Inadvertant Public Charger Etiquette Faux Pas?

[JeffN]

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.

I'm assuming they left the updated note on my windshield before they left. I have no idea whether they actually had a full or partial (and insufficient) charge after 3.5 hours. It seems a bit ill-advised (if true) to be depending upon more than a 3.5 hour charge at a public 3 hour charging space to get where you need to go.

 

[JeffN]

Hmm. So, I just left the garage and I noticed that the ChargePoint station did not say "finished" but instead said that charging was ended by the vehicle (my battery was full).

My guess is that the charging station is programmed to only charge for the 3 hour maximum charge time policy (during daytime hours) of the garage and that the charging station really did end the charging session before the LEAF was fully recharged. In any case, I didn't end the charging session by unplugging -- it had already ended and the LEAF had already overstayed its 3 hour limit and was lucky to get away without a ticket.

I left on good terms by renewing my good karma. I plugged in another car on my ChargePoint card that was waiting for a charge next to me with it's charge door open (charging was free....).

Also, I'll note that I pulled over on the side of the road in a parallel parking space to write this update just after I left the garage and during that several minutes I noticed at least 3 plugin cars drive by on the city street. Cool!

 

[LEAFer]

JeffN: would you mind publishing the location of this station ?

 

[JeffN]

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.

I did specifically say "Hi! You were done charging so I unplugged you" and I wrote the current time on the note. They should have been able to figure out that I unplugged them well after the 3 hour parking/charging time limit but maybe I should have stated that more directly. I wanted to avoid seeming confrontational or harsh. I just wanted to put the idle charge station to good use.

 

[JeffN]

JeffN: would you mind publishing the location of this station ?

Palo Alto City Hall underground parking garage.

 

[redLEAF]

Looking for a place to add this funny look at charging etiquette and this thread seemed as appropriate as any ... love the bit on charging at a friends house (courtesy of the guys over on the FFE forum)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_u_9WAolYw[/youtube]

 

[davewill]

I did specifically say "Hi! You were done charging so I unplugged you" and I wrote the current time on the note. They should have been able to figure out that I unplugged them well after the 3 hour parking/charging time limit but maybe I should have stated that more directly. I wanted to avoid seeming confrontational or harsh. I just wanted to put the idle charge station to good use.

I suspect they were unaware of (or didn't care about) the 3 hr. time limit, and have issues sharing their toys. Don't worry.

 

[richard]

Plug-in America plans to have some laminated cards like that offered soon saying OK to unplug if needed.
The other side would say "charging needed" and request that you NOT be unplugged so you could display either message depending.

Currently these are just DIY (print and laminate yourself). The PDFs are located here.

 

[Boourns]

I'll bring up this related question rather than start a new thread: What's the nicest way to ask someone to share a station?

At my work there is one L2 station in the parking garage. The building has only reserved the single spot in front of the station. Every single day there is a Volt there charging. The car stays all day long, from 8-5 (I work from 8:30 to 5:30). There isn't a note leaving contact info anywhere.

How do I ask him nicely to arrange with me a schedule so we can both charge during the day? If he charged in the morning and I charged after lunch we could both get to 80 or 100% without a problem. I am thinking of something like "Hi, my name is Matt. I work in Building 1. I have a Leaf and was hoping we could work out a schedule so we can both charge at work. Please email me at xxxxx or call me at xxxxx."

I know people can be real touchy when it comes to their cars, so I am hesitant to leave a note on his car, but it's really the only way I can think of. Other than staking out by the charger at 4:45 until he leaves work.

 

[hill]

I'll bring up this related question rather than start a new thread: What's the nicest way to ask someone to share a station?

At my work there is one L2 station in the parking garage. The building has only reserved the single spot in front of the station. Every single day there is a Volt there charging. The car stays all day long, from 8-5 (I work from 8:30 to 5:30). There isn't a note leaving contact info anywhere. ....snip.............

Zombie thread ... that said - get there an hour earlier every day ... stay plugged in until your full. They can still burn gas so it's no skin off their nose. Besides ... they certainly won't mind the same level of courtesy from you, that they dole out to everyone else.

I can start work at most any time of the day. There are now about 2 dozen plug in's here in our employee parking structure with only 6 spots to recharge. Only one of other 2 dozen plug-ins desires to 'cooperate' via sharing. Therefore, I choose to start at 4am. No more issue here. Early bird gets the worm. It's sad but true.

 

[davewill]

... I am thinking of something like "Hi, my name is Matt. I work in Building 1. I have a Leaf and was hoping we could work out a schedule so we can both charge at work. Please email me at xxxxx or call me at xxxxx."

I know people can be real touchy when it comes to their cars, so I am hesitant to leave a note on his car, but it's really the only way I can think of. ...

That's what I would do. If you're really squeamish about touching his car, then you can attach your note to the charging handle. If he doesn't respond, then I'd take Hill's suggestion.

 

[Reddy]

I'll bring up this related question rather than start a new thread: What's the nicest way to ask someone to share a station?

At my work there is one L2 station in the parking garage. The building has only reserved the single spot in front of the station. Every single day there is a Volt there charging. The car stays all day long, from 8-5 (I work from 8:30 to 5:30). There isn't a note leaving contact info anywhere. ....snip.............

Zombie thread ... that said - get there an hour earlier every day ... stay plugged in until your full. They can still burn gas so it's no skin off their nose. Besides ... they certainly won't mind the same level of courtesy from you, that they dole out to everyone else.

I can start work at most any time of the day. There are now about 2 dozen plug in's here in our employee parking structure with only 6 spots to recharge. Only one of other 2 dozen plug-ins desires to 'cooperate' via sharing. Therefore, I choose to start at 4am. No more issue here. Early bird gets the worm. It's sad but true.

I vote for the nice note approach first. If that doesn't work, then try the early bird approach a time or two with different note on your car saying that you'd be willing to share if a timing agreement can be reached.

 

[ebill3]

... I am thinking of something like "Hi, my name is Matt. I work in Building 1. I have a Leaf and was hoping we could work out a schedule so we can both charge at work. Please email me at xxxxx or call me at xxxxx."

I know people can be real touchy when it comes to their cars, so I am hesitant to leave a note on his car, but it's really the only way I can think of. ...

That's what I would do. If you're really squeamish about touching his car, then you can attach your note to the charging handle. If he doesn't respond, then I'd take Hill's suggestion.

+1