Charging ettiquette - Unplugging another car

[B61]

I would never (ever) touch other’s car.

Sponsored

 

[tomdfw1]

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.

And if there are no other locations and/or don't have the range to get there?

 

[Snowbird]

I went to Electrify North Miami and only 1 terminal was operational. A Taycan with a Michigan plate was connected to it. 98% I waited for 20 minutes and the owner arrived apologizing for the delay. I myself always arrange to be back 10 minutes before the end of the recharge. Taycan locked does not allow you to remove cable, anyway I won't do it.

What I have more difficulty is to see, not far from home, the owners of Tesla (sorry… but there are 2) who take the type 2 terminals to charge their cars for more than 10 hours and even if they are 100% you have to wait 2 to 3 hours for them to come to pick them up. I don't think it's good citizenship

please respect us

 

[RingoDingo]

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.

Unplugging the charger requires disengaging it from the car. People who are unfamiliar with the mechanic may not know how to do so on a particular model. They may do so inartfully or rub up against it while disengaging.
And yes, I don’t park near other cars when I can avoid it. You better believe I catch someone dinging my door or unplugging my car when I’m nearby where going to have a confrontation. I consider it an extension of my person. Don’t touch my car.

 

[tomdfw1]

I went to Electrify North Miami and only 1 terminal was operational. A Taycan with a Michigan plate was connected to it. 98% I waited for 20 minutes and the owner arrived apologizing for the delay. I myself always arrange to be back 10 minutes before the end of the recharge. Taycan locked does not allow you to remove cable, anyway I won't do it.

What I have more difficulty is to see, not far from home, the owners of Tesla (sorry… but there are 2) who take the type 2 terminals to charge their cars for more than 10 hours and even if they are 100% you have to wait 2 to 3 hours for them to come to pick them up. I don't think it's good citizenship

please respect us

I am Ok with a window of time to wait...But if someone doesn't respect others enough to disconnect within that window (especially hours later)...do they deserve the respect to not normally disconnect the charger so it can be used by others? (again, in proper method and not forcibly. I assume anyone with an EV knows how to disconnect a cord.)

 

[jkoya]

Let me clarify my post # 6 above:

I've been driving EVs since early 2012 and IMHO the public charging scene has definitely changed. Back then there was only the Nissan Leaf, Chevy Volt and Mitsubishi i-MiEV and none of the charging ports locked. The charging locations were few and far between and they typically had only one J1772 and even fewer CHAdeMos. It was so new, that people would gather at the one EVSE and talk about the cars while waiting to charge. It was kinda like an electric cars and coffee. This was back when the average range was 75 miles or less and most of us knew each other in the EV community and again, the charge ports did not lock.

I haven't had to public charge in years now, because of the range of the new EVs but I wouldn't try to unplug someone else's car knowing that most cars have locking charge ports. As @RingoDingo said above, it was a daily beater Leaf we all were driving back then.

On a side note, when we sold the Leaf back in 2018 for the Tesla Model 3 Performance, the battery had degraded so much, entire range of the car on a full charge was about 25 miles - kinda like a plug in hybrid !

 

[tomdfw1]

Unplugging the charger requires disengaging it from the car. People who are unfamiliar with the mechanic may not know how to do so on a particular model. They may do so inartfully or rub up against it while disengaging.
And yes, I don’t park near other cars when I can avoid it. You better believe I catch someone dinging my door or unplugging my car when I’m nearby where going to have a confrontation. I consider it an extension of my person. Don’t touch my car.

Every car I have seen works the same. Push a button, release cable. Do any cars work differently? I agree something "could" unlikely happen but I believe that is the risk at public stations and why I won't leave my car unattended if fully charged. I bear and accept the consequences if I am late.

 

[Dave777]

I was at an Electrify Canada station and plugged into the only available 150kw spot. (Kia EV in the 350kw spot ) I had some shopping to do and planned to be away 20mins or so. shopping took a bit longer and I returned at just about 31min…to see The Kia EV owner “attempting” to unplug my car!! I asked him what was he trying to do? He says since my free “grace “ period was over he was being neighbourly and save me some money. ( $0.40 ?)
I pointed out, that was my responsibility, and he wouldn’t get the plug out anyway as it is locked, and possibly risk damage to my car or plug connection or worse a safety issue. I emphasised that he should not be in the habit of touching other peoples cars, and asked him why he would be in a 350kw spot when there was a 2x 50kw and 2x150 kw spots available?

I would never touch anyone else’s vehicle, nor do I want them touching mine.

 

[RingoDingo]

Inartfully? lol... Every car I have seen works the same. Push a button, release cable. If you are so concerned for potential disconnection have the common courtesy to be there before it is done.

You’re more trusting of other people with your expensive property than I am. Like I said - it wouldn’t be me that’s late or not present - but I also don’t want other people feeling bold enough to disengage my car while I take a leak.

 

[tomdfw1]

I was at an Electrify Canada station and plugged into the only available 150kw spot. (Kia EV in the 350kw spot ) I had some shopping to do and planned to be away 20mins or so. shopping took a bit longer and I returned at just about 31min…to see The Kia EV owner “attempting” to unplug my car!! I asked him what was he trying to do? He says since my free “grace “ period was over he was being neighbourly and save me some money. ( $0.40 ?)
I pointed out, that was my responsibility, and he wouldn’t get the plug out anyway as it is locked, and possibly risk damage to my car or plug connection or worse a safety issue. I emphasised that he should not be in the habit of touching other peoples cars, and asked him why he would be in a 350kw spot when there was a 2x 50kw and 2x150 kw spots available?

I would never touch anyone else’s vehicle, nor do I want them touching mine.

Unplugging a car that is NOT 100% charged is wrong. I agree. I am talking about AFTER they are 100% charged...and when would it possibly be acceptable.

The new Kias DO charge at 350kw like Porsche (or 270ish). Either way, agree he was wrong....unless some period of time after a full charge.

 

[satchurator]

Some (all?) Electrify America chargers have two cables, and it’s technically possible to terminate one car’s session (by interacting with the kiosk) and start another season on the second cable without touching the first cable.

If a car was clearly at 100% charge and there were no other chargers available, I would hope that for an EA dispenser that the second cable would become useable, or else if desperate I would consider the cancel button option.

However I absolutely would never touch another person’s car and would be pissed if someone messed with my car to interrupt charging or recover the cable.

 

[tomdfw1]

You’re more trusting of other people with your expensive property than I am. Like I said - it wouldn’t be me that’s late or not present - but I also don’t want other people feeling bold enough to disengage my car while I take a leak.

FWIW - We sound similar...I don't leave my car while charging or if I do, I will be back well before it is topped off... I always try to consider others in line, especially on the limited 350s...and especially because it is a public domain and a 150-250k car. But if I were late, I would not be mad in the least if someone disengaged my car in normal fashion; it was my bad for being late and therefore I relinquish the right to keep it plugged in.

 

[tomdfw1]

Some (all?) Electrify America chargers have two cables, and it’s technically possible to terminate one car’s session (by interacting with the kiosk) and start another season on the second cable without touching the first cable.

If a car was clearly at 100% charge and there were no other chargers available, I would hope that for an EA dispenser that the second cable would become useable, or else if desperate I would consider the cancel button option.

However I absolutely would never touch another person’s car and would be pissed if someone messed with my car to interrupt charging or recover the cable.

Understand your position. But would you let your car sit at the only 350 for hours past being fully charged? Isn't that more rude and discourteous than someone unplugging it so it can be used by someone that needs it as well as to capture the revenue it was intended to?

I too am interested in when the second cable becomes "available" if the first one is being used. If they are fully charged, could the second cord be made available? This could eliminate this dilemma at least at EA stations.

 

[RingoDingo]

FWIW - We sound similar...I don't leave my car while charging or if I do, I will be back well before it is topped off... I always try to consider others in line, especially on the limited 350s...and especially because it is a public domain and a 150-250k car. But if I were late, I would not be mad in the least if someone disengaged my car in normal fashion; it was my bad for being late and therefore I relinquish the right to keep it plugged in.

A reasonable approach. Hopefully as EV adoption becomes mainstream they can develop a system whereby the charger can know that the car is 100% charged and begin to further charge the owner a penalty for every 10 minutes it remains plugged in at full charge. I think Tesla already does something like this.

 

[satchurator]

Understand your position. But would you let your car sit at the only 350 for hours past being fully charged? Isn't that more rude and discourteous than someone unplugging it?

I would never do that - wasn’t suggesting that. The most important point of the two sided etiquette on this topic is not to let it happen in the first place. One should be considerate of others and never neglectfully hog a fast DC charger by returning late after the car has already reached 100%.

My comment above was solely about the other side of the experience - when and whether it is fair game to intervene.

There are definitely some gray areas - some cars have a really poor charging curve and take a ridiculously long time to reach 100%. Also there are people who lack the tech skills, where they might be a considerate person but have no understanding of how long charging will take for the given combination of factors in that session, and maybe don’t have remote visibility to charging progress.

Sponsored