Disgruntled Real Electric Car Owner

Fundamentally, the disgruntled BEV owner is being short-sighted as well. The problem he/she is upset about is insufficient charging spots and locations. To drive more installations, there has to be more demand, but many people avoid buying BEVs b/c of range anxiety, so it's a chicken and egg problem. PHEVs remove range anxiety which encourage more buyers to purchase them and still create demand for more charging stations. Ultimately, that benefits all plug-in vehicles.

I considered a BEV myself, but I foresaw the inconvenience of renting a gas car for long trips, planning my trips around charging stations, etc. and ultimately couldn't pull the trigger. I knew that I wouldn't be happy with such inconvenience, so I purchased a PHEV and sacrificed some electric range.

 

With the Entune app, it's shows local charging stations. When my Prius is charging at home, it shows that location as a charging station. If someone approached me at work, I'd consider letting them charge for a small fee and then, only if they knew the secret hand shake. Have no desire or need for any public charging at this time.

 

Honestly I skipped over reading your thread as it's apparent you are set in your ways. Keep looking at things optimistically (and biased) and I’ll keep looking at it realistically.

Until ChargePoint/Blink/The Establishment tell me otherwise its first come first serve, I don’t give a crap if you are an idiot and risked stranding yourself at a location because you assumed you had some mythical rights to a “public” charging station only to arrive and find all the locations occupied and charging.

I really don’t see what’s to discuss, it’s a pretty simple concept, if it’s vacant, pull in and charge, if it’s not too bad so sad, check again in a few hours.

 

^^^
Sigh... Efusco said it best. All EV, PHEV, EREV, etc. drivers need to get along. You should read what I wrote.

Your idea below is simply ridiculous.

I guess that means we shouldn't bother building any public charging infrastructure.

Beyond the examples I cited, I guess all the BMW ActiveE drivers who met at Morro Bay over the weekend (WxNS | Facebook) and there was an equivalent on the East Coast were "stupid".

No, BEVs shouldn't have some mythical rights or exclusivity but ALL users of charging stations (regardless of them being BEVs, PHEVS, etc.) should practice some etiquette like leaving a note/card indicating whether it's ok to unplug, where you can be contacted, etc. and vacating the spot once done charging. Apparently, in 03 (??) some folks come up w/some protocol and a card at EV Charging Protocol.

And, as I said, BEV drivers should have backup plans, where possible.

People buy BEVs for various reasons rather than PHEVs (to use no oil, to not send $ to foreign countries and dictators, to be able to be powered via using renewable and clean sources of energy, to support the technology, etc.), esp. ones w/incredibly short EV range like the PiP.

Whenever I finally get a Leaf (or if I end up having to a get PHEV), I will practice what I'm preaching with respect to etiquette.

 

I'm confused because what you are saying pretty much sounds like what I said...

Me - You shouldn't be "expecting" to charge at your destination, thats flat out stupidity.
You -BEV drivers should have backup plans, where possible.

 

No, you said:

I fundamentally disagree w/the bolded portion and that those who go beyond their BEV's range are "stupid".

As for "expecting" to charge, well, there are some means of determining is a station is in use/down (sometimes those means aren't reliable). BEV drivers need to have backup plans because the station might be in use or down.

I'm advocating people that use or occupy charging spots get along with other users and practice charging etiquette that I described.

One should also look at it from the POV of some BEV drivers (not that the driver who left the note on the OP's car was in the right, he wasn't. That was rude.). I was at http://hybrids2hotrods.com/ (lots of EVs there) and one guy said about PiP drivers essentially said "because their AER is so short, they'll be charging all the time" and I believe he said "thus tying up all the spots". I disagreed since I figured PiP drivers will only do so if it's convenient and cheap enough (or free).

But what if what he says is right? A car, namely the PiP, has such a short AER that they do hog spots because the owners are always looking for places to charge when they don't really need to since they have an engine and a gas tank. And, they're displacing or inconveniencing BEV owners who have no engine and gas tank.

And, the PiP's charge rate is rather slow, tying up spots longer than a BEV (which have 3.3 kW or now more commonly 6.6+ kW onboard chargers) for an equivalent amount of miles added. On a '13 Leaf w/6.6 kW on-board charger, 1 hour can add 25 miles of range (from 13leafproduct5 - SF BayLEAFs). I believe the rates should be similar or the same for the Ford Focus Electric, Honda Fit EV, Coda and Rav4 EV (maybe even faster, depending on the EVSE since the Rav4 EV has a 10 kW OBC), for instance.

 

With a ChargePoint account you can reserve a time at a charger.

Mike

 

... unless the owner of the charging station has disabled reservations. That is what is reported by the ChargePoint app for most of the municipal chargers I use.

 

Yeah- checking from the internet only tells you the charger isn't in use- it can indicate "available" only to find out it's ICE'd straight through from 8am-5pm from morons in non electric vehicles who ignore the "Electric Vehicle Charging" sign.
I see that all the time where I try to charge every workday- the Chargepiont station cable only reaches far enough to cover one parking spot to the right of the unit and one spot to the left of the unit- so if those two spots are ICE'd the BEV drivers would be totally screwed if they relied on the internet listing and arrived there with zero charge left.

 

I've considered enhancing my open-EVSE to also serve as a 20' J1772 extension cord by adding in a J-1772 socket into the brick downstream of the relays.

 

I've looked into building my own J-1772 20' extension cable- but it's going to cost about $200.
So, it's cheaper to miss a day's free charge- which I've calculated to be valued at about 66 cents- when I'm ICE'd out rather than spending $200 on an extension cable that could easily be stolen, or damaged by the county landscapers cutting the grass at the court complex where I charge.

Now when I'm ICE'd I just leave a note on the offenders windshield....

As a matter of fact- I no longer even carry the factory EVSE set in the car because there's actually no situation where I'd use it in public for fear of it being stolen/vandalized.

 

It looks like it would only be about $50 to add the socket to an openEVSE build.

SAE J1772 connector CE US EV Plug, View US EV Plug, UCHEN Product Details from Zhangjiagang Uchen Technology & Engine Co., Ltd. on Alibaba.com

I built my openEVSE as a mobile cordset with a dryer plug so that I could use it with the dryer outlet in my garage but since I do the bulk of my charging on a subscription at charging stations, the extension cord functionality would probably get more use. Your right about $200, the bulk of the cost in an openEVSE is the 4 conductor cable and J1772 handle so combining the EVSE cordset and extension into one cordset shares the costly components.

Locking the J1772 handle to the vehicle is easily accomplished but someone could always cut the cable. With the socket downstream from the power relays the dryer plug isn't going to be hot although someone may assume it is and be concerned, probably should cap it or throw it into a enclosure of some sort.

 

Okay, so if there is charger rage and a fight breaks out and someone is injured who gets sued? The owner of the charger for creating a attractive nuisance and a foreseeable confrontation. Pure EVs for creating uncontrollable charge anxiety? The PEV manufacturer for creating envy and opportunity for selfish charger hogging? The Government for incentivizing a dangerous situation? The parking lot owner for not having a properly supervised lot in light of the inflammatory environment? The weapon manufacturer if a weapon was used? Somebody has to pay !!
This is a lawyers dream come true !

 

If I had a pure EV I'd bring my Level 1 EVSE and a heavy gauge 25' extension cord with me all the time.

Mike

 

I probably wouldn't, for fear of the EVSE getting stolen, unless I had a good way of securing it. They're not cheap to replace. Even then, they could still cut the wire.

I know some early Leafers (before J1772 charging stations or DC fast chargers were common) were pretty nervous at first and would carry around their L1 EVSE at all times but they don't anymore, after they got over their range anxiety and learned their cars better.

 

. Agree with you on all points. Good to see you on line again. Did you buy a PIP, OR do you now have a Tesla?

 

Sound like a regular gas station in FL after a hurricane has passed through. (Might explain the lawyer advertising?!)

 

Wow, lots of hate here. The original post where a (presumably) EV owner left a nastygram was out of line, assuming the car which got the note was in fact charging and not just blocking the spot.

I'm going to be driving 1500 miles from Canada to Mexico again, during "BC2BC-2013", starting this June 29 with a few of my EV friends. I know without question that I will bump into a few plug-in hybrids charging, and if they beat me to the spot, good for them. Yes, I may have 1400 miles to go, with a short time to get there, but I promise I won't leave a nasty gram unless your car isn't charging.

But, I'm not above bribing or begging for use of the spot if I see you there!! You're all inviting to participate, but sorry, all oil power sources of power are verboten. At 11 miles per charge, it would be a LONG trip.

Tony Williams

 

I have left notes on Hybrid (not PHEV) car windows explaining that electric parking means a vehicle that you plug in and they may not know that they are blocking a fuel charging location for someone who may need the fuel. That is the nicest way of explaining it.