MY ZEV license plate at LAX, Why did you unplug my Leaf?

[DaveinOlyWA]

i will echo what has been said that carwings tells me within seconds when car is unplugged. it also tells me when charge is complete, etc. my notifications come by text since i always have my phone with me

 

[johnr]

i will echo what has been said that carwings tells me within seconds when car is unplugged. it also tells me when charge is complete, etc. my notifications come by text since i always have my phone with me

I think I found the problem - I need to enable reporting of unplugged status in the vehicle. But when I try to do this in the car, it complains that I have to save a location before enabling this option. How do you tell the car that it should report unplugged status regardless of the location?

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

i will echo what has been said that carwings tells me within seconds when car is unplugged. it also tells me when charge is complete, etc. my notifications come by text since i always have my phone with me

I think I found the problem - I need to enable reporting of unplugged status in the vehicle. But when I try to do this in the car, it complains that I have to save a location before enabling this option. How do you tell the car that it should report unplugged status regardless of the location?

hmmm? is there a choice? 90% of the times mine reports an unplug is at home. i rarely charge to 100% (when i do its mostly because i forgot or misjudged the charging time...usually its forgot)

i usually only plug it in to get to about 75-90 % and that is dependent upon what time it is. i dont tend to leave it plugged in all night purposely so i will unplug at night before going to bed.

 

[davewill]

I think I found the problem - I need to enable reporting of unplugged status in the vehicle. But when I try to do this in the car, it complains that I have to save a location before enabling this option. How do you tell the car that it should report unplugged status regardless of the location?

Carwings doesn't notify you when you plug or unplug. It notifies you when charging starts, stops or completes. The unplugged option you're looking at refers to the notification reminder that you're near a charger, but not plugged in.

 

[prberg]

Thanks a million Mike, I just started the charge.

True, I remember the unplug sheet of paper somewhere, anybody has a link to it?

Here is the link to the charging protocol card. I have one in my car so to avoid situations like the one you found at LAX.

http://www.evchargernews.com/chargingprotocol.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


We do really have a great community here. Thanks to Mike (and Sparky in my case) for helping an EV brother out. Glad you got the charge you needed to get home. I like how you called the area a mine field... very true. The idea of a combination lock for the charging handle isn't a bad idea. I think we just have to let everyone know NOT to unplug when a car is currently charging. We know what to look for on another LEAF (blinking blue lights on dash) but I wonder what we should look for on other EV's (What does a Tesla, or Volt do when actively charging?).

Great to hear that there is some movement on getting some more charging stations (or just some 120Volt outlets) there at LAX. Obviously they are much needed.

-Peter

 

[mwalsh]

Mike, thank you again.
Saw your note on MY ZEV's Leaf and your note on mine. Very appreciated.

I unplugged my Leaf, then stretched the cord to MY ZEV and activated with my card.

I talked to my friend in T1, he got to my Leaf about 5 minutes after I got my text message, he was outside of T1 when MY ZEV drove in. Very unlikely that somebody else disconnected just for the hell of it.
I didn't dare to unplugg MY ZEV, I just vented on this forum.

Mine is charged, I'm all good to go and I even plugged and activated him/her.

I will go through this again on Saturday morning. Coffee and donuts Mike?

And I saw that you had plugged MY ZEV back in, which I thought was the right move overall. In fact, I was going to do that myself when I got back over there. And I feel better about that decision now, after seeing a baby seat in the back seat of the car. I even reauthorized the CP with my card one last time, just to make absolutely sure they were now 100% charged (and they were).

However, that did not stop me from leaving my second note, which was more or less a missive about the trouble caused by whatever had transpired. And while I did give MY ZEV some benefit of the doubt, I still voiced my personal opinion that it was VERY likely he/she was responsible for disconnecting Vitor - the timing was just too convenient. Plus, and I forgot to mention this first time round, Vitor's charge door was closed, but not to the point of latching. Who but a LEAF owner would know (or care) to do that?

So, anyway, drama over, for now at least.

Vitor, Saturday....sorry but you're on your own for that one, mate....I'm not back in the office now until Monday. And besides, Saturday is our LEAF meeting/breakfast. Good luck!

My takeaway from this is that trying to charge at LAX is just more trouble than it's worth. If you don't need to do it, just park there and enjoy that. Wrangling like this over 2 stupid units is just too big a headache for my money. And, man, does LAX need to go all-in on updating most of what they do have (leaving enough for the RAV4s). :?

 

[johnr]

Carwings doesn't notify you when you plug or unplug. It notifies you when charging starts, stops or completes. The unplugged option you're looking at refers to the notification reminder that you're near a charger, but not plugged in.

Ok, if it notifies me when charging stops - even if it's not fully charged - that would work. But I have had no such success. I don't want to hijack this thread, so let's carry on this discussion here: http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=5365" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[sparky]

Jeez, what a small LEAFy planet we inhabit.
"MY ZEV" stopped in the Virgin America drop-off at LAX immediately in front of me at ~6:45a today. I almost said 'hi' but it was too crazy per usual. Then I'm 35,000 ft above Iowa and hook up to the VA WiFi and check-in here; see mwalsh's photo of the license and his note, and just shake my head. I think the My ZEV and/or his travel companion were on my flight.

 

[Vitor]

Thank you all.
Mike, where is the meet? I have been wanting to join a group.
I was involved in Volvo groups until 4 yrs ago.

Regarding notifications.
This is what I did. When plugged to a charger, make sure the system is enabled to save the charger automatically. Even if it is a trickle charger.
Go to notifications and enable the disconnect message and save the location.
This has worked with the trickle charger at my parents house.
My 240V Aerovironment at home
And the Chargepoint 240V at LAX.

I get a text message within 30 seconds of the charger being disconnected. This is how I found out about my issue this morning.

I hope this helps.

 

[LEAFfan]

If you have a smartphone or access to a PC, you can then query the plugged in state, but knowing the charge stopped is really enough.

You don't need a smartphone or a PC. You can get texts from a regular cell phone if your service has texting.

 

[LEAFfan]

Here is the link to the charging protocol card. I have one in my car so to avoid situations like the one you found at LAX.
http://www.evchargernews.com/chargingprotocol.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
-Peter

I brought the protocol card up to date by changing and adding a few things. I also had to remove the box the red print was in and change the red to black so it would show better plus enlarged my phone number. This is what mine says:

If you need a charge, you may unplug my Electric Vehicle after it reaches the time indicated below or if the blue lights are out.

Please keep plugged in until the time indicated by the paper clip. (I made it more positive and eliminated the negative wording.) I made the lettering and numbers large enough so the whole card is the size of a sheet of copy paper (8.5x11).

 

[mwalsh]

Thank you all.
Mike, where is the meet? I have been wanting to join a group.

Twice a month, alternating between the Hometown Buffets in Santa Ana and Cerritos. I think this Saturday is the Santa Ana one.

 

[Electric4Me]

Here is the link to the charging protocol card. I have one in my car so to avoid situations like the one you found at LAX.
http://www.evchargernews.com/chargingprotocol.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
-Peter

I brought the protocol card up to date by changing and adding a few things. I also had to remove the box the red print was in and change the red to black so it would show better plus enlarged my phone number. This is what mine says:

If you need a charge, you may unplug my Electric Vehicle after it reaches the time indicated below or if the blue lights are out.

Please keep plugged in until the time indicated by the paper clip. (I made it more positive and eliminated the negative wording.) I made the lettering and numbers large enough so the whole card is the size of a sheet of copy paper (8.5x11).

This is great. I think I will also make a small laminated card and hook it to the charge port latch hook with a small caribeaner that says "see note on dash". This will be too hard to miss before unplugging.

 

[davewill]

If you have a smartphone or access to a PC, you can then query the plugged in state, but knowing the charge stopped is really enough.

You don't need a smartphone or a PC. You can get texts from a regular cell phone if your service has texting.

Text notifications won't give you the plugged in state, just the charge stopped notification. Which is essentially what I had said.

 

[haykinson]

Text notifications won't give you the plugged in state, just the charge stopped notification. Which is essentially what I had said.

I'm working on a solution to that. Hopefully will share something in a week or so.

 

[Luft]

No one knows for certain that MY ZEV has done anything knowingly. Let's keep that in mind before we take his pack away.

You're no fun! We have the tar, feathers and I brought a rope.... Oh well, every party needs a pooper I guess! :lol:

 

[mwalsh]

No one knows for certain that MY ZEV has done anything knowingly. Let's keep that in mind before we take his pack away.

You're no fun! We have the tar, feathers and I brought a rope.... Oh well, every party needs a pooper I guess! :lol:

I was thinking more in terms of putting him/her in stocks then going to town with rotten vegetables. But then, I'm old school!

 

[highcountryrider]

Perhaps one could use the lock ring to tie up an attack-trained
pit bull? :roll:

 

[shay]

Here is the link to the charging protocol card. I have one in my car so to avoid situations like the one you found at LAX.
http://www.evchargernews.com/chargingprotocol.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
-Peter

I brought the protocol card up to date by changing and adding a few things. I also had to remove the box the red print was in and change the red to black so it would show better plus enlarged my phone number. This is what mine says:

If you need a charge, you may unplug my Electric Vehicle after it reaches the time indicated below or if the blue lights are out.

Please keep plugged in until the time indicated by the paper clip. (I made it more positive and eliminated the negative wording.) I made the lettering and numbers large enough so the whole card is the size of a sheet of copy paper (8.5x11).

Can you share your new file? I can host if you need somewhere to post it.

 

[LEAFfan]

Here is the link to the charging protocol card. I have one in my car so to avoid situations like the one you found at LAX.
http://www.evchargernews.com/chargingprotocol.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
-Peter

I brought the protocol card up to date by changing and adding a few things. I also had to remove the box the red print was in and change the red to black so it would show better plus enlarged my phone number. This is what mine says:

If you need a charge, you may unplug my Electric Vehicle after it reaches the time indicated below or if the blue lights are out.

Please keep plugged in until the time indicated by the paper clip. (I made it more positive and eliminated the negative wording.) I made the lettering and numbers large enough so the whole card is the size of a sheet of copy paper (8.5x11).

Can you share your new file? I can host if you need somewhere to post it.

Sure! But I forgot the link to that website where you can link photos, etc. I think Evnow gave it to me a long time ago so if he sees this, he could post the link again. Thanks!