Charge Bay Alert!

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LTLFTcomposite said:
If I'm the driver of the car that is already charging why would I care?
lets say you're in a Chevy Volt or Tesla Model S and don't need a full charge... but the diver contacting you is in a Leaf and needs the charge... community spirit ;)
 
LTLFTcomposite said:
KevinSharpe said:
"Charge Bay Alert! lets you contact the driver of an Electric Car that is already charging at a charge station to let him/her know that there is another Electric Car driver waiting to charge"

http://www.chargebayalert.co.uk/

If I'm the driver of the car that is already charging why would I care?

Interesting...

How will you feel when your EV is almost dead and you turn up to a charge station desperate to charge to get home and in the charge bay is another EV... plugged in but not charging because it is already fully charged. You cannot unplug that car and plug in yourself because the charge station locks in the EVSE and will not release the flap without the original card.

You will be wishing there was a way to contact that car's driver to tell him you need to charge and to ask that as his car is now fully charged would he please return to unplug to allow you to plug in.

Charge Bay Alert! provides a way. It is a simple case of helping others so that they might help you. If everyone was registered and everyone responded to the Alerts then it would make your charging and everyone else's charging easier and less hassle.

Obviously you don't have to participate but it is free to register and free to use so why not? Yes, it does require a bit of community spirit but most EV drivers will see the benefit and will participate as it benefits everyone in the long term.

We will be launching in the USA early in 2012.

Paul Churchley
Charge Bay Alert!
 
I like the concept, and think it's a worthwhile effort. I am however doubtful that sufficient "market penetration" could ever be achieved to make it practical.

Also, if you actually did find a Charge Bay Alert registered car at the charge station, it would be best if some two way dialog could occur. If I received a notification from the system it would be good to respond with a "sorry, need a full charge" or "no problem, I'll be there in XX minutes" or "I'm done, go ahead and unplug me" or whatever made sense.

Bill
 
Charge Bay Alert will be a necessity -- sooner than later. Particularly for L2 but hopefully not so much for L3 - no one needs to hog that one for too long.
 
Electric4Me said:
I like the concept, and think it's a worthwhile effort. I am however doubtful that sufficient "market penetration" could ever be achieved to make it practical.

Also, if you actually did find a Charge Bay Alert registered car at the charge station, it would be best if some two way dialog could occur. If I received a notification from the system it would be good to respond with a "sorry, need a full charge" or "no problem, I'll be there in XX minutes" or "I'm done, go ahead and unplug me" or whatever made sense.

Bill

Yes, this is a good point :)

This is still very much the first stage of development of the service and it is really still in "testing mode" here in the UK so it is very early days.

I agree, two way communication will be necessary. I am talking to various comms services companies to provide annonymous voice or SMS communication between the two parties. This is technically possible but we need to understand how it would work and what the costs might be. I am hoping that the service will be free to register and to use and funded by voluntary donations by those that find it useful but if the costs of voice communication is too high then we may need to think again. It might be that 2 way SMS might work and might be the most cost effective solution.

I do agree that it needs market penetration for it to be useful to everyone but as there is no cost or disadvantage to register or to use it might get offered by the manufacturers or dealers when a new EV is purchased. Having said that... if you register and only use it once then it was worthwhile wasn't it?

I can see this not only being useful with L2 but also L3... perhaps even more so because there is much more likelihood that the car in the bay is already fully charged when you arrive and an alert to the owner might mean they could return sooner than they otherwise might have.

As I say... early days and keep your thoughts coming please... there is no point in us deveoping a service no one wants so if we can get to hear what you, the EV driver, actually doees want perhaps we can deliver it :)

Paul
Charge Bay Alert!
 
SnaxMuppet said:
I agree, two way communication will be necessary. I am talking to various comms services companies to provide annonymous voice or SMS communication between the two parties. This is technically possible but we need to understand how it would work and what the costs might be. I am hoping that the service will be free to register and to use and funded by voluntary donations by those that find it useful but if the costs of voice communication is too high then we may need to think again. It might be that 2 way SMS might work and might be the most cost effective solution.
I'm not sure that 100% anonymous is required. I could see it working like responding to a Craig's List ad: The arriving driver sends the message to the "occupying" driver the anonymous way you describe, but that message includes the arriving driver's cell phone number. The occupying driver then calls, texts, or ignores at their discretion.
 
Electric4Me said:
SnaxMuppet said:
I agree, two way communication will be necessary. I am talking to various comms services companies to provide annonymous voice or SMS communication between the two parties. This is technically possible but we need to understand how it would work and what the costs might be. I am hoping that the service will be free to register and to use and funded by voluntary donations by those that find it useful but if the costs of voice communication is too high then we may need to think again. It might be that 2 way SMS might work and might be the most cost effective solution.
I'm not sure that 100% anonymous is required. I could see it working like responding to a Craig's List ad: The arriving driver sends the message to the "occupying" driver the anonymous way you describe, but that message includes the arriving driver's cell phone number. The occupying driver then calls, texts, or ignores at their discretion.

That is how I saw it at first but I have had some requests not to give out their cell number to anyone so to satisfy everyone I was thinking it would be anonymous.

However, I ccould always have a option on registration that gives authority for us to hand out the cell number. I would imagine that most people wouldn't mind their cell being sent to the occupying driver if it means they call you to discuss the situation. But with an option on registration you could choose.

Thanks.
 
SnaxMuppet said:
Electric4Me said:
SnaxMuppet said:
I agree, two way communication will be necessary. I am talking to various comms services companies to provide annonymous voice or SMS communication between the two parties. This is technically possible but we need to understand how it would work and what the costs might be. I am hoping that the service will be free to register and to use and funded by voluntary donations by those that find it useful but if the costs of voice communication is too high then we may need to think again. It might be that 2 way SMS might work and might be the most cost effective solution.
I'm not sure that 100% anonymous is required. I could see it working like responding to a Craig's List ad: The arriving driver sends the message to the "occupying" driver the anonymous way you describe, but that message includes the arriving driver's cell phone number. The occupying driver then calls, texts, or ignores at their discretion.

That is how I saw it at first but I have had some requests not to give out their cell number to anyone so to satisfy everyone I was thinking it would be anonymous.

However, I ccould always have a option on registration that gives authority for us to hand out the cell number. I would imagine that most people wouldn't mind their cell being sent to the occupying driver if it means they call you to discuss the situation. But with an option on registration you could choose.

Thanks.
OK, then the folks who don't want their cell phone number given to the occupying driver simply wouldn't get 2-way communication. No need to take on the additional complication that you first described.
 
hey this is an idea worth investigating. some people would not care if someone needed a charge but other times, but for others, it might not be such a big deal. this just provides another way of making the compromise of driving electric a bit easier to manage.

now the person there first may have to get a full charge to continue with their schedule or maybe not, but it never hurts to ask and if there was a way to contact EV owners using charging stations REGIONALLY, it might allow an EV driver low on charge to find a station that could be available without having to drive around
 
coqui said:
Great idea..I'm interested, let me know when you get this up and running in the USA (or post a notice here).

Thank you :)

I am hoping that we can sort out hosting and SMS gateway to be states side so that there are no international SMS fees. It is looking good. Just a few technical issues to resolve and we can get the system up in testing mode in the USA.

If anyone would be willing to help out by testing the system for us then it woud be very much appreciated. Of course it will cost you nothing other than a few SMS messages to either a california numbuer (415) or if I can swing it at a sensible price to a national 800 number.

Watch this space ;)

The best way to keep in touch with what we are up to is to follow us on twitter @chargebayalert or facebook.com/chargebayalert. Most stuff on there at the moment is UK related but we will make it clear when we are ready to start USA testing. You can also join in the conversation and give us your feedback, especially on facebook.

I will of course also post here :)

Thanks for your interest.
 
Electric4Me said:
OK, then the folks who don't want their cell phone number given to the occupying driver simply wouldn't get 2-way communication. No need to take on the additional complication that you first described.


cellphone is one way, but more than 50 % of adults (guessing that percentage is higher amongst EV owners) carry smartphones so email would also work.

i do have a gmail account that is my primary but also have a yahoo account for spam so there are options

as for me? i have unlimited text so just text me. its by far the best way to contact me. it also requires the least amount of resources on the cellular network so usually a better chance of coming thru as well
 
Well, this looks like a solution to a problem that doesn't yet exist and so I have decided to drop the project altogther.

Perhaps in a few years when there are enough EVs on the road to mean that you are actually likely to find a charging bay already occupied I might reinstate it but for now it is moth balled.
 
Great idea. :cool: My vote is NOT to moth-ball. ( An PHEV was already charging two weeks ago when I arrived at the Walgreens ... could have used this ! )

W.r.t. cell number: At registration select a default to provide or not. But also allow the feature at time of use to select the non-default (i.e. as the driver arriving to an occupied spot I could decide to provide my cell# after all this one time only). Selection should be simple enough (choose option "2" instead of "1") ...
 
Already have that service: http://www.chargesticker.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Also use the PluginAmerica card, with my cell number.

Always check in on PlugShare too, another contact avenue, even before the needy EV arrives.

Not that I ever leave it charging in public very often.
 
KevinSharpe said:
"Charge Bay Alert! lets you contact the driver of an Electric Car that is already charging at a charge station to let him/her know that there is another Electric Car driver waiting to charge"

http://www.chargebayalert.co.uk/

The most effective App currently available is PlugShare. It works great for this but the big flaw in it and all others is getting people to ACTUALLY USE THEM. I wanted to see if your App had a work around to this but the hotlink to your site states the "website is disabled". ~ cheers.
 
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