TRONZ
Well-known member
So there is a first time for everything. I went to my favorite local L2 hang out in Laguna Beach and BOTH stations were already taken by Mr White and Mr Blue LEAF. IMHO, this is known as a "good problem" and I was very happy to see LEAFs out and EV infrastructure in use.
After finding street parking, I double checked the CP App and to my surprise Mr Blue was not charging?!? At first I figured Mr Blue had just gotten there and beaten us to the punch. My reason for figuring this was I had been regularly checking the CP App two hours earlier and noted that one station (Mr white) was in use, but the other was not (and was still not "in use"). Now Curious, I walked up to the stations and indeed Mr Blue WAS plugged in but NOT charging. Walking back to the beach and now feeling mildly irritated, I start to mentally CSI the scene... station was NOT in use since 4pm?!... permanent tags so not a newbie... no LB purple sticker so not local... could have arrived at 3pm, gotten 2-3 bars... gone from 80-100% in an hour??? Not likely... BUT it's a 4hr space for Active Charging anyways... and its after 7pm so where the heck are they?... they should be leaving any minute!... and what's up with that really crooked park job???
Walking past our LEAF, I check the CP App again and Mr White is done. Now almost 7:30pm, this is logical if you figure Mr White had been charging since 4ish. We are down to 3 bars and I would like an hour or so on L2 if possible. Being Sat night, I have already seen a red and silver LEAf prowling about. I go for it and arrive to find Mr White is gone. I carefully squeeze in next to Mr Blue and plug in.
We depart Laguna about 9pm. Mr Blue is gone with the charge handle unplugged and draped over the holder. My wife puts it away in the locking enclosure and winds the chord up neatly. I can see she is irritated.
The bottom line is this; With Infrastructure thin, we have to really TRUST each other to follow the rules! The public infrastructure is not OURS. It is a very special gift and this special gift comes with special rules. These rules are created by the people that actually own the stations, are currently paying the bills for them, and need us to take care of them. More importantly though, as EV owners, we need to be able to trust that the rules of each location are being followed! Alot of people want to come to LB and are counting on the CP App (in this case) to give them correct info of what is going on. If a station is known to be for Active Charging, EV drivers will be more likely to trust the App... and then more likely to get screwed over when someone does not follow the rules. Honoring the Active Charging rule is a REALLY important detail in making the new infrastructure system work.
Anyways
I would like to think that Mr Blue had a timer set, actually did arrive right before us, never checked their App (failed) charging status, etc. An honest mistake. If so, at least put the charge handle and chord away before you drive off. Thank You.
After finding street parking, I double checked the CP App and to my surprise Mr Blue was not charging?!? At first I figured Mr Blue had just gotten there and beaten us to the punch. My reason for figuring this was I had been regularly checking the CP App two hours earlier and noted that one station (Mr white) was in use, but the other was not (and was still not "in use"). Now Curious, I walked up to the stations and indeed Mr Blue WAS plugged in but NOT charging. Walking back to the beach and now feeling mildly irritated, I start to mentally CSI the scene... station was NOT in use since 4pm?!... permanent tags so not a newbie... no LB purple sticker so not local... could have arrived at 3pm, gotten 2-3 bars... gone from 80-100% in an hour??? Not likely... BUT it's a 4hr space for Active Charging anyways... and its after 7pm so where the heck are they?... they should be leaving any minute!... and what's up with that really crooked park job???
Walking past our LEAF, I check the CP App again and Mr White is done. Now almost 7:30pm, this is logical if you figure Mr White had been charging since 4ish. We are down to 3 bars and I would like an hour or so on L2 if possible. Being Sat night, I have already seen a red and silver LEAf prowling about. I go for it and arrive to find Mr White is gone. I carefully squeeze in next to Mr Blue and plug in.
We depart Laguna about 9pm. Mr Blue is gone with the charge handle unplugged and draped over the holder. My wife puts it away in the locking enclosure and winds the chord up neatly. I can see she is irritated.
The bottom line is this; With Infrastructure thin, we have to really TRUST each other to follow the rules! The public infrastructure is not OURS. It is a very special gift and this special gift comes with special rules. These rules are created by the people that actually own the stations, are currently paying the bills for them, and need us to take care of them. More importantly though, as EV owners, we need to be able to trust that the rules of each location are being followed! Alot of people want to come to LB and are counting on the CP App (in this case) to give them correct info of what is going on. If a station is known to be for Active Charging, EV drivers will be more likely to trust the App... and then more likely to get screwed over when someone does not follow the rules. Honoring the Active Charging rule is a REALLY important detail in making the new infrastructure system work.
Anyways
I would like to think that Mr Blue had a timer set, actually did arrive right before us, never checked their App (failed) charging status, etc. An honest mistake. If so, at least put the charge handle and chord away before you drive off. Thank You.
