Ever Charged at Someone's Home Listed on Plugshare?

[EatsShootsandLeafs]

Didn't know plugshare was a thing. I have to say it seems a pretty darn good idea to be honest. I've often wondered how I'd invite myself to use a stranger's house for electricity if I ran out, and this would save the effort.

EDIT: Actually I think I've been here before but maybe nobody was on it. Now I see people are, though!

Wow there is an outdoor charger just a mile from my work! Hidden behind some building, but I did not know this at all.

 

[rumpole]

I've never charged at someone's home, but I've driven by people's places, just out of curiosity. I've had one person charge at my place, a fellow ev club member. I even installed an access door in my garage wall to make my L2 cable accessible from outside.

The most interesting thing was that I had someone in the neighborhood cold call me who was looking into a Volt, and where they might be able to charge it, since they lived in a townhouse. They found my icon and phone number on Plugshare. I talked about 30 minutes with her about ev's and plug-ins in general, gave her some other plug-in cars to consider, and told her how great it is not to worry about gasoline ("cutting the nozzle", as I like to put it). I thought it was pretty cool to speak with someone at length who was just considering the idea of plugging in a car. Ultimately, this is what the car-buying public will all go through, so we need to be prepared, once the dam begins to break.

 

[ttweed]

Didn't know plugshare was a thing. I have to say it seems a pretty darn good idea to be honest. I've often wondered how I'd invite myself to use a stranger's house for electricity if I ran out, and this would save the effort.

Never used Plugshare, but my wife did invite herself to charge at a stranger's house one day a year or so ago. She had dropped her mother off at her house after a day of shopping and started to return home when she noticed that her charge level was so low she might not make it. As she drove out of the neighborhood towards the freeway, she contemplated going back to her mom's house and hooking up the L1 EVSE to a 120V outlet, but saw another Leaf pass her heading into the subdivision. She whipped the car around and followed it, and it pulled into a driveway a few blocks away. She parked and got out and introduced herself to the owners, explained her situation, and asked if they had a 240V charger in their garage she could hook up to for a bit of juice. They did, and happily let her hook up to their Blink unit for 20 minutes, which was all she needed. She offered to pay them for the electricity, but they were very gracious and happy to help out another Leaf owner, refusing any compensation.

TT

 

[hill]

was this at Thanksgiving?? did you read "Sparky's" post?

WOW Dave ... good catch! Yes, it was Thx-giving ... I'll have to send him a nice PM. I know I left a nice 'Plugshare' thx already.

btw ... we had a neighbor's relative stop and visit them just a few days ago in need of a charge on their Tesla model S. They didn't check Plugshare at all, but instead, went over to the Irvine spectrum just a mile & a half down the road. Hard to believe folks don't already know about plugshare, even though they have an EV.

MAN ... I'd of LOVED to have taken pic's of the S in our driveway - charging (drool drool)


.

 

[adric22]

They did, and happily let her hook up to their Blink unit for 20 minutes, which was all she needed. She offered to pay them for the electricity, but t

Dang.. 20 minutes won't exactly get you a lot.. What, maybe 3 miles? At least the 2013 model with the new charger might get 6 miles during that time.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

20 minutes may not seem like much its the peace of mind that one needs when battling the GOM

 

[ttweed]

They did, and happily let her hook up to their Blink unit for 20 minutes, which was all she needed.

Dang.. 20 minutes won't exactly get you a lot.. What, maybe 3 miles? At least the 2013 model with the new charger might get 6 miles during that time.

My wife is overly cautious with the GOM and doesn't like to flirt with the "hidden reserve" below the VLBW or with turtle mode (which the car has never seen so far). It's only 5 miles from my mother-in-law's house to our home, and as Dave said, she did it just for her peace of mind. I'm certain she could have made it home without charging at all that day and told her so, but she wasn't willing to chance it at the time. With another year of experience now driving the car, she would just go for it in the same situation, I think.

TT

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

They did, and happily let her hook up to their Blink unit for 20 minutes, which was all she needed.

Dang.. 20 minutes won't exactly get you a lot.. What, maybe 3 miles? At least the 2013 model with the new charger might get 6 miles during that time.

My wife is overly cautious with the GOM and doesn't like to flirt with the "hidden reserve" below the VLBW or with turtle mode (which the car has never seen so far). It's only 5 miles from my mother-in-law's house to our home, and as Dave said, she did it just for her peace of mind. I'm certain she could have made it home without charging at all that day and told her so, but she wasn't willing to chance it at the time. With another year of experience now driving the car, she would just go for it in the same situation, I think.

TT

all the more reason why actually knowing what is left in the pack is MUCH more valuable then Nissan's guess on how much farther you can go.

said it a dozen times but it bears repeating. My GID meter is just as good as adding 5 miles of range to my LEAF. So for the $160ish that I paid for it. well worth the money. Cant tell you how often I pulled into the garage with less than 20 GID and "_ _ _" blinking away without a single worry. that little box is worth 10 times its weight in gold

 

[reeler]

Does anyone know of a way to edit a residential listing on PlugShare. I have a charger at the office that I installed and pay the electricity for. I added it to PlugShare, but might want to edit or remove it at some point.

It is the only charger in the LoDo section of Downtown Denver. It is in a public garage.

 

[planet4ever]

Does anyone know of a way to edit a residential listing on PlugShare.

You had to be logged in to PlugShare to add the entry. If you log in using the same ID you should be able to edit or delete it.

Ray

 

[LeftieBiker]

I was a fairly early listing on Plugshare, but in the two years or so I've been listed, I've had no takers. It's only L-1 and an outdoor 120 volt outlet, though.

 

[philipscoggins]

I listed my Blink station when it was installed in August 2012. It's the only listed charger in town (Chevy dealership has one in their service bay, but not very accessible) and I've never had a call to charge. There's several free L2 chargers and a DCQC about 12-14 miles away, but I figure eventually someone will need some peace of mind to reach one of those and I don't mind helping a fellow EV drive out (until one creeps me out at the house) :shock:

Also, I've never used a house listing. Whenever I travel, it seems like with a little planning I've always had a public station available, but I would love to take a trip to Cincinnati, which would require one more station going through Kentucky. Any takers?

 

[Graffi]

I wanted to list our L2 at our home, but the wife was uncomfortable doing that. There is only one other home listing between us and one of the freeway access points for us. We drove by just to look one day.

We are in the middle of 4 freeways, two east/west and two north/south. Three of them take about 5 minutes, the one we usually use takes 10 minutes. If I did finally list us I highly doubt anyone would EVER contact us to use the L2. Still, it would be nice to just let people know how much charging infastructure there actually is that is available.

And at a cost equalivent of $0.55 per gallon of gas that takes 45 minutes to put into your car, it is cheaper for people to just go home and let the car charge up while you are at home instead of waiting. That is why we only use the free DCQC at the dealer to give us extra range if we are in the area and need it. Otherwise we just go home to fill up.

 

[hill]

A few months ago, I had a Mercedes mini van concept (compete with tons of test equipment two german accented EE drivers) stop by:

Yea, that was a pretty slick setup. Threw my Fluke amprobe on the line to the breaker ... it was pulling a tad over 30 amps. Nice! They only needed an hour to assure they'd get to their next destination (San Diego County)

 

[walterbays]

I've never had a call to charge. ... I figure eventually someone will need some peace of mind

I figure you've already given drivers peace of mind even though none have charged. Peace of mind is driving past many potential charging points you might use in event of unforseen events, though such events like road closures forcing long detours rarely happen.

 

[kubel]

I'm listed on Plugshare. Nearest public charging station is about 12 miles away. I'm kind of in a rural area. Not a single visitor yet (that I know of).

 

[kubel]

A few months ago, I had a Mercedes mini van concept (compete with tons of test equipment two german accented EE drivers) stop by

Tesla Bluestar mule? Last I heard, Mercedes and Tesla had a good relationship.

 

[hill]

A few months ago, I had a Mercedes mini van concept (compete with tons of test equipment two german accented EE drivers) stop by

Tesla Bluestar mule? Last I heard, Mercedes and Tesla had a good relationship.

No - although Tesla did develope the EV system for this MB, the bluestar is a completely separate project. IIRC, the guys driving this Mercedes told me that it will (tentatively) be put into production this year - 2014. I didn't think to ask weather it was to be a CARB compliance low production volume vehicle

 

[jsongster]

I have opportunity charged at a cousin's house when it got added to a planned out trip. Haven't shared mine as there are 2 CHAdeMO DCQChargers and several lev2 evse in nearby Concord, at nissan and the hilton. So plenty of coverage. I am now considering it to comfort the new buyers when they check the maps.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

A few months ago, I had a Mercedes mini van concept (compete with tons of test equipment two german accented EE drivers) stop by

Tesla Bluestar mule? Last I heard, Mercedes and Tesla had a good relationship.

No - although Tesla did develope the EV system for this MB, the bluestar is a completely separate project. IIRC, the guys driving this Mercedes told me that it will (tentatively) be put into production this year - 2014. I didn't think to ask weather it was to be a CARB compliance low production volume vehicle

so this is a PLEV then? and is this not the 2nd visit you have had from an experimental EV? what draws them to you? are you advertising free bling on plugshare or something?