Would you let stranger charge at your driveway for fee?

[Bilazor4ik]

I'm curious about people's opinions, imagine your neighbor has friends visiting, and they have EV, they come knock on your door and offer you $10-$20 to park their car and charge for few hours. Would you let them ?
Or maybe someone not gonna make it to supercharger and they see you have charger mounted on side of your house?

 

[jjrandorin]

Neighbor, yes (I have done that already actually). Neighbors family in a pinch, yes, Neighbors friends in a pinch, yes, on a regular basis, no. Stranger, depends on circumstance but in general, no.

Edit: None of those were for a fee. I either am willing to let someone charge for free, or not at all. Im not charging anyone to charge at my driveway. When someone pays for something, its now a transaction, and I am not conducting charging transactions at my house, ever.

Like I said, for me, either you are someone I am willing to give some electricity to for some reason or other, or not, there is no "ill pay you for it" for me.

 

[arnolddeleon]

In the early days EV owners would do this for each other. This was one of raison d'etre for Plugshare when it was launched, to facilitate free or paid charging amongst individuals.

I've provided free charging for friends and strangers. Of course these days being with larger batteries in cars and lots more charging stations in Silicon Valley there isn't much demand here.

 

[Arthur31]

Yep. I have my home listed on PlugShare for anyone that needs it. There are SuperChargers about 10 miles from my house but someone might need a charger in a pinch so why not.

 

[COS Blue]

Yep. I have my home listed on PlugShare for anyone that needs it. There are SuperChargers about 10 miles from my house but someone might need a charger in a pinch so why not.

Has anyone ever taken you up on it?

 

[Arthur31]

Has anyone ever taken you up on it?

Yep a guy with a F-150 Lightning who was low on juice because the EA chargers near me wouldn't work. He had an adapter that he said was supplied with the truck.

 

[Ocelot]

Yep. Why not? No biggie.

 

[samfaulks]

In the UK some charger installers give the option to make your charger 'open' to other people for a fee. I know that Kerbocharge does it, and I think a few others do as well. Cash in hand I wouldnt do but this kind of system without face to face I'd be fine with

 

[BitJam]

The nearest supercharger is an hour away. In the opposite direction, the nearest one is almost 5 hours away. So, sure, I'd let a stranger charge at my house. Luckily, there are two free level-2 chargers "downtown".

I've seen only one other Tesla with in-state plates in my small town (but the biggest town for many miles in all directions) so I don't expect new superchargers to be installed nearby anytime soon.

 

[CaptUAL]

Sure they can charge, it’s only $0,57 kWh here during peak. I’ll put a 50 gallon drum of gas with a pump out there too, with a key for the bathroom and a list of available snacks, beer and the WiFi password. Better heat the pool and put out some towels.

 

[wwu123]

Sure they can charge, it’s only $0,57 kWh here during peak. I’ll put a 50 gallon drum of gas with a pump out there too, with a key for the bathroom and a list of available snacks, beer and the WiFi password. Better heat the pool and put out some towels.

I'm on a TOU rate, but peak is not quite that high. But even if it were $0.57/kwh, my Wall charger max rate is 32A, so at peak 7.5 kw, they'd draw down at most $8.50 in two hours.

@jjrandorin expressed my sentiments perfectly. Either I'd let someone charge for free for a few hours, if they had some bind that would otherwise leave them stranded or horribly inconvenienced, or I wouldn't let them charge at all if there weren't an urgent need. If they can't get to where they need to be with 15 kw in two hours (should be about 40-60 miles range),or to limp to a better/faster charger with that, then they have bigger problems than I could really help them with.

If they insisted on paying, or getting my info to pay me later, I'd just tell them to pay it forward later to someone who was in a bind. It's really no different than if I were in line behind someone at a cashier at a fast food place, or grocery, and they realized they didn't have their wallet, or the right form of payment. Often it's not that they can't afford it, they are just in a bind. In fact, it happened a few months ago at youth sports competition, it was cash only for spectator wristbands, and one parent I didn't know only had credit cards - would've taken him at least an hour, maybe two, to go somewhere to get $10 cash, including huge car queue to get back into the parking lot, just to watch his kid play.

But I do live in a fairly quiet, calm suburb, and though just a minute from a freeway off-ramp, there are very few strangers who enter the neighborhood randomly, otherwise they're likely either lost or desperate. If I lived in a busier, urban area, that had a lot of random traffic or random crime, I'd probably be less trusting of a random stranger's request - not because of $8.50, but out of concern of being turned into a victim of some larger crime...

 

[Earl]

Yes, I have. The 70 kW J-1772 in front of my house is listed on plugshare with some verbiage about how we want it to be used. It has been used several times by total strangers.
I reminded one that, after her 3rd time 'needing to charge faster than Level 1' that maybe it was time for her to invest in her own Level 2. She has never returned.

 

[Calliope]

Yup, probably without a fee either, unless people abuse it.

 

[Earl]

Yup, probably without a fee either, unless people abuse it.

Yes. We wouldn't think twice about giving a few $ of cheap solar electricity to help a fellow EV driver in need. Of course, we live fairly high up the side of a mountain so that may limit the abuser-candidate pool.

 

[linuxbox]

Yes. We wouldn't think twice about giving a few $ of cheap solar electricity to help a fellow EV driver in need. Of course, we live fairly high up the side of a mountain so that may limit the abuser-candidate pool.

Yep. I have my home listed on PlugShare for anyone that needs it. There are SuperChargers about 10 miles from my house but someone might need a charger in a pinch so why not.

My neighbor allowed me to charge at his J1772 with the adapter that came with my car. Would love to pay it forward. What experiences have people had with PlugShare?

 

[father_of_6]

I wouldn't mind (or take money for) providing some juice to someone in a pinch... the issue for me is that the only way anyone would know it was available is to list on something like PlugShare... and *that* I wouldn't do.

There are just too many freeloaders out there. People who will charge at your house simply because they want to save $10... and they'll be back once or twice a week.

I don't see too many Teslas where I'm at, so this is hypothetical. By all means, neighbors and even strangers in real need would be free to use my HPWC.

 

[Genie]

I put in an outdoor RV box with a 14-50R for guests and would let a neighbor or someone in a jam charge free, but I’m not putting it on Plugshare.

 

[Earl]

I put in an outdoor RV box with a 14-50R for guests and would let a neighbor or someone in a jam charge free, but I’m not putting it on Plugshare.

That makes sense. With as many DC Fast chargers as there are out there, the need for Plugshare for sharing home chargers is less critical than it was when it was started a decade ago.

 

[Bouba]

Yep a guy with a F-150 Lightning who was low on juice because the EA chargers near me wouldn't work. He had an adapter that he said was supplied with the truck.

Yep. Why not? No biggie.

It is if it’s a F-150...it wouldn’t fit under my car port