Co-worker Ratting on EV charging

[mjblazin]

Having just done the mandatory all employees electrical safety course (OSHA rule for large corps), I wonder if the extension cord rule is the act of Congress cited. It is an OSHA safety violation to use two extension cords between the outlet and the FINAL device. Unless you can plug the adapter directly into the outlet, you are using 2 separate cords.

I am still not a fan of employers offering anything free not available to almost every employee, especially if it conflicts with another benefit, free or subsidized parking. Managers do not have time for employees acting like middle schoolers. Contract with a charge company, give the firm's share to United Way or some other charity, put the station out in the East Slobovia part of the garage or lot and be done with it.

 

[abasile]

I am still not a fan of employers offering anything free not available to almost every employee, especially if it conflicts with another benefit, free or subsidized parking. Managers do not have time for employees acting like middle schoolers. Contract with a charge company, give the firm's share to United Way or some other charity, put the station out in the East Slobovia part of the garage or lot and be done with it.

If an employer is willing to make an EVSE available to every employee with an EV, there's nothing wrong with that. Some employers do want to go the extra mile to encourage EV adoption. If someone feels slighted for not having an EV, they are free to choose an EV for their next vehicle. For an analogy, if I drive solo to work every day, should I feel entitled to the extra benefits given to employees who carpool or bicycle?

Whether or not metering makes sense depends on the situation. The principal drawback of metering is the higher cost. Simply installing a couple of "dumb" EVSEs is relatively cheap and simple. Compared to the overall salary and benefits paid to a good employee, the cost of electricity for an EV is peanuts. One factor, among others including personal reasons, in my leaving my previous employer was their disinclination to support EV charging in spite of the "green" public image that they cultivate and my offers to pay for the privilege. Especially in California today, technology companies desiring to attract strong candidates need to be prepared to support EVs.

 

[dhanson865]

At most even if they gave me a free L2 charger at work I'd be using less than $1 worth of electricity a day. If they let me use a 120V plug instead I'll use more like 75 cents on the worst day because I just won't stay long enough to get the car charged to 100%.

I haven't seen any 3rd party charging networks that will play nice with that low of a cost structure. The most common one in my town is Blink and they charge $2.40 an hour for L2 charging to only give me 25 cents of electricity (3.x KW charger). It be 50 cents worth of power if I had the 6.x KW charger but either way there is no way short of a sub zero winter day that I'm paying to plug in at work at network rates when I can go home and plug in for $0.10 a kWh.

If my work wants to I'd gladly pay on the honor system to avoid the overhead of the 3rd party network and they can post a sign saying please pay in office #101 or some such. I have no problem with paying some nominal fee for the sake of saying it isn't free but anything above $0.10 per kWh on L1 or maybe $0.15 per kWh on L2 for the convenience and I won't bother.

It's just too cheap and too convenient for me to charge at home. I can currently charge for free at my work and I do so whenever the weather is right but even when it's free I avoid charging if the battery gets above 90F or if I'll have to lay my evse out in the parking lot during a very rainy day (leaves and stuff end up collecting on the cord and I have to wipe it off and clean my hands after each day charging like that).

If anyone gets jealous of my $0.50 per day fringe benefit all they have to do is buy a Leaf and they can join the club. Most of them would look down their noses at the opportunity.

 

[todatsu]

My co-workers might be jealous but none of them drive EVs. We have another plant in Tennessee not far from the LEAF factory. At that facility there are 12 charge stations and on most days all of them are in use.

It took me one entire whole year of letter writing, to finally get one single charge station installed.

They addressed the jealousy problem as follows -- the charge station is at the furthest away parking place possible, all the way in the back right next to the garbage cans. They had to run a lot more conduit and wire to put it back there, but I'm truly delighted they finally got it done. It's wonderful.

Before then, it was a series of makeshift temporary solutions.

To those of you who are still having trouble, for me the most successful approach has been to first ask permission from all the people having any jurisdiction and the key word is "all"

Once you get the green light from every authority, you are pretty much untouchable. However, beware, just as mentioned above, someone will suddenly find a use for the spot you are using, forcing you to move. They also like to unplug your extension cord and not bother to tell you. It doesn't take too much imagination to realize how very humorous this could be to some people.

They finally had me in the back of the building at the loading dock where the LEAF was subject to various accidents and spills, and there was broken glass which the ultra-thin Ecopia tires don't tolerate. By that time I'd already upgraded to my Leviton wall-mount 30 amp charger which was more convenient and required only 3 hours. It's an industrial building and there are high-capacity machinery outlets just about everywhere. If your building has none of these, you might be out of luck for level 2 until you get a "real" charge station.

One thing said in the above posts could be important. If possible, get a charger that requires an account. We have the ChargePoint system requiring the use of a tap-card.

It only took a couple weeks for a LEAF driver from a nearby business to discover the charger where he proceeded to suck up free electricity at my company's expense. To my surprise, they told him go ahead, he was welcome to use it. I thought that was a very nice gesture. But if they ever change their mind, the charger's free status can be changed to pay status. Asking them about this, they said, "No, we want to keep it free"

I've detected what might be a little pride of ownership. Who knows, they might be mentioning it to prospective employees.

All's well that ends well. Don't give up! You can do it.

Best of luck !

 

[TimLee]

The response of employers varies greatly.

I worked for TVA federal public utility for nearly 30 years and contracted for three.

Over the years they spent lots of research and development dollars supporting electric vehicle use.

When LEAF was about to become available, did two hour agency wide meeting to bring everyone up to speed.

But nearly five years after that meeting, providing charging is still a non-starter for them.
They cannot get past the concern of providing benefit for some that not all can use.

 

[Nubo]

The response of employers varies greatly.

I worked for TVA federal public utility for nearly 30 years and contracted for three.

Over the years they spent lots of research and development dollars supporting electric vehicle use.

When LEAF was about to become available, did two hour agency wide meeting to bring everyone up to speed.

But nearly five years after that meeting, providing charging is still a non-starter for them.
They cannot get past the concern of providing benefit for some that not all can use.

They provide a parking lot. What about people who walk to work or take a bus, who aren't benefitting from the parking facilities?

 

[mjblazin]

Firms that provide free parking on any scale usually provide transit subsidies and the flexible spending account for transit ( I do not know its official name). The tax benefits are very good. For the <1% that walk nationwide to large corp firms, they have Get Active plans (more tax driven benefits) that reward you with Amazon gift certificates for meeting steps goals. Note the Venn diagram on these items does not exclude anyone. If you put X spots out of bounds except for certain cars, then that raises hackles.

 

[TimLee]

...
They provide a parking lot. ...

They provide parking at power production and transmissions facilities.
But in the main city office locations they do not.

In the interest of equal treatment about 15 years back they began providing the office workers a monthly reimbursement up to $50 maximum for parking or transit costs.

They could have paid for commercial parking facilities to install paid EVSEs.
But determined they could not do that because of unequal treatment concerns.

 

[JPWhite]

The prospect of one person getting free or discounted 'fuel' induces a very strong reaction in many people. Its really odd but I see it often. I consider the 'unequal' treatment of one employee vs another to be a softer example of the same emotion. If a company is committed to supporting EV's they would not have any such issues, meaning those companies who do have the fairness issue are IMHO essentially discouraging EV's in a passive/aggressive manner.

I remember reading that in Canada they also see this reaction. Outlets for free use for block heaters are acceptable for any and everyone, but if someone plugs in their EV they get criticized.

 

[Elephanthead]

Most places also pay different people more or less money than other people. Sometimes a lot more money. A lot more than $3 a day more heh. In summary your coworkers are idiots. This is a fact for almost everyone. I would suggest you get them all fired.

 

[mjblazin]

Workers have tons of petty complaints: file it next to "There is gambling in this place?"
Many workers have petty complaints that good managers, learned by years of pain, avoid by designing processes that need little maintenance. Unfortunately, driven by images of Teslas and celebrities going green to boost image, EVs have gotten an image that reeks elitism. It is pretty dumb because the cars are basic transportation, really glorified golf carts, and better values for 75 per cent of drivers with some limited needs. It is subject that management would just prefer never crosses her or his desk. Tiny gain, mucho pain.

 

[stevon]

Sondy132001,

I think the worst part is over. Now my skin is dry and itching but not red or swollen anymore. The new charge location and 2 mile walk is working for now. thinking of getting a folding Ebike like the VELO mini

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pn38pLtYuL0

Steveon where are you located in So Cal ?? Sorry about your poison oak ack so painful !

 

[stevon]

I'm not sure the posted warning was by a thoughtful person helping me avoid pain or someone who enjoys inflicting pain. There is always a busy body in every work place who just loves to stir the s__t. as well. I've moved on and still love the car. I'm sold on the BEV lifestyle now and with reasonable range EVs coming to market, the few lumps I've taken will be a fond memory to laugh about later.

 

[abasile]

I'm sold on the BEV lifestyle now and with reasonable range EVs coming to market, the few lumps I've taken will be a fond memory to laugh about later.

That's a great attitude. Even if we have to go out of our way to make it work at times, it sure is nice getting around without gasoline. Love the folding bike idea.