Dealer charger wide open after hours, but kicked off lot

[sub3marathonman]

The security guard had no business unplugging your car, unless you gave him permission.

I would disagree, and based on that quote and without doing a major search here, it seems that the point is debatable.

In my opinion, it is plugged into your car, but is not part of your car, it is part of the charger. As the dealership owns the charger in question, and the security guard was an agent of the owner, I think he was within his rights to unplug it.

I have come upon cars that have completed their charge, yet were still plugged in. I have unplugged the charger from the car. This has happened three times. The first time, the LEAF had apparently just finished charging, but hadn't sent the owner notification yet, which I guess can take about 15 minutes. I was still there writing a note to leave on her car when she walked up, and looked worried. She had gotten the unplugged notification right away, before the charge complete notification, even though the true order was reversed. But everything worked out fine and we still correspond. The second incident was with a Volt, I watched it complete the charge and waited 15 minutes before I unplugged it. I then found out that the Volt has an alarm, made much louder being in a parking garage! I tried plugging it in again, but that didn't stop it. So I plugged it into my car, and left the owner a note. I also closed his charging door, which I thought would be the polite thing to do, but that is technically improper. I never heard from that owner. Pretty much the same situation with a LEAF, left a note even though it looked like rain, and did hear from him. He said he was fine with that, especially since I was feet away from LBW.

 

[RonDawg]

Both of the entrances to that charger area in the parking lot have chains available to block them off, and the sign in front of the L3 charger clearly says "...until 8pm." So, I have to assume it is not available after hours...

It's a somewhat dicey area so I'm not sure I'd want to be hanging around that long late at night on a L2 anyway...

Charging at DTLA Motors as I type this. Been here for 30 minutes and haven't been asked to leave yet. Last minute customer doing a deal so employees still here.

CHP station (the one featured on "CHiPs") is nearby so there's CHiPies driving by frequently. So I don't feel unsafe at all.

Two Leafers pulled up to the QC and plugged in one of them into the QC while the other plugged into the other L2. They were together and bought their Leafs recently. I chatted with them for another 20 minutes or so.

 

[TomT]

I got hit up by two homeless types - one of whom really didn't want to take no for an answer - when I was there early one evening QCing with no one else around, so maybe it is luck of the draw and strength in numbers... I still don't think I'd want to be around well after dark. I generally have only used their QC when I've been at USC on rare occasions anyway...

CHP station (the one featured on "CHiPs") is nearby so there's CHiPies driving by frequently. So I don't feel unsafe at all.

 

[mrdcmills]

I can see where the guard is just doing his job. BUT, a leaf owner is probably a little more affluent than the troublemakers that vandalize cars on the lot. Also if I wanted to be successful in my business I wouldn't want to piss these people off.

 

[Bazooka]

This conversation blows my mind. When I was shopping for a Leaf, two different dealers made a very big deal out of the fact that they have 24/7 L2 chargers available for any Leaf owner (not just their customers) at no cost. One salesman mentioned it so many times I was going to start kidding him about it.

I've never used the chargers at either dealer, as they're not on my normal driving routes, but it's nice to know that in an emergency I could stop in for some electrons.

 

[davidjess]

Here in Phoenix, Nissan dealers EV hosting is extremely inconsistent, and in some cases ambiguous.

Chandler is open 24/7.

Bell Rd is 24/7 and charges $7 on Greenlots.

Camelback sales manager has given drivers permission to squeeze by the blocker car 24/7, and more recently, the blocker car has been missing.

Pinnacle, Tempe, Mesa, and Laveen are locked up tight, but Plugshare comments and personal experience show that employees and security guards have opened gates early or recommended ways to get in and out of the lot.

With all due respect for property rights, local laws, and police authority, he should have obeyed the guard and complained later about his potentially improper command to leave.

A larger issue is that charging EVs at night is made difficult by police and security guards everywhere, at almost every type of station, parking restrictions or not. It is not yet understood or socially acceptable activity, so they are suspicious of it.

Security guards and police have interrogated me at night on Nissan lots and shopping center hosted sites. My most effective defense seems to be that the station is powered up, I am a card-carrying charging network member, the station "authenticated" my membership or car (and in some cases charged my credit card. The owner has invested a lot of money in making this available. I try to get them to learn the owner's true interests. It has often but not always worked.

I would encourage EV station hosts, cities, security guards, and police everywhere to open up charging hours 24/7 to the extent it is feasible and they are comfortable with it. And during open hours, regard charging as a legitimate human activity at any hour. Consider that EV users show up with expensive assets and purpose, and that their security interests are well-aligned with those of the property owners. They are like security guards, themselves, and are likely to photograph and report any suspicious activity in the area to police.

In comparisons with gas stations, we must remember that gas is 100 times faster than charging. Imagine having to wait at the pump for another car to be moved, or being interrogated by police, then multiply that by 100 times. In order for charging to ever become mainstream cost-effective, such costs and risks must be minimized.

Sleeping, eating, reading, walking around, seeking restaurants or bathrooms--these are all reasonable activities for an EV user to be engaged in inside or near their car while charging at night--please provide hospitality to the extent possible, and let them be.

 

[davidjess]

Regarding earlier comments on Plugshare, it is true that users make new entries and edit entries. However, hosts can also create and edit info on their stations. In some cases, the host signs up to receive all updates, and can restrict users from editing when they get tired of re-editing.

Nissan is in a particular position though that we can expect them to monitor their Plugshare entries and be aware of what they say. I give 2 reasons:

1. They are in the top 2 EV distributors, the top L3 host, and should know that Plugshare is the leading app for EV network info.

2. A new app called EZ-Charge, based upon the Plugshare database is sanitized for Nissan consumers. It shows NCTC sites. It does not allow editing. It uses Nissan logos for Nissan dealer hosts. It never shows those ones as under repair, even if they are (because Nissan hates giving such accurate info to EV users), and, thus, it seems (although I could be jumping to a false conclusion) that Nissan is involved in producing this app.

I would support Nissan I standardizing their EV hosting services, or at least making them unambiguous. And in providing a clear sense of safety and information for sleeping in the car or seeking a bathroom nearby.

 

[davewill]

... Nissan is in a particular position though that we can expect them to monitor their Plugshare entries and be aware of what they say. ...

The problem with that thinking is that Nissan doesn't consider the locations "theirs". They belong to the individual dealers, and the individual dealers set the policies. Nissan can't keep things up to date because they don't know the info.

 

[EVforRobert]

The best thing you can do when confronted by an employee or security guard is to be friendly and educate them as to how your EV works.
Last night a security car actually lit up his bar at me and I pulled beside him and had a nice chat. He told me where additional chargers could be found on his campus.
Since our vehicles are short range, we must plan way ahead and research where we can charge at whatever time we will be running out. Having a mental map of plugshare is also helpful.