginsites.org/illinois-anti-iceing-law-signed-75-fine-towing/

And from a republican governor no less. So what are the other so-called EV friendly states doing?

 

[efusco]

Moderatore Note: 24 posts suggesting, joking about, or responding to same have been moved to snippiness. Let's have no more of those here or anywhere else please.

 

[MartinAustin]

And a press story about how dangerous Teslas and their charge stations are, followed by calls to limit their proximity to occupied buildings and other excuses to restrict their use.

Hi Nigel. Do you honestly believe something could be believably pinned on Tesla here? What about all the cellphones in use at gasoline stations that cause explosions? (not many, but it has happened) There is no public crisis going on with gasoline stations being closed, or constant police monitoring of drives to make sure they don't use their cellphones.

The public knows when something totally stupid is going on. No Tesla cars are involved here... it's about some idiot putting an electrical power cable into his gas tank inlet.

 

[Tourman]

Hi Nigel. Do you honestly believe something could be believably pinned on Tesla here? What about all the cellphones in use at gasoline stations that cause explosions? (not many, but it has happened) There is no public crisis going on with gasoline stations being closed, or constant police monitoring of drives to make sure they don't use their cellphones.

The public knows when something totally stupid is going on. No Tesla cars are involved here... it's about some idiot putting an electrical power cable into his gas tank inlet.

The news will blow it totally out of proportion, like the battery incidents. Tesla car catches on fire, it's all over the news. ICE car catches on fire and kills three people, not news worthy.

 

[NigelM]

Hi Nigel. Do you honestly believe something could be believably pinned on Tesla here? What about all the cellphones in use at gasoline stations that cause explosions? (not many, but it has happened) There is no public crisis going on with gasoline stations being closed, or constant police monitoring of drives to make sure they don't use their cellphones.

The public knows when something totally stupid is going on. No Tesla cars are involved here... it's about some idiot putting an electrical power cable into his gas tank inlet.

I was responding to your suggestion to call 911 and tell them "it could blow up at any second"; step back and consider the consequences for a moment....Police and Fire Emergency crews turn out, the area is cordoned off (as you suggest) and bomb disposal experts are called, so:

a) At what point do you confess it was a hoax call and accept the legal trouble you now have put yourself in? Making jokes or fake calls about potential explosions is not taken lightly by authorities. Media picks it up and reports that a Tesla owner called in a hoax 911 call because a pick-up truck blocked his parking space.

Or

b) Bomb and fire experts either figure out it's a hoax and/or defuse the situation. By this time yes, it's getting news coverage because the area is cordoned off and police have evacuated the motel and surrounding buildings. TV and photographers are there to record the whole thing, and report it was a Tesla HWPC with resultant story about car fires and exploding batteries.

Sorry, there's no scenario where you calling 911 ends well for anyone.

 

[idoco]

Is it possible this was an ev conversion? Granted I haven't seen one with an HPWC plug. But I do know from my own conversion that it can look like someone stuffed a plug into the gas tank.

 

[Krugerrand]

Sorry, there's no scenario where you calling 911 ends well for anyone.

I really don't understand why that had to be explained, but thanks for taking the time.

 

[AB4EJ]

Hi Nigel. Do you honestly believe something could be believably pinned on Tesla here? What about all the cellphones in use at gasoline stations that cause explosions? (not many, but it has happened) There is no public crisis going on with gasoline stations being closed, or constant police monitoring of drives to make sure they don't use their cellphones.

Just a correction here - cellphone use cannot cause an explosion - the RF coming out of a cellphone is not enough to impart enough energy to cause any spark. (Mythbusters proved this, and as an electrical engineer who's worked with lots of radio equipment, I can verify). Reports of cellphones being involved came out before the actual cause of gas station fires was identified. What actually causes them in most cases is that the driver gets back in the car while the gasoline is pumping. Sliding across the seat gives them a charge of static electricity; when they then touch or remove the pump nozzle, a static spark at the mouth of the tank causes the fire (lots of gasoline fumes there) or explosion.

That said, I vote for people to be mature about the ICE vehicle in the EV slot. Carry a pad of sticky notes and leave a polite request such as "please reserve these slots for electrical vehicle charging, thanks very much" or "please call me at xxx-xxx-xxxx when you are ready to leave so that I can charge," or something like that. If you escalate by pranking, calling 911, etc., it will build a bad public perception of EV drivers - whereas what we want is exactly the opposite.

 

[Merrill]

Hey you folks need to see this

http://pluginsites.org/illinois-anti-iceing-law-signed-75-fine-towing/

And from a republican governor no less. So what are the other so-called EV friendly states doing?

This should be law in all states, once there is the possibility of towing and a fine less people will park their ICE in an EV spot. There will still be some lame people continue to do this but a lot less.

 

[brucet999]

Call the fire department and then everyone would realize how "funny" that gag is. That is too stupid for words. Seriously, 911. Electrocucian explosion threat.

If you ever see such a situation, please don't call 911 or the fire department. There is no hazard from a HPWC or J1772 plug and your call could delay 911 response to a genuine emergency.

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It would have been better to simply call 911 and tell them there is a 19KW electrical power cable inserted into someone's gas tank, and it could blow up at any second.

The whole place would have been cordoned off.

The driver would return and have to explain (at the very least) why their truck was in an EV charging space.

Please promise that you will not call 911 if you should see such a situation. Your call could delay 911 response to some genuine emergency.

 

[TEG]

If the truck driver left the gas cap off to shove the charge plug in there, the joke could be on them. They might have some gasoline evaporate and potentially trigger an emissions system warning in their truck...

AGCO Automotive Repair Service - Baton Rouge, LA - Detailed Auto Topics - Gas Caps and Check Engine Lights, The Evap System
Could Your Gas Cap Be Costing You Money? - HowStuffWorks

Along with being rude to EVs wanting to charge there, it is not nice to the environment to be needlessly evaporating gasoline like that.

Also, what happens to the Tesla plug in the presence of gasoline fumes? Gas pump handles use materials designed to withstand that, but the components in the Tesla plug might corrode and/or degrade from the fumes over time.

 

[yobigd20]

It would have been better to simply call 911 and tell them there is a 19KW electrical power cable inserted into someone's gas tank, and it could blow up at any second.

The whole place would have been cordoned off.

The driver would return and have to explain (at the very least) why their truck was in an EV charging space.

Heh now This idea I like.

 

[Soolim]

Anti-Iceing law in Illinois on this forum thread

 

[RichardL]

What about the following user?
ICE. Drives away leaving a gasoline soaked connector. Someone comes along and plugs into their Model S, starting a charge session. Isn't that a fire risk?

 

[Soolim]

What about the following user?
ICE. Drives away leaving a gasoline soaked connector. Someone comes along and plugs into their Model S, starting a charge session. Isn't that a fire risk?

That risk is very serious indeed! Hence EV owner needs to be careful of such risk and charging facility provider needs to strictly enforce the no ICEing restriction.

 

[brucet999]

Also, what happens to the Tesla plug in the presence of gasoline fumes? Gas pump handles use materials designed to withstand that, but the components in the Tesla plug might corrode and/or degrade from the fumes over time.

Not a chance. Hydrocarbons are not corrosive to any metals. Nor are molded plastics soluble in a bucket of gasoline (not even in its strongest components, benzene, ethylbenzene, toluene or xylene), much less in the dilute fumes from a gas tank filler pipe.

 

[alexeiw123]

The chances that someone had pit it in their own vehicle is basically nill (IMO). I'd guess that someone has noticed the truck parked in an EV space, and instead of leaving a note, has demonstrated what the space is supposed to be used for. Without thinking what would happen if the truck driver got in and drove away without noticing.