New guy, first EV

[LeftieBiker]

I was a little disappointed with my first attempt at charging. Plugged it in for 30 minutes hoping it would've at least given it some charge. I left it at 53% but then came back and it was still at 53%.

That isn't normal. The usual issue here is that a charge timer has been set (maybe at the dealership) and the car was plugged in outside of the range of hours the timer specifies. Did the blue lights on top of the dash do anything interesting when you plugged in...?

 

[OldManCan]

I'm suggesting you do not jump directly to confrontation mode.

Good advice! Other day I was looking for a spot to charge at WholeFoods and was peeved to see a Jeep Wrangler parked at the EV charging spot. Parked further down in the lot and walked back to the store to do my shopping and was thinking of talking to the Jeep owner if I saw them . As I was walking by, to my surprise, I saw that the Jeep was actually plugged in!... It was one of those hybrid vehicles. Didn't even know Jeep made those. I'm so glad I didn't honk at him or something earlier...

 

[BeyondBeLeaf]

As I was sitting at the charging station, a guy in a Tesla pulled up and I started wondering about charging etiquette. Has anyone ever has someone unplug their car so they could charge their own? And given how some derps are into "ICE-ing", anyone had their cars vandalized while sitting at a charging station? I may go ahead and install my dashcam just as a deterent but I hate that it essentially means that I'll have less range. Maybe I got into EVs too soon....

Oh, that is another can of worms and the responses will vary a lot here.
The etiquette I follow is:
Shared, public (free) charging. Park next to the person charging, leave your charge door open. When they leave or finish, they can plug you in. Follow the same if you are charging and someone parks next to you and leaves their charge door open. Plug them in when you leave.

Paid charging, check the EVSE to make sure it is actually "finished", then you should be able to unplug the other EV and get a charging session started for your EV. I usually *gently* close up the charge port, doors for the other EV as a courtesy as I've had others do it for me too.

Quick Charging, same as the L2, check if the session is finished before paying for your session if the cable can reach your EV.

Overall, newbies will do a double take when they come out and see the charge cable missing and the door closed, but when they get in the EV and see they have 100% (or whatever they set it at if driving a Tesla or Bolt for example), you see a smile and they probably "get it" at that point.

It varies from person to person, but most will figure it out.

I like this etiquette and don't know if it will continue as more and more people go electric. Part of me would hate to touch another person's car, but it might be appreciated by someone that is trying to make sure that someone else doesn't jump in front of them. Would be nice if we could create some sort of system that would let the current charged car owner know that another person would like to have their car charge next and has let you know by putting something on the handle or chatleger.

 

[BeyondBeLeaf]

I was a little disappointed with my first attempt at charging. Plugged it in for 30 minutes hoping it would've at least given it some charge. I left it at 53% but then came back and it was still at 53%.

That isn't normal. The usual issue here is that a charge timer has been set (maybe at the dealership) and the car was plugged in outside of the range of hours the timer specifies. Did the blue lights on top of the dash do anything interesting when you plugged in...?

Thanks for the information. I think that may be the case as I would see a charge timer reminder in the vehicle when I'd exit. I guess I'll have to find a way to remove that. Love that I'm already getting all sorts of info from you guys. I feel like such a newb. Lol

 

[knightmb]

I like this etiquette and don't know if it will continue as more and more people go electric. Part of me would hate to touch another person's car, but it might be appreciated by someone that is trying to make sure that someone else doesn't jump in front of them. Would be nice if we could create some sort of system that would let the current charged car owner know that another person would like to have their car charge next and has let you know by putting something on the handle or chatleger.

Years and year back (wow I feel old about this now), without any kind of app or signs, the "charge door open" was kind of a personal sign of "plug me in when available" to other EV owners when you have the free public L2 charging. I've done it for other Leaf, Bolts, and Tesla if I recognize that the charging door was actually open with access to the charge port. If it was closed, I wouldn't worry about it as the owner might not know or just as you said, doesn't want anyone touching their EV.

The bad part is, if someone starts a charging session and plugs in, walks off, but say some unknown error cancels out the session and you need to charge, well what to do? I'm not going to wait for them to come back hours later and go "oh dang, my EV didn't charge", I go ahead and start up a session. If I run into them, I let them know some error came up and stopped their charge session and I didn't know how to reach them. 100% of the situations I've encountered this in, they understand. I even offer to stop my session so they can plug back in if necessary. Sometimes, they might get a text message on their phone that the charging session failed, but not notice it for a long time. It might take them over 30 minutes to get back to their EV even if they saw the message right away and headed immediately back to their EV. You never what the situation is for them, so I come prepared with friendly responses and etiquette.

 

[GerryAZ]

I figure if I charge as infrequently as possible, I can hopefully prolong the life of the battery.

Sort of the reverse of that.

Li ion batteries, like the main traction battery in the LEAF, last longest if kept near the center of charge range. Frequent small charges are better than infrequent large charges.

Since you live in an apartment, you may need to take charging when you can get it. Don't worry too much about max/min charge levels--just don't let the car sit for extended time at full charge or when deeply discharged. Also, try not to initiate a charge session when the battery is above 80% SOC.

I charge to full charge almost every charge cycle and typically discharge fairly deeply (there is a low battery warning that is displayed on the dash at 6% SOC which I routinely see) before charging. I believe the deterioration rate of the battery in my 2019 SL Plus is no worse than other cars in my climate whose owners have tried to manage charge levels carefully, but your results may vary. You can see some statistics in the 62 kWh battery thread (under Batteries and Charging).

 

[BeyondBeLeaf]

Oh and just to update, the car is finally charging. It's near 90% after about 3.5 hours. Also, can't say enough about the Nissan E-connect app as it lets me see how much charge the car is at, which makes it easy to monitor the progress of the charge.

 

[BeyondBeLeaf]

That last 2% took forever. It spent nearly an hour to complete, and I almost went to"pull the plug" to move her early. It took almost the full 4 hours to go from 53% to 100%. I don't think it'll be too big an issue as I've already spoken to the apartment management, and they feel that parking in those areas is a towable offense. I'm actually looking forward to ratting out my neighbors as the spot is clearly marked with "towing enforced". Now it's time for it to be enforced.

 

[SageBrush]

Enjoy the honeymoon.
The squabbles really start when there are more EV owning residents than charging spots. Then you find out if Texans can learn to share.

----
I broke public etiquette not too long ago although I had no intention to do so. My wife and I stayed at a hotel that had a Supercharger in its parking lot. Tesla has a rule that if 50% or more of charging spots are occupied, car owners have to vacate soon after the desired charge is reached. I've always thought the rule made good sense. I needed about 30 minutes of charging to reach the 80% SoC target to get home. I was the only car among 8 charging spots and I was thinking of other things so sharing did not cross my mind, and I quickly forgot about the car until I woke up the next morning to a message from Tesla that I had broken etiquette and was liable for a hefty fine. Tesla let me off the hook for the fine since it was my first offense.

I tell the story to say that sharing takes practice and some effort, even among the well intentioned. As you have found out, the last 5% SoC takes a long time so skip it when possible. The LEAF's charging assist tools are primitive so you have to do the arithmetic yourself to know when to return to your car.

 

[SageBrush]

Here's to hoping I can find everything I need from what I hope is a great community!

Of course.

Let me gently remind you that great communities happen because participants also contribute. That now includes you.

 

[BeyondBeLeaf]

Enjoy the honeymoon.
The squabbles really start when there are more EV owning residents than charging spots. Then you find out if Texans can learn to share.

----
I broke public etiquette not too long ago although I had no intention to do so. My wife and I stayed at a hotel that had a Supercharger in its parking lot. Tesla has a rule that if 50% or more of charging spots are occupied, car owners have to vacate soon after the desired charge is reached. I've always thought the rule made good sense. I needed about 30 minutes of charging to reach the 80% SoC target to get home. I was the only car among 8 charging spots and I was thinking of other things so sharing did not cross my mind, and I quickly forgot about the car until I woke up the next morning to a message from Tesla that I had broken etiquette and was liable for a hefty fine. Tesla let me off the hook for the fine since it was my first offense.

I tell the story to say that sharing takes practice and some effort, even among the well intentioned. As you have found out, the last 5% SoC takes a long time so skip it when possible. The LEAF's charging assist tools are primitive so you have to do the arithmetic yourself to know when to return to your car.

I think I've counted maybe 2-3 other EVs inside my complex (although I only recognize Teslas as EVs since I can't distinguish EVs from non-EVs -- Even the Leaf doesn't look EV IMO). For me it's still the derps in IC vehicles that can't read the "Towing enforced" sign sitting in front of the charging station. I saw a solution online that was being done in some areas where an obstruction was placed in the spot that could only be lowered by a charging app. I still find it completely pathetic that there are groups of people that block charging stations because they're just knuckle-draggers.

I don't intend on taking the Leaf out for anything more than just chores around town. If I want to take a road trip, I have my other vehicle. Maybe once the infrastructure is put in place, I'll put just a little more trust in EV. As for now, the Leaf is a great compromise for anyone that wants a daily driver but doesn't want to put all their eggs in the EV basket. While I'm not 100% invested in EV tech, I respect those that have gone all in.