Inadvertant Public Charger Etiquette Faux Pas?

[davewill]

I know Toasy meant well, but he should have left the car alone. Either the owner forgot to cancel the timer and start the charge, intended to start it remotely later, or it had finished already. In none of those cases was replugging going to do anything useful, and could possibly cause harm. Touching someone else's car without permission is usually a bad idea.

 

[planet4ever]

No override was cancelled because it was not enabled in the first place. It was noted the LEAF was not charging before the J connector was fiddled with. Although the timers would not seem to work either unless the EVSE was unrestricted.

My point was that if someone unplugs your car and plugs it back it it will stop charging, no matter what kind of EVSE is being used. If they unplug my car and plug it back in it will resume charging if the EVSE is unrestricted.

I speak from experience. I left my car charging at a Nissan dealer and (after hitting the override and verifying that it was charging) went into the waiting room for an hour. I jumped back on the freeway and got LBW almost immediately. I had gotten LBW just a mile before stopping at the dealership, so I'm sure I got no more than a couple of miles of juice. I suspect strongly that the LEAF specialist, who was showing new or prospective customers the LEAF parked next to me, used my car to demo the EVSE.

Ray

 

[thankyouOB]

yes, and if your car was set to send an alert to your smart phone -- as it can be -- when charging stops or is interrupted, you would have known something was up.

that happened to me at work, and I found out by going into the parking garage that some curious or jealous or freakish fellow employee had unplugged my car. I plugged it back in, but now park in another area, and it has never happened again.

 

[smkettner]

Yes I agree there are situations where timer off is better.
I just have not encountered one yet.

 

[brettcgb]

Yes I agree there are situations where timer off is better.
I just have not encountered one yet.

With respect to public chargers, I can think of just one instance where a Leaf timer would be a helpful feature - charging overnight to 80%. But this suggests poor etiquette - "camping out" on the charger.

If I'm plugged into a public charger, I'm not likely to reach 100%, and possibly not 80%. I simply wouldn't be there long enough.

Assuming the Leaf charge timers are disabled or off, and the car is charging from a public L2 charger, unplugging the car will end charging - plugging it back in would likely NOT resume charging.

I think it would be best to put the placard in the window with your phone number. If someone else needs to use the charger, they can check with you. Personally, I wouldn't indicate a time to unplug if needed, only if not charging as indicated by dash LEDs.

This might be a good place for a QR code sticker on the windshield....

 

[hill]

I had a similar story, i came to our local 3 car public charger, and noticed the leaf next to my volt wasn't charging.
The guy had a business card on the dash, i called it no answer, i tried to unplug and replug in his car, but no luck.

I later found out he had his car set on delayed charge. (at night) odd.

hopefully you explained how inconsiderate it is to block chargers just so you can charge at a more convenient time some time way on down the road. I wonder how many days these kind of inconsiderate folks figure it's ok to block off all other users to their sole exclusivenes. How do YOU spell "inconsiderate" and/or "clueless"
Then again, as a Volt owner, what - you're going to unplug someone- even though you can still get down the road on gas? Is saving $3 in gas money really worth it? It's pretty safe to guess this wasn't a pay station then, as you'd get charged about $3 minimum anyway, on most blink / Ecotality type networks.

Anyway - it sure seems like peoples opinions have changed over the last year, when I posted the 1st thread on charger protocol. The consensus then, was that to unplug a plug-in, was tantamount to heresy. Seeing how GM by default, sets the Volt's alarm to go off, if/when unplugged (whether empty or full) it appeared that this was to be the new norm.

.

 

[smkettner]

If I'm plugged into a public charger, I'm not likely to reach 100%, and possibly not 80%. I simply wouldn't be there long enough.

This is why timer off is redundent. If you hit override and charge continuously while in the space noone should be unplugging you.

And if you do reach 100% it does not matter.

 

[brettcgb]

If I'm plugged into a public charger, I'm not likely to reach 100%, and possibly not 80%. I simply wouldn't be there long enough.

This is why timer off is redundent. If you hit override and charge continuously while in the space no one should be unplugging you.

And if you do reach 100% it does not matter.

For public chargers, this is exactly right!

My biggest fear is that some kids will be goofing around and unplug my car, stopping the charge, even if they plug it back in.

 

[EricBayArea]

More often than not when I go to a public charger (at the movies or downtown shopping) I take 60 seconds and change my timer to 12:00am to 12:00pm @ 80% so that in the odd case it gets unplugged and re-plugged, it will continue charging. However, unless I'm at the movies I rarely ever get back to 80%.

On another note, I was at a work event in downtown SF and parked at a parking garage that had 2 stations. One station was between two pillars with no other parking spots on either side. I was going to be there for a good 6 hours and not able to come back to my car during that time. Because of this I decided to set an end timer because even if started that moment and it finished 2.5hrs later, I knew I would not be able to return nor would anyone be able to park next to me to use the plug. Normally I don't do that but this was a unique case and I thought it just.

 

[brettcgb]

.... i came to our local 3 car public charger, and noticed the leaf next to my volt wasn't charging. The guy had a business card on the dash, i called it no answer, i tried to unplug and replug in his car, but no luck.

I later found out he had his car set on delayed charge. (at night) odd.

hopefully you explained how inconsiderate it is to block chargers just so you can charge at a more convenient time some time way on down the road. I wonder how many days these kind of inconsiderate folks figure it's ok to block off all other users to their sole exclusivenes. How do YOU spell "inconsiderate" and/or "clueless".

Three related thoughts come to mind:

1) How long will a public charger wait to begin charging after it's authenticated an account to bill? It might wait a long time, but this would be an opportunity for the charger operator to bill for "camping". After this happens to you a couple times, you would get the idea that you really don't want to stay plugged in any longer than you need.

2) If a charge is stopped for any reason, then resumed, will the charger resume charging? I think not. The only way I've found to stop a charge in progress (before it completes on its own) is to unplug the car. I would think a public charger would interpret this as meaning the vehicle has completed its charging.

3) Why dedicate one charger to one space? I see no reason why a charger couldn't straddle two spaces, and be available to both.

 

[mwalsh]

3) Why dedicate one charger to one space? I see no reason why a charger couldn't straddle two spaces, and be available to both.

The smart money would put them on islands out in the lot somewhere, so one unit could potentially serve 4 parking stalls. Putting units in stalls parallel to a building may work out better in terms of easier power access, but there is little other benefit.

 

[DANandNAN]

Then again, as a Volt owner, what - you're going to unplug someone- even though you can still get down the road on gas? Is saving $3 in gas money really worth it? It's pretty safe to guess this wasn't a pay station then, as you'd get charged about $3 minimum anyway, on most blink / Ecotality type networks.

Huh? Where did he say he unplugged the Leaf? He said he tried to plug it in.

Why do you think that that Volt owners would rather burn gas if given a choice?

 

[davewill]

...2) If a charge is stopped for any reason, then resumed, will the charger resume charging? I think not. The only way I've found to stop a charge in progress (before it completes on its own) is to unplug the car. I would think a public charger would interpret this as meaning the vehicle has completed its charging. ...

The Blinks will. My LEAF stopped at 80%. After ten minutes, I decided to remotely restart the charge. It worked perfectly. The best I can tell, as long as it isn't unplugged, the session stays active.

 

[LEAFer]

...2) If a charge is stopped for any reason, then resumed, will the charger resume charging? I think not. The only way I've found to stop a charge in progress (before it completes on its own) is to unplug the car. I would think a public charger would interpret this as meaning the vehicle has completed its charging. ...

The Blinks will. My LEAF stopped at 80%. After ten minutes, I decided to remotely restart the charge. It worked perfectly. The best I can tell, as long as it isn't unplugged, the session stays active.

A session I activated before midnite (~22:30) with the AV FOB on a public L2 with a 7am end-time-only ended up not charging the LEAF. (QC+L2 in Oakland/RiceHill, Oregon)

 

[JeffN]

I just had to personally decide whether to unplug a LEAF at a public charging station in a public parking garage. I did unplug but I had a bit of ethical uncertainty.

The charging and dedicated EV space (while charging) are free up to a 3 hour limit. After that you are subject to a parking citation. The ChargePoint station indicated that charging was finished and had lasted 3 1/2 hours and some unknown amount of time after that. The 3 charging lights on the LEAF were off. My Volt battery was completely empty and I have a 30+ mile drive later this afternoon. All the other public charging stations within a mile radius were all being used (all ChargePoints and I checked using their phone app) and there was an available adjacent parking space.

I unplugged the LEAF and started my own charging session. I left a short note on the other car indicating what time I unplugged. I left the charge cap open and the charge door open as an indicator that they had been charging. That in addition to my note would indicate that they hadn't been just parking there without charging at all. They had already been there at least 30 minutes beyond the time limit so they were already ripe for a citation anyway even if they were charging.

Anyway, I still feel a bit uncertain that I made the right choice but I think I made a reasonable choice given the circumstances.

 

[JeffN]

Ethical drama continued!...

So, after half an hour and still feeling unsure of myself I walked back to the garage. The LEAF that I unplugged was gone and I found the note that I left on their windshield was now on mine. They (or at least someone) added a comment to my original note saying that they weren't actually done charging and are now stranded in town because I unplugged them.

The ChargePoint station indicated they had been charging 3 1/2 hours and were "finished" and the 3 charging LEDs on their dashboard were off. Maybe the ChargePoint stations at that garage have been programmed to stop charging after 3 1/2 hours since the parking time limit is 3 hours? Maybe they had some kind of charge timer set in the LEAF that stopped the charging. That seems unlikely in the middle of the afternoon but I'm not enough of a LEAF expert to know the "forensic" evidence that might indicate charge termination due to a timer during a public charging session. I've been using ChargePoint stations for 1.5 years so I'm pretty confident that I read the status display correctly.

In any case, I'm nearly certain they were done charging and had overstayed their charging spot.

 

[JeffN]

....and ironically, a Tesla Roadster was parked in the space where the LEAF was previously parked and it wasn't plugged in since both ChargePoint stations were being used at 240V. The reserved EV spaces were signed for EV parking only while charging. The other ChargePoint station (other than the one my Volt was plugged into) was being used by another Roadster via a J1772 adapter.

 

[DANandNAN]

Ethical drama continued!...

So, after half an hour and still feeling unsure of myself I walked back to the garage. The LEAF that I unplugged was gone and I found the note that I left on their windshield was now on mine. They (or at least someone) added a comment to my original note saying that they weren't actually done charging and are now stranded in town because I unplugged them.

The ChargePoint station indicated they had been charging 3 1/2 hours and were "finished" and the 3 charging LEDs on their dashboard were off. Maybe the ChargePoint stations at that garage have been programmed to stop charging after 3 1/2 hours since the parking time limit is 3 hours? Maybe they had some kind of charge timer set in the LEAF that stopped the charging. That seems unlikely in the middle of the afternoon but I'm not enough of a LEAF expert to know the "forensic" evidence that might indicate charge termination due to a timer during a public charging session. I've been using ChargePoint stations for 1.5 years so I'm pretty confident that I read the status display correctly.

In any case, I'm nearly certain they were done charging and had overstayed their charging spot.

STRANDED! ROFL! They'd been charging for 3.5 hours and were so stranded they left the EVSE? ROFL

The EVSE has a 3 hour time limit? And, it's visible? They were on the EVSE for 3.5 hours? You needed a charge and unplugged them after confirming that? I see no problem with your actions.

 

[smkettner]

added a comment to my original note saying that they weren't actually done charging and are now stranded in town because I unplugged them..

My BS alarm is ringing pretty loud. I think they were just a little miffed about sharing. Lots of people like that. Don't let them bring you down.

I left a short note on the other car indicating what time I unplugged.

I think the note should have given details of the 3.5 hours and charging was stopped.... full or not.
Cuts out the BS.

BTW, I would prefer my connector covers were closed if you unplug me. But I am sure others would be offended that you molested the vehicle :roll:

 

[ebill3]

Am I reading this correctly?
The LEAF driver left the garage, got stranded in the middle of town, and then walked or took a Taxi back to the garage to tell you?
Someone is playing a mean joke.