Charging Station etiquette? Volt owners hogging the juice!!

Since having Astro (my new Leaf) for a week now, I've been searching out charging stations as I go around the San Fernando valley. But I've noticed that there's ALOT of Volt owners hogging the chargers when they are full and the cars sit for hrs or even a half day when I come back :evil: and I'm kinda low on the juice

My biggest gripe and thing that pisses me off is NONE of them have the clean air stickers on them and of course the sign says......



Sometimes I want to have these guys towed... THEY HAVE GAS.. we don't.. AND NO STICKERS :twisted:

Or is it cool or go grab their plug out so I can charge? :mrgreen:

BTW.. There's a new Leafer in Burbank!!! Welcome whoever you are!! I pulled up and he/she was charging but ANOTHER STUPID VOLT WAS HOGGING the Charge Point and wasn't even using it :|



What do you guys thinks??

I think that the Zero-Emission sticker program was
discontinued by the state, so that very few LEAFs
will have that sticker to display. The result of a bill
sponsored by GM, I believe.

So, the the sign requiring the Zero-Emission sticker
should really be removed, or at least re-worded,
if hybrids are to be excluded.

With appropriate new-law signage, any car, even a
LEAF, could be towed, just for not being plugged in.

Well, PHEV drivers are also trying to use less oil. The Burbank Sports Chalet site you show charges $2/hr now, so, like you, they are paying for the privilege. Burbank has done an excellent job in locating charge sites at premium, hi traffic, desirable locations. Additionally they are 240 volt, so 15% faster than most other sites, so frequently busy.

A smart phone with proprietary (Blink, ChargePoint, WattStation) and aggregator (PlugShare and Recargo) charge site locator apps is useful in navigating to available stations (9 in Burbank). And leaving a note on your dash that indicates when your charge is sufficient, and cell# to get hold of you, is always helpful just in case another EV arrives in need of a charge.

JasonA said:

Or is it cool or go grab their plug out so I can charge? :mrgreen:

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Not cool.

I'm a member of ChargePoint now but they have incorrect info for that station.. and showed they were not in use.. I let them know there discrepancies in their details on the app and website.. Same with a few other places in the valley.

I just figure if a vehicle is charged and sitting dormant, is there a problem pulling out the plug for a charge? Especially at a "FREE" place.. which now I've noticed loiters more and more..

If not cool.. then it's just not cool I guess..

ITestStuff said:

JasonA said:

Or is it cool or go grab their plug out so I can charge? :mrgreen:

Click to expand...

Not cool.

Click to expand...

I think (thought) the etiquette/protocol is that it's ok to unplug them if 1.) charging has stopped, and 2.) you leave a note on their windshield.

Forget where I read this now -- it might have been here. And fortunately, I've never needed to do it.

JasonA said:

I'm a member of ChargePoint now but they have incorrect info for that station.. and showed they were not in use.. I let them know there discrepancies in their details on the app and website.. Same with a few other places in the valley.

I just figure if a vehicle is charged and sitting dormant, is there a problem pulling out the plug for a charge? Especially at a "FREE" place.. which now I've noticed loiters more and more..

If not cool.. then it's just not cool I guess..

Click to expand...

As was noted in an earlier post in this thread, cars not plugged in are subject to being towed. WA recently enacted similar regulations.

Any vehicle with a plug has just as much right to charge as a Leaf.

If the Volt is not actively charging, then its ok to unplug in my eyes. to allow the Volt to camp is not what ANYONE wants with a slight possible exception of the Volt driver and I consider that to be unlikely.

having talked with a lot of EV owners/wannabes I find that not all are in a position to run out and move their cars when the charge is complete especially if they are at work. Does this mean they should not plug in? I wont go that far although they might need to manage their time better.

problem is when I bring "that" point up, I get the " the chargers are so busy, I have to grab it when I can" kind of stuff. so maybe a "worker's right" movement to allow employees time to move their cars is needed?

Yep, they went away about a year ago and thus that is old signage that references something that no longer exists. Only early Leafers have that sticker...

garygid said:

I think that the Zero-Emission sticker program was
discontinued by the state, so that very few LEAFs
will have that sticker to display.

Click to expand...

mbender said:

I think (thought) the etiquette/protocol is that it's ok to unplug them if 1.) charging has stopped, and 2.) you leave a note on their windshield.

Click to expand...

While I agree with this sentiment, there are at least two issues remaining:

1) Isn't the default behavior of a Chevy Volt to sound an alarm when the EVSE is unplugged?
2) If there is a local ordinance that would cause the Chevy Volt to be towed, that would be very uncool. Perhaps those ordinances are misguided, but that is a separate topic for discussion.

One question about the 2013 LEAF: If you use the automatic EVSE locking setting, does it unlock the EVSE when changing is complete?

TomT said:

Yep, they went away about a year ago and thus that is old signage that references something that no longer exists. Only early Leafers have that sticker...]

Click to expand...

Don't know about the term "early Leafers" but my 2012 was built in late June and was a Nissan dealer demo vehicle starting in Sept 2012 until I bought it last week and it has the stickers.

So if that's considered "early"... then how come I don't see Volts with them? Atleast not out here in SoCal...

Anyways, back on topic.. I agree that at ChargePoints and other places, they are a member just like me. But if they have finished, they have PAID for their service and charge and are now complete and no longer using it. The unit says so as so does the car.

They have the advantage of gas to get them home.... we do not. Again, the point of this was to bring up conversation on etiquette at stations...

Especially at places that have 3 spots.. but 1 charger :lol:

I got a letter from the DMV in July of last year telling me that they were being discontinued. Few people know of them or used them anyway. Other than free parking in Santa Monica and a few other cities, they really served no purpose.... My sticker number was only in the 900s which gives you an idea of how few were distributed over the many years the program was in existance...
It wasn't until the CA zero emission package for the 2012 Volt came out that it qualified for the stickers, at which point they were no longer distributing them...

JasonA said:

TomT said:

Yep, they went away about a year ago and thus that is old signage that references something that no longer exists. Only early Leafers have that sticker...]

Click to expand...

Don't know about the term "early Leafers" but my 2012 was built in late June and was a Nissan dealer demo vehicle starting in Sept 2012 until I bought it last week and it has the stickers.

So if that's considered "early"... then how come I don't see Volts with them? Atleast not out here in SoCal...

Click to expand...

Bought a 2013 Leaf in March and received my California white ZEV decals last week, so I think the program is still active.

RegGuheert said:

One question about the 2013 LEAF: If you use the automatic EVSE locking setting, does it unlock the EVSE when changing is complete?

Click to expand...

I believe it does unlock when set on auto

This is a tricky area for me.

I guess I fall back on the ole 'treat others how you want to be treated' and I wouldn't mind someone pulling my plug if I was clearly 100% and they needed it.

Maybe there needs to be time limits on spots (4 hour parking). They have parking like that in downtown areas all the time.

I went on a road trip with my family recently and it wasn't even a Volt sitting in the EV charging spots... it was ICE cars! It was a busy, sunny, weekend downtown... and they wanted/needed a place to park.

In some ways public EV charging is a little like 'the wild wild west'. at least in my area (EVs and EV charging stations are somewhat scarce)

JasonA said:

I agree that at ChargePoints and other places, they are a member just like me. But if they have finished, they have PAID for their service and charge and are now complete and no longer using it. The unit says so as so does the car.

Click to expand...

I thought you pay for the entire time you are plugged in, even if the battery is "full?"

Burbank DWP does need to put more chargers in. There are four spaces behind Sport Chalet but only two charging cords. Those ChargePoint units have the ability to have dual charging handles, that's why the ones currently installed are labeled "2." While they're at it, perhaps move those chargers into the parking garage across the way so we're not baking the batteries as they charge.

If you're willing to walk a few blocks, the public parking garages at 1st and Orange Grove (both sides of the street) have additional ChargePoint stations, as well as the garage that straddles Orange Grove between San Fernando Bl and Third, near the main police/fire station.

CMYK4Life said:

Maybe there needs to be time limits on spots (4 hour parking). They have parking like that in downtown areas all the time.

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That's probably the best solution in addition to making you pay to charge. Or program the unit to automatically shut off after a preset interval regardless if the battery is full or not.

RonDawg said:

JasonA said:

I agree that at ChargePoints and other places, they are a member just like me. But if they have finished, they have PAID for their service and charge and are now complete and no longer using it. The unit says so as so does the car.

Click to expand...

I thought you pay for the entire time you are plugged in, even if the battery is "full?"

Click to expand...

Re: ChargePoint, from the 1:30 mark of http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=EVr3OgSUsBs" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (comes from http://www.chargepoint.com/chargepoint-servicesvideo.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false, the administrator can configure whether a fee is paid the entire time the vehicle's plugged in vs. only when actively charging.

RonDawg said:

ChargePoint units have the ability to have dual charging handles, that's why the ones currently installed are labeled "2." While they're at it, perhaps move those chargers into the parking garage across the way so we're not baking the batteries as they charge.

Click to expand...

You sure about that? I thought #1 was the 120V outlet in the base of the unit (where you plug in your own EVSE/charger) while #2 was for the 240V J1772.

Better picture - http://www.novacharge.net/sites/default/files/gallery-images/AAA%20NATIONAL%20-%20013.JPG" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Details on the Chargepoint unit - http://www.pluginamerica.org/accessories/chargepoint-ct2100-series" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

More Chargepoint options - http://www.chargepoint.com/products-chargepoint-stations.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;