PSA: Proper charging lock usage when publicly charging

PSA for North Americans w/'13+ Leafs...

If you're publicly charging and using a public EVSE (not an L1 EVSE you brought along), if you're going to use the charging lock, please be considerate and either disable it or set it to AUTO, not LOCK!

Today, I was at a place where there's free charging and 7 J1772 handles. *All* were in use but there was a silver Leaf that was done charging (all blue lights off). I tried to unplug him to plug myself in and discovered I couldn't. The guy must've been a relative newbie as he had no plates yet, so I'd guess he didn't know the difference.

Looking at his lock switch, he had it set to LOCK. This is worse than ICEing as the way parking and stations are arranged there, it's very easy to share plugs. Out of all the vehicles there, his was the only one that wasn't actively charging anymore, but the handle was locked.

Fortunately, by the time I posted about this on Plugshare, I noticed another Leaf had just finished.

I don't know when the silver Leaf w/charging lock in LOCK was done charging, but it had to have been at least 5 minutes before I arrived, since all its blue lights had gone out. By the time I left (in a bit under an hour), the car was still there handled locked to it and all w/the owner nowhere to be found.

Unfortunately, with "Auto," the plug remains locked to my vehicle for about two hours after all meaningful charging has ended. (This is after full charges, it unlocks as you would expect after charges to 80%.)

I wonder if it's different with MY14's.

I would have left a courtesy note. I always set mine to auto in public and 100%

Phatcat73 said:

I would have left a courtesy note

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I did leave a note.

Berlino said:

Unfortunately, with "Auto," the plug remains locked to my vehicle for about two hours after all meaningful charging has ended. (This is after full charges, it unlocks as you would expect after charges to 80%.)

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Hmmm... I almost never use the charging lock but for that "two hours", at what point in the charge is it, approximately per the % SoC meter and/or in terms of kW coming out of the wall? How does it compare w/the time you receive notifications from Carwings email/text message that charging is complete/stopped at 12/12 bars?

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=338038#p338038" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; has a link to a graph showing the ramp down. Ramp down for me looks like that except I'd only seen graphs in 5 minute intervals from Chargeopoint.

That has to be *the* dumbest feature of the new LEAFs. It's bad enough that Volts scream when they're unplugged (by default, no less), now we have a setting where a LEAF can selfishly attach itself like a parasite, even if the car has finished charging.

There will no doubt be a time when someone makes a post about how their car was vandalized because someone took out their frustration on the non-charging hogger.

So wonderful for the community. :roll:

Back when our Leaf was about a month old we drove to an event in another city. I called the Nissan dealer part way up to make sure we could use their L2 both going up, and later on our return. The answer was sure, please use it. On the day of travel we left early so we could spend about 45 minutes on the L2, then continue our trip. The dealership was easy to find, and the L2 (two of them) were easy to get to and open 24/7. I thanked the sales manager and others there when we were charging, letting them know how much we appreciated the service and how it gave so much new demension to having a Leaf.

When speaking to them I made it clear, asking then are you sure it is okay to come back at about 11pm to recharge on our way home, knowing that the dealership would be closed. "No problem, we are happy to help" was the reply.

When we returned at 11pm both L2 EVSE's were hooked up to a leaf, but there was room for us to pull up between then so the cable would reach our Leaf. However, when I tried to unplug one of the Leaf's, then the other, both were locked. Both had finished charging, but whoever the employee was that plugged these in had set the lock. The next morning I called the sales manager to let him know what happened. He appologized and told me that they are not supposed to be using the lock and he would talk to the employees.

We were now at a loss. What we did was get back on the freeway driving very slow (for the freeway using the carpool lane) and drove directly to the dealer we purchased our car from. It was 15 miles closer to us than our home so we prayed that they would have an open L2 (they have an L3 but it requires a key fob held by the sales department). They had two L2's for customer use that were both locked up with a padlock after hours. They have a 3rd over at the service area that is usually blocked off from the front. On this night there was only a couple of inches excess space on either side mirror to get in (I would not have tried it without the cameras or my wife watching) but we made it. We plugged in and spent an hour pretending to be teenagers out on a date. This gave us enough to get home, but also taught us an important lesson, never rely on only one location when driving after hours.

z0ner said:

That has to be *the* dumbest feature of the new LEAFs. It's bad enough that Volts scream when they're unplugged (by default, no less), now we have a setting where a LEAF can selfishly attach itself like a parasite, even if the car has finished charging.

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In the US, IMHO, there are valid reasons for the lock switch being in AUTO: to prevent inadvertent or intentional unplugging while charging. Some folks have reported their cars unplugged and charging stopped due to passersby just "trying out" unplugging.

And, if using an L1 EVSE, to prevent its theft while actively charging.

The only valid reasons for public use of lock, IMHO are to prevent theft of an L1 EVSE.

The offending car was not using an L1 EVSE.

cwerdna said:

And, if using an L1 EVSE, to prevent its theft while actively charging.

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Bingo! I'd say that was the primary purpose of the locking feature. It is only a matter of time before L1 theft becomes a problem.

Don't forget the locations, (such as California) where it is unlawful to be in an EV charging space without charging. If you had been able to unplug th offending car, you would have set the owner up to be ticketed/towed.

I understand why they added the feature, but the negative completely overwhelms the positive here.

The receptacle needs to absolutely, 100% unlock immediately after the charge is complete. If that can't be done the feature needs to be turned off.

We don't need yet ANOTHER reason why we can't charge.

rawhog said:

Don't forget the locations, (such as California) where it is unlawful to be in an EV charging space without charging. If you had been able to unplug th offending car, you would have set the owner up to be ticketed/towed.

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Ahh yes, the poorly written CA AB 475. I doubt the owner knew about that.

I recall that it also requires certain signage to be present in order for AB 475 to be enforced. I don't recall the details and couldn't find the post on it but I'm quite sure that location doesn't have the proper signage for that to happen.

Also, from anecotal reports of people being ICEd or spaces being blocked, it seems that enforcement is only very sporadic, at best.

I guess the real message here is... for all of us 2013 and 2014 folks... if you really feel the need to use the EVSE lock... only use AUTO unless it is your personal EVSE (trickle charger) connected. I hardly ever use it as I once looked a fool trying to unplug my own car having forgotten that I had locked... fob in my pocket and everything... so... I only use it in AUTO now... and even then rarely.

Reminds me of all the PHEVs that take the one EVSE at our local theatre. Maddening.

adric22 said:

cwerdna said:

And, if using an L1 EVSE, to prevent its theft while actively charging.

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Bingo! I'd say that was the primary purpose of the locking feature. It is only a matter of time before L1 theft becomes a problem.

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with the lax policy on LEAF lease returns, that issue should be going away...

cwerdna said:

Berlino said:

Unfortunately, with "Auto," the plug remains locked to my vehicle for about two hours after all meaningful charging has ended. (This is after full charges, it unlocks as you would expect after charges to 80%.)

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Hmmm... I almost never use the charging lock but for that "two hours", at what point in the charge is it, approximately per the % SoC meter and/or in terms of kW coming out of the wall? How does it compare w/the time you receive notifications from Carwings email/text message that charging is complete/stopped at 12/12 bars?

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When the LEAF dash reaches 98% and LEAF Spy indicates 97.3% SOC, no GIDs are ever added. The only activity at that point appears to be cell-balancing. It then takes up to two hours for the dash to skip to 100%, Carwings to announce that Charging is complete, and the Auto feature to unlock the plug. During this interval, if you return to the car to unlock and remove the plug, the dash will immediately skip to 100%, triggering a Carwings "Charge Complete" message. So, the LEAF knows that its battery is full, it just feels a need to "balance" before considering the charge complete.

If recharging starts at a high SOC%, over 80%, the needlessly long locking is "only" 10-45 minutes.

For full charges, Nissan should probably have "Auto" unlock the plug at 98%

Berlino said:

For full charges, Nissan should probably have "Auto" unlock the plug at 98%

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Yep, that would fix the 100% auto-lock delay issue. No meaningful charge appears to be getting into the car at that point, anyway.

I hit the same problem again as I originally posted today, at the same location (7 free J1772 handles). All cars were plugged in. I left them a note (telling them to use AUTO, if they wish to lock) and also posted about it on Plugshare.

Fortunately, a Volt nearby just finished shortly after I'd arrived (transitioned to flashing green), but they didn't disable their damned honk alarm. However, I couldn't plug in a waiting Leaf that was there before me because of the other completed Leaf being latched on, like a parasite.

I later did encounter the Volt driver and he said he'd just gotten the car and didn't know how. Unfortunately, I don't know either since I don't have one, other than it can be disabled via a menu.

cwerdna said:

rawhog said:

Don't forget the locations, (such as California) where it is unlawful to be in an EV charging space without charging. If you had been able to unplug th offending car, you would have set the owner up to be ticketed/towed.

Click to expand...

Ahh yes, the poorly written CA AB 475. I doubt the owner knew about that.

I recall that it also requires certain signage to be present in order for AB 475 to be enforced. I don't recall the details and couldn't find the post on it but I'm quite sure that location doesn't have the proper signage for that to happen.

Also, from anecotal reports of people being ICEd or spaces being blocked, it seems that enforcement is only very sporadic, at best.

Click to expand...

On this note, at that specific location, there are frequently EVs/PHEVs done charging w/their charge port doors closed in the charging spots. There were numerous ones today. Hopefully all were actually done and not unplugged w/their charging doors closed by people who didn't know what they were doing.

Never seen a single one ticketed and again, I doubt the signage is proper to pass AB 475 muster.

At the same public charging today, I pulled up and 7 of 8 plugs were in use and at least 1 was locked to a completed Leaf. :roll:

Fortunately, I knew how to bypass it and did. There was a couple there with their Leaf and said when they arrived, they couldn't charge due to the above stupid Leaf + all the others being in use. They had to wait for a Volt to leave first.

I left public charging to go to the store and returned to charge a bit more. The driver of the offending Leaf returned. I assumed incorrectly that he'd accidentally used lock and didn't know about it, esp. since it was new w/o plates yet. I told him to not use lock and instead use auto. I also told him I bypassed his lock since he was done and I wanted to charge in addition to the other Leaf that couldn't charge.

He asked how I bypassed it so I showed him on my Leaf. Apparently, he understands all 3 lock switch positions and INTENTIONALLY uses LOCK on free public level 2 charging! :evil: Let's just say he wasn't particularly friendly nor receptive to my message. I think my chances of changing his ways are 40% or less.

His excuses and reasons were not particularly compelling.

I don't know how long his Leaf remained w/the J1772 handle locked to his car like a parasite after completion, but judging by my Plugshare check in times and NissanConnect notification mails, I'm guessing at least 1 hour.

What was the reason he gave for not using Auto? (I never even use that.)

LeftieBiker said:

What was the reason he gave for not using Auto? (I never even use that.)

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He didn't give a good reason at all. He seems to be fighting fire with fire and hasn't thought through everything or doesn't care.

He seemed upset that I bypassed his charging lock even though he car was done long before saying "there's a fine line..." He seemed uninterested in listening to me saying that he'd be listening for "the last 15 minutes" (BS, more like 5) and didn't "want" to take up my time.

He claimed that this is his 2nd Leaf and that he's seen the whole gamut of bad things from unplugging him when his car's not done to breaking his charging lock (duh) by force. And, he claims he's had people come and physically stand in the spot until their plug-in shows up or people ICE the spots to reserve them for their plug-in. He claimed his 1st Leaf can't lock its port anymore due to the above breakage. He said when he's been unplugged, he's stranded, which I agreed sucks. He claims he has a GoPro camera pointing forward where he records everyone who unplugs him and puts them up on YouTube.

I told him I've had a Leaf for 3 years and never had this happen. I told him about how the previous folks couldn't charge and had to wait for a car to leave. He said he didn't want his charging lock to be broken on his 2nd Leaf. I told him he should use auto or don't lock it. I told him about confusion other drivers here sometimes have when a car's done (usually GM driver since Gen 1 Volt and Spark EV have indicators that are essentially opposite of ours). I suggested that he put up a sign listing how to tell if the car's done, like I do (and some others do, as well), if I leave my car there and as the Volt across from us had done. He scoffed at that.

He wanted to leave so I didn't have time to suggest other things like a charging protocol card. He was simply uninterested his ways and just didn't want people unplugging him, to hell with the plug locked like a parasite to the car after completion.

Maybe a short "If you don't want the charging lock broken, use Auto"...