Would you care if you got unpluged from a charger?

[MdBlackleafSl2012]

I don't use public chargers very often. 5 wonderful months with my leaf, but there are no public chargers where I work. I don't need them as my commute is only 11 miles each way. This week I have had to drive from Reisterstown Maryland into Baltimore city, A round trip of about 38 miles. I had an hour to kill there so I found a garage with 2, level 2 chargers. On my 2nd day I found the 2 chargers full! What to do? One of the chargers said on the screen "charge complete". I am wondering if it is "OK" to remove the charger plug from a car that is fully charged to plug my Leaf in? I did not because I realized after the first day, I would not "need" the charge. But, What if I did!?
As I am thinking about it now, I don't think I would mind if someone unpluged me if I had a full charge. How About you? :roll:

I should have mentioned that all the chargers I have seen in Baltimore are free!

 

[walterbays]

As I am thinking about it now, I don't think I would mind if someone unpluged me if I had a full charge. How About you? :roll:

I used to use the Plugin America windshield placard for plug sharing indicating when it was okay to unplug me. That was before GM lobbied the state of California to pass a law basically criminalizing the act of being unplugged by someone else (you get unplugged and you can get towed), and before Blink established its system billing for full hours or any fraction thereof. Between them that pretty much killed the concept of sharing the charging infrastructure :-(

But back then I was only unplugged one time. It was after the time I indicated was okay, and he nicely closed my port cover and access door for me. And it was a Volt. Some say PHEV's should never unplug but should be unplugged because they need the electricity less than do pure BEV's. But I had the charge required to drive home and so had no NEED of the energy, whereas he probably did need the energy to avoid burning gasoline on his way home.

GM and Blink may not have done such a bad thing killing plug sharing in California. Parking spaces are scarce resources anyway, especially in the prime lot locations where wire run length influences EVSE's to be installed. So there is seldom an adjacent empty space for sharing anyway. So I guess they only harmed EV adoption a little bit.

 

[ericsf]

I would not mind under 3 conditions :
1) My car is not a parking space where the california "be plugged or be towed" is enforced.
2) My car was fully charged.
3) The charging cost is not on me.

 

[leafedbehind]

I certainly would not mind being unplugged, and I have unplugged someone else (hope he didn't mind -- it was in a charging area where there are multiple parking spaces per charger, so the intent seems to be to swap cords when one is finished).

The laws are stupid and should be fixed.

 

[KeiJidosha]

I (still) use the protocol card that tells other drivers everything they need, to know if my car is charging, what time it's OK to unplug, and a number to call me if not sure. I do a lot of public opportunity charging, and it works.

 

[apvbguy]

FYI:

http://www.plugincars.com/eight-rules-electric-vehicle-etiquette-127513.html?mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRonvqjNZKXonjHpfsX56e8tWKWzlMI%2F0ER3fOvrPUfGjI4ATsRrI%2BSLDwEYGJlv6SgFSrfMMbd52bgEUhE%3D" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[smkettner]

I would not mind under 3 conditions :
1) My car is not a parking space where the california "be plugged or be towed" is enforced.
2) My car was fully charged.
3) The charging cost is not on me.

+1 on all three

 

[ksnogas2112]

I would not mind under 3 conditions :
1) My car is not a parking space where the california "be plugged or be towed" is enforced.
2) My car was fully charged.
3) The charging cost is not on me.

+1 on all three

+1...even ok if not fully charged as long as 'emergency' needs were met aka at least one bar stable and second or third flashing while charging assuming that the unplugger was on empty.

 

[sanfran]

I think the charging port locking function on '13 models (when in AUTO mode) solves this problem.
When the car is completely charged, the charger is unlocked. I've used this at a few public stations (although nobody has unplugged me yet). But, maybe a note on the windshield would be a courteous way to let other EV drivers know that if the lights on the dash aren't on, they are free to pull the plug...

Per the LEAF owner's manual:

AUTO mode
To select AUTOmode, push the AUTOside1 of
the charge connector lock switch. The indicator
light on the switch3 will illuminate.

When AUTO mode is selected, the charge connector
is locked while charging is in process. The
charge connector will be unlocked automatically
when charging is completed.

LOCK mode
To select the LOCK mode, push the LOCK side
2 of the charge connector lock switch. The
indicator light on the switch4 will illuminate.
When LOCK mode is selected, the charge connector
will remain locked. The charge connector
will be unlocked when UNLOCK mode is selected
or temporary unlock operation is performed.

UNLOCK mode
To select UNLOCK mode, return the charge connector
lock switch to the level position. Make sure
the indicator light on the switch turns off.
When UNLOCK mode is selected, the charge
connector will remain unlocked.

 

[philipscoggins]

When I charge in public and there aren't an abundance of chargers I try to leave a note on my dashboard asking to not be unplugged unless my charge is complete.

I also leave my cell number on it.

I've never been unplugged or called.

I'd have no problem being unplugged if my charge was complete or unplugging someone if their charge was complete. But if I unplugged someone I would like to think I'd leave a note under their wiper blade.

Philip

 

[Epi117]

I (still) use the protocol card that tells other drivers everything they need, to know if my car is charging, what time it's OK to unplug, and a number to call me if not sure. I do a lot of public opportunity charging, and it works.

I need to get/make one of these cards.

Link http://www.evchargernews.com/chargeprotocolcard.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://images.pluginamerica.org/evcard.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;