New Leaf unplugged my Volt today!!

[apvbguy]

Public EV Charging Etiquette 101:

All fully electric cars should have preference at the charger over plug in hybrid cars. This is an easy one because a hybrid car can always fall back on the gasoline engine.

Non plugin electric cars do not belong in the EV charging spot. Again an easy one, if you’re not plugging in don’t park there!

EVs should be parked in the EV spot while charging. Similar to #2, if you don’t need to be plugged in don’t park there!

When you EV is done charging move out of the spot. You would not leave your car in front of a fuel pump after you have filled up to go shopping. Same here, once you have charged up pull your car into a normal parking space.

Be mindful of indicator lights before you unplug someone EV. EVs have indicator lights that show how full the battery is. So before you unplug someone’s EV so you can plug in your EV make sure their EV is fully charged. Just be nice.

Safety first. Don’t leave cords around for people to trip over things like that.

 

[smkettner]

The 3 stations are pay per hour fee stations. You need a RFID charge point card or credit card to activate and release evse from port. I use a City of Austin all you can charge 6 months for $25 card to release evse. The 3 stations are first come first serve but you need access to this portion of the hospital parking w your badge. Ian B

I could see reporting the guy for using the charging for free when he should have a card to activate.
Did you actually see that he did not re-activate the charge station with his own card?
If the Volt was moved at full charge and the charging station was put up and ready for others there would be no issues.

Does Chargepoint disable the charging session when the car reaches full? Or does it continue to offer power until session is stopped?

 

[mctom987]

Does Chargepoint disable the charging session when the car reaches full? Or does it continue to offer power until session is stopped?

Don't know if it's for all stations, but the ones at my work will offer power even if idle for a significant period. I've tested this by turning on my AC remotely.

As soon as it's disconnected, reconnecting will not offer any power. This is mostly to prevent someone else from "power jacking" or charging on your card.

 

[cgaydos]

Public EV Charging Etiquette 101:

All fully electric cars should have preference at the charger over plug in hybrid cars. This is an easy one because a hybrid car can always fall back on the gasoline engine.

Non plugin electric cars do not belong in the EV charging spot. Again an easy one, if you’re not plugging in don’t park there!

EVs should be parked in the EV spot while charging. Similar to #2, if you don’t need to be plugged in don’t park there!

When you EV is done charging move out of the spot. You would not leave your car in front of a fuel pump after you have filled up to go shopping. Same here, once you have charged up pull your car into a normal parking space.

Be mindful of indicator lights before you unplug someone EV. EVs have indicator lights that show how full the battery is. So before you unplug someone’s EV so you can plug in your EV make sure their EV is fully charged. Just be nice.

Safety first. Don’t leave cords around for people to trip over things like that.

So, to add to that, I ran into a situation a couple of times in recent months where a LEAF was at a QC and showing 95+% on the charging screen ... still charging but doing so very slowly as the battery was on the last bar or two. In those situations I moved the QC over to my LEAF and plugged an L2 charger into the other LEAF, since at that point the L2 is just as fast as the QC, but I really needed the QC. I also stuck around to explain to the driver when he/she showed up, which both did pretty quickly. Neither was upset once I explained it and in both cases we had fun chats about LEAF ownership. However, in retrospect I realized that I took a risk that the other LEAF wasn't set up to charge only to 80% by default - if so the L2 wouldn't have provided any charge.

All this made me realize that we are very much still in the early adopter phase of EVs in that the informal "rules" are complex, not fully agreed upon, and not widely known ... eventually this will all become simple and straightforward.

 

[TickTock]

The 3 stations are pay per hour fee stations. You need a RFID charge point card or credit card to activate and release evse from port. I use a City of Austin all you can charge 6 months for $25 card to release evse. The 3 stations are first come first serve but you need access to this portion of the hospital parking w your badge. Ian B

I could see reporting the guy for using the charging for free when he should have a card to activate.
Did you actually see that he did not re-activate the charge station with his own card?
If the Volt was moved at full charge and the charging station was put up and ready for others there would be no issues.

Does Chargepoint disable the charging session when the car reaches full? Or does it continue to offer power until session is stopped?

Either way, it's none-of-the-business of the OP. It's between ChargePoint and the Leaf driver if he, indeed, got a free charge.

 

[Flashman]

Does the Volt have the 'Lock' feature like the Leaf where you can keep the car locked physically on the charger until it's charge is complete? That could have also have solved it.
But I agree with the other posters here. If your Volt was 100% charged... why do you even care?
Also why did your alarm go off? if the Volt does not trigger an Alarm from an early charge disconnect, I would be more upset he had bumped or otherwise knocked into the car to trigger the alarm going off?

 

[smkettner]

Does Chargepoint disable the charging session when the car reaches full? Or does it continue to offer power until session is stopped?

Don't know if it's for all stations, but the ones at my work will offer power even if idle for a significant period. I've tested this by turning on my AC remotely.

As soon as it's disconnected, reconnecting will not offer any power. This is mostly to prevent someone else from "power jacking" or charging on your card.

So the person must have authorized their own charging session and the OP can go pound sand.... right after he moves the Volt out of the way.

I suppose he thinks it is ok to park in a disabled persons space as long as there is still one space available :|

 

[alcalira]

I think the Volt sounding its horn if unplugged is obnoxious and unnecessary. I have unplugged Volts that were finished charging and were occupying an EV spot, and had to endure the discomfort of that horn blaring at me even though I did nothing wrong. Can't that be turned off when using public charging? The vast majority of EV drivers are very cooperative about sharing public EVSE. In 31,000 miles I've never been wrongfully unplugged.

If you're paying a flat $25 a month for charging, then there's no way someone else is costing you money for charging their own car. When your car is done charging, move it, and allow another EV driver to use the EVSE. What's unreasonable about that?

 

[Pipcecil]

Ok I will weigh in - two sides of the coin.

1) I don't think there should be any preference on PHEVs vs. BEVs. I know some might disagree, but its for plug-in use. A PiP has every right to use it versus a Mitsubishi i.
2) It is proper etiquette to move your car once you are done charging. Sometimes its not possible (your in a movie theater, you are on an airplane, you are far away from the charger), but it is courteous.
3) It is not OK to unplug a car if its not done charging unless the left a note, its not OK at any time in California (the car could be towed).
4) You should try and contact the owner if they leave a note if you are unplug them - you can also do it via plugshare if they logged in that way - its more anonymous
5) You should NEVER unplug a car if there is a working plug available in the same place that can be used. Nor should you park your car and reach a cord over without using the working cord in front or closest to your car (yes I have seen this done....).

So the leaf was wrong to unplug and not use the other spot (unless the spot had a broke station or was handicap only). The Volt owner should have probably moved his car, BUT as indicated, there was a spot always open so there isn't always a need to...kindof. The only problem with that is the unknown if the open spot is broken. You can't always tell. and just because it worked yesterday doesn't mean it works today.

Finally to throw a wrench in the entire system: battery cooling. Cars like the Volt cool/heat the battery more if they are plugged in (the TMS varies the range of acceptable temperatures depending on if the car is plugged in and SoC of the battery. The variance allowed increases if the car is unplugged, and at specific intervals from the battery SoC - so if the battery is low, the car allows a very high temperature swing from the "perfect" temp to not use as much battery vs. a small variance if its plugged in). So a volt staying plugged, especially in a warm climate like austin, will probably have the TMS kick in ~ every 2 hours or less. Then, even worse, the Ford Focus EV only uses the TMS if its plugged in and won't if its unplugged. Is battery life and prevention of degradation of the battery justifiable to leave the car plugged in? Food for a thought...

Another note. I think this speaks 100% of why chargers should NOT be free nor "all you can charge" packages for Level 2's. When blink was free, I would leave my car plugged in all day long, again, just justifying to myself that there was another blink charger open next to me (and its Blink, so there is a great chance it didn't work, :lol. And I justified it by saying I needed to pre-cool in the afternoon before I left so I could increase my range (didn't reeallly need it though). Now that Blink is a $1 per hour, I set an alarm on my phone to go unplug. The Blink notifications are sometimes too slow and the time kicks me over the next hour, so I unplug my car IMMEDIATELY. Then, I move it since there is no need to keep it at the station if I am not charging. Unfortunately (and selfishly), it took a cost of charging to get me to move my car and unplug when done. I am better about it today though, even if its free. And I am not in a high volume charging area like California where plugs are a premium, most public evses are either ICEd or empty.

 

[toolworker]

Public EV Charging Etiquette 101:

All fully electric cars should have preference at the charger over plug in hybrid cars. This is an easy one because a hybrid car can always fall back on the gasoline engine..

Nope. Public EV Charging Etiquette 101: Respect the other guy.

I drive a Volt and I'm a person too.

If you really need the charge to get home, go ahead and unplug me, but leave a note. If you don't need the charge to get home then I have as much right to charge as you do.

The Leaf owner who unplugged me today just felt entitled, I guess. In my book, that makes him a jerk.

Leaf owners who do that should be aware of the reputation they build for all Leaf drivers. The last Leaf I saw, I thought, great, another driver trying to drive green like me. The next one I see, I'm going to think something less complimentary.

As a courtesy to other EV/PHEV owners I put a card in my window inviting them to unplug me only when fully charged, explaining how to tell when I'm finished charging, and informing that I have turned my cord alarm off.

I guess I'm a sucker. Next time I'll leave the card off and the alarm on.

 

[mbender]

I drive a Volt and I'm a person too.

If you really need the charge to get home, go ahead and unplug me, but leave a note. If you don't need the charge to get home then I have as much right to charge as you do.

The Leaf owner who unplugged me today just felt entitled, I guess. In my book, that makes him a jerk.

Leaf owners who do that should be aware of the reputation they build for all Leaf drivers. The last Leaf I saw, I thought, great, another driver trying to drive green like me. The next one I see, I'm going to think something less complimentary.

Yes... bad, bad LEAF driver. Naughty LEAF driver!

Ok, now that we've narrowed down what part of the country the one inconsiderate, inexperienced and/or ill-informed LEAF driver lives in, can we move along?

 

[TomT]

I've also had Leaf drivers unplug my Leaf when it was clearly still charging... No make or model has a monopoly on Aholes... (Well, Range Rovers, Porsches and BMWs seem to be unusually well represented, but that is another story... :lol: )

Yes... bad, bad LEAF driver. Naughty LEAF driver!

 

[derkraut]

Can't we all just get along? Err...nope, I guess not.

 

[desiv]

The OP said his car was done charging...
If my car is done charging, unplug me..

There's no "touching" of my car, just the plug.
I am not losing money or a parking spot...
I just had a charger that I wasn't actively using unplugged..

Why would anyone get mad about that?

The EV vs. Hybrid thing is totally unrelated...

Maybe the driver should have found the other spot, but we don't know the story behind that.
Yes, the OP could "see it from his office", but it's doubtful he was checking those spots just to make sure before he got the message/heard the alarm.
Maybe someone was in the spot (or looked like they would be) when the guy was parking. Maybe he thought it was down? Maybe he didn't see it / know it was there.. Maybe a lot of things..
All of which don't really matter, because the guy unplugged a car that was done charging...

I read someone mention about battery cooling, but isn't that only for home chargers or WHILE the car is charging?
It doesn't provide electricity after the charge is done, does it? I thought, when a public charger completes, it stops..
No battery cooling, no pre-heat. Because your charge is done (????).

If that's the case, there's no big deal about unplugging him when he was done...

Other than his alarm.. Wish those things were smart enough to not go off when the car is done charging.
(Yes, I realize the alarm could be disabled totally, but that's a different issue.)

I don't see any reason to be bugged by this..

desiv

 

[dm33]

Didn't realize that it was done charging.

EVSE parking spots should be for charging, not parking. There are too few charging spaces to hog up a space just to park. I think its perfectly reasonable, even expected, to unplug someone who's done charging so that someone else can charge. Its normal etiquette here. The car shouldn't be blocking a EVSE if it isn't actively charging.

 

[TomT]

+1! And coming back to move your car when it is done charging is not always practical...

The OP said his car was done charging...
If my car is done charging, unplug me..

 

[epirali]

+1,000,000!

Didn't realize that it was done charging.

EVSE parking spots should be for charging, not parking. There are too few charging spaces to hog up a space just to park. I think its perfectly reasonable, even expected, to unplug someone who's done charging so that someone else can charge. Its normal etiquette here. The car shouldn't be blocking a EVSE if it isn't actively charging.

 

[kubel]

The Leaf owner who unplugged me today just felt entitled, I guess. In my book, that makes him a jerk.

The Volt owner indicated he was finished charging, so he was actually ICEing a spot. The Volt owner is either a douchebag, or has a misunderstanding of how ChargePoint stations work AND is unaware of proper charging etiquette.

As soon as you unplug a car from a ChargePoint station, the session stops (in my experience). You have to re-swipe to re-initiate a charge. There's no possibility of this LEAF owner "stealing" his session or charging for free on his card.

The LEAF owner was going by the book by unplugging the Volt when his charge was completed, and initiated his own session to charge his car.

Lesson here: Unless it's your charging station, move your car if you aren't charging. This standard rule applies to pure EVs, PHEVs, and even pure ICE cars.

 

[GRA]

<snip>
Lesson here: Unless it's your charging station, move your car if you aren't charging. This standard rule applies to pure EVs, PHEVs, and even pure ICE cars.

Unless it's an L1 put in at a business for its workers, specifically so they don't have to rush out and move their cars, thus costing the employees time that the company would prefer they spend more productively.

 

[toolworker]

The Leaf owner who unplugged me today just felt entitled, I guess. In my book, that makes him a jerk.

The Volt owner indicated he was finished charging, so he was actually ICEing a spot. The Volt owner is either a douchebag, or has a misunderstanding of how ChargePoint stations work AND is unaware of proper charging etiquette.

I trust you are confusing two incidents. The OP did say that he had finished charging, but another charging station was available, suggesting that the other vehicle did not have permission to charge there but was poaching off the OP's (fixed price) permit. And the unplugging set off the OP's alarm.

You actually quoted my post, in which a Leaf owner apparently unplugged my Volt, which was nowhere near finished charging. A sign in my window invited others to unplug me after I was fully charged, explained the indicator, and helpfully mentioned that my cord alarm was off.

Incidentally, this was in the Stockton-Sutter garage in San Francisco, in an area where two ChargePoint stations are shared among eight reserved EV spots. Apparently the garage understands that it's not always possible to run back and move as soon as charging completes, and planned accordingly. It does make it more likely that a new arrival will unplug someone, but those who are not jerks or douchebags will check the charging indicator and/or the readout on the ChargePoint station and only unplug those who have finished charging.

It also creates the opportunity that when a driver returns to their vehicle, they can plug in another vehicle if they've left their charge port open. I always look for that opportunity before leaving.