Charge Bay Alert!

[DaveinOlyWA]

hey this is an idea worth investigating. some people would not care if someone needed a charge but other times, but for others, it might not be such a big deal. this just provides another way of making the compromise of driving electric a bit easier to manage.

now the person there first may have to get a full charge to continue with their schedule or maybe not, but it never hurts to ask and if there was a way to contact EV owners using charging stations REGIONALLY, it might allow an EV driver low on charge to find a station that could be available without having to drive around

[coqui]

Great idea..I'm interested, let me know when you get this up and running in the USA (or post a notice here).

[SnaxMuppet]

Great idea..I'm interested, let me know when you get this up and running in the USA (or post a notice here).

Thank you

I am hoping that we can sort out hosting and SMS gateway to be states side so that there are no international SMS fees. It is looking good. Just a few technical issues to resolve and we can get the system up in testing mode in the USA.

If anyone would be willing to help out by testing the system for us then it woud be very much appreciated. Of course it will cost you nothing other than a few SMS messages to either a california numbuer (415) or if I can swing it at a sensible price to a national 800 number.

Watch this space

The best way to keep in touch with what we are up to is to follow us on twitter @chargebayalert or facebook.com/chargebayalert. Most stuff on there at the moment is UK related but we will make it clear when we are ready to start USA testing. You can also join in the conversation and give us your feedback, especially on facebook.

I will of course also post here

Thanks for your interest.

[DaveinOlyWA]

OK, then the folks who don't want their cell phone number given to the occupying driver simply wouldn't get 2-way communication. No need to take on the additional complication that you first described.

cellphone is one way, but more than 50 % of adults (guessing that percentage is higher amongst EV owners) carry smartphones so email would also work.

i do have a gmail account that is my primary but also have a yahoo account for spam so there are options

as for me? i have unlimited text so just text me. its by far the best way to contact me. it also requires the least amount of resources on the cellular network so usually a better chance of coming thru as well

[SnaxMuppet]

Well, this looks like a solution to a problem that doesn't yet exist and so I have decided to drop the project altogther.

Perhaps in a few years when there are enough EVs on the road to mean that you are actually likely to find a charging bay already occupied I might reinstate it but for now it is moth balled.

[LEAFer]

Great idea. My vote is NOT to moth-ball. ( An PHEV was already charging two weeks ago when I arrived at the Walgreens ... could have used this ! )

W.r.t. cell number: At registration select a default to provide or not. But also allow the feature at time of use to select the non-default (i.e. as the driver arriving to an occupied spot I could decide to provide my cell# after all this one time only). Selection should be simple enough (choose option "2" instead of "1") ...

[hmsganges69]

I just leave my mobile number so other EV drivers can call me if they need me to shift bit I tend not to leave the car charging without being nearby.

[DNAinaGoodWay]

Already have that service: http://www.chargesticker.com/

Also use the PluginAmerica card, with my cell number.

Always check in on PlugShare too, another contact avenue, even before the needy EV arrives.

Not that I ever leave it charging in public very often.

[GIBBER]

"Charge Bay Alert! lets you contact the driver of an Electric Car that is already charging at a charge station to let him/her know that there is another Electric Car driver waiting to charge"

http://www.chargebayalert.co.uk/

The most effective App currently available is PlugShare. It works great for this but the big flaw in it and all others is getting people to ACTUALLY USE THEM. I wanted to see if your App had a work around to this but the hotlink to your site states the "website is disabled". ~ cheers.