Charging ettiquette - Unplugging another car

[tomdfw1]

Curious people's thoughts on when it is appropriate to unplug a public charger from a car.
Is it acceptable to unplug someone's car from a charger if it is 100% charged...? 90%? Never?

I for one think it is acceptable to unplug the charger if the other car is 100% charged and they are nowhere to be seen. Then again, most/all EA stations have two chargers per pod and I think you can plug in the second one and it should work when the first is 100%? (Can anyone confirm?) (Porsche will not allow someone to unplug charger if doors are locked, but many cars will permit this)

However, for other charging stations where maybe only one charger per pod is used...would you unplug an unattended car fully charged?

Please consider all circumstances...for example You have 5 miles left of range and the next closest charger is 10 miles or more away. The only available charger is being used by a car that has been fully charged. You've waited an hour after that and the car is still plugged in. Is it acceptable to remove the charger? (If physically enabled?) When is it acceptable to you?

(It is my desire that stations post a sign similar to following: By using this charger, you accept responsibility to unplug car within 10 minutes of being fully charged or allow others to do so in your absence.) I do not see this happening at pay stations as they do typically charge an idle fee per minute, which is actually more than per minute charging fee. EA starts idle fee 10 minutes after fully charged and .40/minute!

Here is the latest poll made on Facebook in the Taycan User's Group (over 25k members):

What would you do?!

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[Dee]

You can not unplug another one's car.
It totally depends on the other person's attitude so you are not in control here.

 

[Jhenson29]

I don’t use any public charging, but I have a really hard time imaging a scenario where it’s acceptable to unplug someone else’s car.

I don’t think I’d do it even if the other car was at 100%. And it’s crazy to think to do it while they’re still charging.

 

[proficient_mathematician]

Yeah, would not dare to do this as I couldn’t tell the ramifications beforehand (i.e. not a problem vs. potentially being assaulted by the vehicle’s owner)… I hope this will become a non-issue through charging infrastructure developing and the proliferation of charge stations

 

[tomdfw1]

I don’t use any public charging, but I have a really hard time imaging a scenario where it’s acceptable to unplug someone else’s car.

I don’t think I’d do it even if the other car was at 100%. And it’s crazy to think to do it while they’re still charging.

So somebody that drops their car off at night and leaves it there at the only working port unattended is acceptable to you when you pull up at 9am? Or even someone perhaps watching a movie or whatever is fully charged, what is the harm in unplugging their car if it is 100% charged? I would have no problem at all if someone unplugged my car if it were 100% charged. It is just common courtesy.

 

[jkoya]

I had to unplug someone else's car about 9 years ago. We were driving a 2012 Nissan Leaf with the good ol' CHAdeMo and I stopped to charge in Vacaville, CA. There was another Nissan Leaf already plugged in to the only CHAdeMO station and their car was 100% charged and they were no where in sight. We looked around for the owner in the parking lot and at Sonic burger, but could never find them. After about 20 minutes, I decided to unplug their car. I left a note with all the charging information displayed on the screen and left them my mobile number to call me if they had an issue with anything. When I got back, they had left me a Thank You note for the info.

Ever since then, I try not to wander too far from the car when charging - especially if there is a line of cars waiting to charge. Does EA have idle fees ? I've only charged at EA once and I left after the car hit 80%.

 

[tomdfw1]

I had to unplug someone else's car about 9 years ago. We were driving a 2012 Nissan Leaf with the good ol' CHAdeMo and I stopped to charge in Vacaville, CA. There was another Nissan Leaf already plugged in to the only CHAdeMO station and their car was 100% charged and they were no where in sight. We looked around for the owner in the parking lot and at Sonic burger, but could never find them. After about 20 minutes, I decided to unplug their car. I left a note with all the charging information displayed on the screen and left them my mobile number to call me if they had an issue with anything. When I got back, they had left me a Thank You note for the info.

Ever since then, I try not to wander too far from the car when charging - especially if there is a line of cars waiting to charge. Does EA have idle fees ? I've only charged at EA once and I left after the car hit 80%.

I did this once myself...I left a note...and the people called me and told me they appreciated the note and had no issues and we've become friends since...

 

[BigBob]

You can't unplug a taycan if it's locked. I'd assume was same for other EVs too. I guess not.

 

[tomdfw1]

You can't unplug a taycan if it's locked. I'd assume was same for other EVs too. I guess not.

I asked a Ford MachE driver as well as another "forgot car" driver what they would do and if it were possible. Both said their cars could be released while locked. One said they would and one said they wouldn't unplug another's fully charged car.

 

[tomdfw1]

I can remember in college when doing laundry at public laundromats...how many times people would take another's clothes out of a dryer to use the dryer when done. This seemed common practice for many. I don't think it is right, but this is MUCH worse than unplugging a car in my opinion as I still don't see any downside to unplugging a fully charged car.

I believe if you are using public services, like charging stations, you apply common courtesy and that means if your car is fully charged and unattended...you accept the possibility of somebody unplugging the charger and THAT is common courtesy and proper etiquette.

 

[mokre]

I think it's a risk to unplug someone's car, or stop it charging. It's not really worth the potential confrontation, and I feel like it's pretty rude to do it. I personally will try and wake up early enough to get to a charger before they're in use, if I need to make sure the car is charged.

Edit: of course this isn't an option if you drive a lot during the day, but that's where I think you just have to wait, or try another charge location.

 

[Tooney]

Curious people's thoughts on when it is appropriate to unplug a public charger from a car.
Is it acceptable to unplug someone's car from a charger if it is 100% charged...? 90%? Never?

Never.
How would you feel if someone saw your locked Taycan was fully charged, decided to unplug, and when they had difficulty unplugging, attempted to use a lot more force to unplug it?
Don't touch somebody else's car.

 

[tomdfw1]

Who said anything about fing with the car or damaging the car? You unplug the charger. I have never heard of any car getting damaged by unplugging the charger. Under your guise, should we not park near your car? It is much more likely to be damaged by a door ding. It is a public parking spot and a public charging station. Therefore you live by the risk of parking there. Same thing applies to a charger.

 

[tomdfw1]

Never.
How would you feel if someone saw your locked Taycan was fully charged, decided to unplug, and when they had difficulty unplugging, attempted to use a lot more force to unplug it?
Don't touch somebody else's car.

I already stated my feeling...I have no problem at all with someone unplugging my car if it were fully charged. I think it is a totally different situation if anyone tried to forcibly unplug a car if the charger wasn't releasing. That again is a totally different situation.

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