Charging Station etiquette? Volt owners hogging the juice!!

[lion]

PiP will charge in a little over an hour, averages 11 miles or so on 1 charge (but some folks have gotten it up to 21 miles, YMMV of course). I'm surprised PiP owners are paying for charging their car, as it doesn't make sense from a financial point of view (so these drivers must be driving a PiP for environmental reasons). Personally, I never used a public charging station when I had my PiP, as I didn't want to risk stranding BEV drivers for such little reward.

 

[volty]

Hello -

I'm a new Volt owner, and make no claim to be an expert on public charging etiquette... but I read through this thread, and I'm just wondering if some of the tension is coming from a misunderstanding, which is that apparently the charging status lights on the Volt vs. the Leaf (as far as I understand) are exact opposites of each other. So the Volt has a steady green light while *charging*, and a slow blinking light when full. Perhaps the "offending" Volt owners were charging and not full, if the wrong conclusion was drawn from the charging status indicator? (Obviously this would not be the case if it was the charging station reporting that the Volt was full...)

But in the interest of promoting friendly relations between Volt and Leaf owners... I just thought I'd throw this out there. (Having read a similar observation on the Volt forum).

Cheers,
Jake

 

[mwalsh]

Now we are Volt owners, I see the flip side of the coin - I desperately don't want us to use any gas in our Volt, proudly displaying my wife's 3 week record of not going beyond the Volt's EV limit. However, the day is sure to come where we need to decide - gasoline or mid-point public charging. I guess we'll play it by ear.

One thing I did do already, however, is shut off the Volt's annoying/obnoxious Charge Cable Disconnect alarm! :evil:

 

[JeremyW]

Now we are Volt owners, I see the flip side of the coin - I desperately don't want us to use any gas in our Volt, proudly displaying my wife's 3 week record of not going beyond the Volt's EV limit.

I drove one of our company volts for a week a few months back and I felt SO defeated when I had a mile left on the GOM, about a mile to go, and on comes the gas engine. Just a feeling of utter hopelessness... :lol: I had more gas anxiety than I had range anxiety with the leaf! The volt does better on the highway range wise than the leaf, at least.

 

[Weatherman]

I guess I take the opposite view, as a Volt driver...

If I'm lugging around a backup generator and three gallons of gasoline all the time, I might just as well use it when I need it (haven't needed it, yet). If I was down to 1 mile on battery and passed an occupied charging station, I couldn’t care less. I just continue on my way. At some point over the next year, it's going to burn off all the gas, anyway, whether I want it to, or not.


(If I took the LEAF, I'd never put myself in a position where I had to use a public charge station to get home. It's just not worth the aggravation or risk.)

 

[mwalsh]

If I'm lugging around a backup generator and three gallons of gasoline all the time, I might just as well use it when I need it (haven't needed it, yet). If I was down to 1 mile on battery and passed an occupied charging station, I couldn’t care less. I just continue on my way. At some point over the next year, it's going to burn off all the gas, anyway, whether I want it to, or not.

Has anyone on the Volt side (I guess I should ask there) siphoned or pumped off their "stale" gas off rather than allowing the ICE to burn it? I have older ICE cars that would probably be quite happy running off ~1 year old premium fuel.

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

Has anyone on the Volt side (I guess I should ask there) siphoned or pumped off their "stale" gas off rather than allowing the ICE to burn it? I have older ICE cars that would probably be quite happy running off ~1 year old premium fuel.

Most Floridians learned a few years back that siphoning gas out of a modern car is just about impossible.

 

[mwalsh]

Most Floridians learned a few years back that siphoning gas out of a modern car is just about impossible.

Well, disconnecting the delivery pipe from the fuel tank to fuel pump, or the delivery side of the fuel pump should still be an option (assuming you could trick the fuel pump into running).

 

[hodad66]

I am in the middle of burning off a 1/2 tank right
now. Totally ruined my MPG's but so what?

When I leased the Volt I told them to only give me
a half tank (not the same half).... I'm going to take
it down pretty far and maybe put $10 in.

My lease should be up befor this happens again..... :mrgreen:


PS.... I only charge at home.......

 

[LeftieBiker]

I hadn't thought much about stale gasoline in Volts. Looks like the Prius PHEV that we have a deposit on (now let's see if they actually find us a car!) does have one advantage: you can't drive it far enough in EV mode (unless you commute 2 miles each way) for the gas to go stale. ;-)

 

[LEAFfan]

I agree that these stations should be programmed to allow discounted, or even free, charging up to a certain point, after which it should get pricey. Don't the charging stations automatically shut off once the car is at 100%? If so, why not use this point (perhaps with a 1 hour grace period) to suddenly ramp up the price?

I like the concept, but I can think of at least two reasons why this shouldn't be implemented:
1) Because the text messages/emails don't work reliably.
2) Because the charging estimate in the car is way off.

1. I've always gotten my text/email messages without any problems.
2. Not in the 2013s...they're spot on! It's the older ones that are off, but that sw update may have corrected that, not sure. I've charged to 90% in 30 minutes or less.

 

[planet4ever]

I hadn't thought much about stale gasoline in Volts.

Apparently GM thought a lot about it. Unless I am mistaken, they not only force it to be burned if it sits there too long, but they also pressurized the gas tank so the volatile components won't evaporate, keeping the gas fresh longer. Which suggests that the mwalsh idea of disconnecting the delivery side tube might give you and your clothes a rather smelly shower as soon as you loosened the connection.

Ray

 

[LeftieBiker]

That would happen anyway with most fuel injection systems - they remain pressurized to provide instant starts. Hmm, I wonder if the "bladder" setup in the Prius has anything to do with keeping gas fresher...

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

Looking under the hood I wouldn't know where to begin finding the right place to disconnect. I suppose I could get a shop manual and maybe figure it out. Even at that who knows if the software would deal with gas "disappearing" it might try to run the engine anyway. Way too much trouble for two gallons of gas, when you have a Volt you have to make peace that you aren't saving the planet like the pure ev guys.

 

[mwalsh]

Way too much trouble for two gallons of gas, when you have a Volt you have to make peace that you aren't saving the planet like the pure ev guys.

Two? The dealer was kind enough to fill the tank for us. I've got 8 gallons to get rid of! In three weeks of ownership we haven't managed to use any, with no real need in sight.

 

[hodad66]

when you have a Volt you have to make peace that you aren't saving the planet like the pure ev guys.

:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

oh the purity of it all!!!!!

while China, India, et al spew like crazy &
South America just wants to know when it can
cash in like the Americans did.

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

Two? The dealer was kind enough to fill the tank for us. I've got 8 gallons to get rid of! In three weeks of ownership we haven't managed to use any, with no real need in sight.

That is quite the conundrum. We too were gifted with a full tank, but initiated the thing with a lifetime-average-killing 600 mile road trip a week after we got it. Since then it's been only a gallon or two at a time. They even tell you in the instructions not to run around with a full tank on account of the extra weight, although it's hard to see that extra 50 pounds being that big a deal.
Oh I'm sorry I seem to have wandered OT again, apologies to all for derailing this important discussion :lol:
As for your eight gallons mwalsh I'd save that for a rainy day, as apparently we are persona non grata at public charging... not that that's a problem for me BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE ANY FREAKING PUBLIC CHARGING AROUND HERE!!!

 

[Cinnabar]

Way too much trouble for two gallons of gas, when you have a Volt you have to make peace that you aren't saving the planet like the pure ev guys.

I have now burned 5 gallons of my first (dealer provided) tank of gas. It has given me the pleasure of telling people I am averaging around 7600 mpg between my LEAF and Volt over the last 2 /12 years.

 

[joetesta]

I am really getting sick of finding fully charged Volts hogging up the free EV chargers at Chatsworth Metro for the entire day. I just want a couple hours, and they are sitting there all day. It used to be the Volt with the Claremont license plate holder, now there is a new Volt up to this routine.

Having been at this for almost 2 years now, I have no hesitation about pulling a plug from a fully charged Volt (the charging station indicates when the vehicle is full - and once they are full, they are illegally parked whether or not they are plugged in). I don't care if the horn beeps, I have no shame about unplugging an illegally parked vehicle. They are lucky I don't attempt to get them towed! The problem is there are usually no open spaces within reach of the chargers.

On one occasion I saw a LEAF with open charging door and knowing what that meant, I plugged them in when I finished. I can't imagine anyone leaving their charger door open for any other reason, or being unhappy to find their car charged.

 

[KeiJidosha]

I am really getting sick of finding fully charged Volts hogging up the free EV chargers at Chatsworth Metro for the entire day. I just want a couple hours, and they are sitting there all day...

I hear you. This is my "last chance" charge site if I'm heading home on the 118 freeway, and I have had to use it occasionally for a bump charge. Usually it's busy. Besides being free with only one space for each charger, close proximity to the train platform (Prime location) insures these are in use with no spaces nearby to cord-share with. Signage is not AB 475 compliant ("a sign not less than 17 by 22 inches in size with lettering not less than one inch in height that clearly and conspicuously states the following: “Unauthorized vehicles not connected for electric charging purposes will be towed away at owner’s expense. Towed vehicles may be reclaimed at {location}"), so vehicles not charging cannot be towed. Placement farther North in the lot (usually vacant), and set in the intersection of four parking spaces would allow better access for sharing.

Because many parking here are gone for the day, offering free L1 charging at several spaces at the North end of the lot, and making these L2 sites 4 hour max or pay to connect would solve the problem. And you are correct that an open charge door is asking to be plugged in.