Plug-In Road Rage: It begins

That's the worst part of 100% electric car. I don't like .

 

Well, I am not sure really. Because we already read number of charge rage stories. Just yesterday one of our readers shared this story. A Prius owner had parked over the charger cables. Volt owner couldn't charge. Had to switch and unplug the Prius' charger. But he left a note for the Prius driver who wasn't there at that time. But see what happened next when he returned.

I can't yet post a link here because I am new. But if you go to TorqueNews, click on Readers' Rides category on the top right and read see the story titled "Volt owner shares negative experience at a public charging station."

 

Driving distances and battery-capacities vary, so opinions it could be stated countless different ways. Sharing is the key, just like we were all taught in kindergarten.

 

The goal using less gas, does that include heated arguments, physical altercations or worse over not being able to have your access to a charging station at work?

It that's the case, is having a plug in really, truthfully worth it?

DBCassidy

 

Sharing is a nice concept, but rapidly disappearing from our every day lives. If free / low cost charging is provided at the work place, what is provided (in all fairness) to those who have to commute to work in a non- plugin?

Food for thought.

DBCassidy

 

Entitlement and tribalism.

Work provided charging access, free or otherwise, must be controled and governed by the employer on set rules. Punishment for abuse should be such that prevents it. If they do not provide set rules and/or enforce them, the lawyers take over and access will disapear. Enjoy the "good old days" now while they last.

 

The link is in post #31 of this thread.

 

You're probably referring to

Yeah, ridiculous behavior. Parking on top of a cable is bad and will damage it if done repeatedly, besides limiting its accessibility. Keying someone else's car is even more ridiculous.

 

People made best of that, guzzling to their heart's content without any guilt.

 

Math goes out the window when emotions, people, and free stuff gets involved. Yes, most charge at home, but why not take some free electrons from work, even if you really don't need them.

The part of my post you quoted was in reference to public chargers. Better a PHV to pass on them in case a BEV, outside its daily drive, needs it. I wouldn't get a BEV that couldn't make the commute to work and back home on a single charge.

It does take some luck to make the <100 mile BEVs work. Living close enough to work is needed, and a BEV may not have been considered during home selection. Perhaps it was, or they moved to make the BEV work. The flexibility of a second ICE was likely given up. These cars should work for many, but the many see cans as out weighing pros still. Those with a BEV have given the pros a higher priority, but that doesn't negate the cons.

Precisely. If I had a PHV, I'd leave a public charger open, and wait for a work one, because I don't need a charge to get where I'm going. If I couldn't charge at home, the views would shift some, but then I, and likely most, wouldn't consider a plug to begin with.

 

This points to the issue that it takes much longer to charge a plug-in than gas up (obviously).

Someone will have to leave the building at work or wherever to unplug and move the car.

 

The system is not designed to cause guilt: The cars, SUVs are available. Gas is available and affordable. Lot of drivers are into other things like working and raising family to bother with researching energy use, global warming like a large percentage of users on Priuschat.

 

Amen to that cwerdna.

 

That has nothing to do with the excess we saw years ago with monster-size vehicles used for commuting.

The past, not anymore.

 

It's time every charge station be outfitted with surveillance cameras able to photo every parking spot being served by it (and the make/model/license plate # of the cars occupying them), as well as motion sensors and time-lapse video to pick up behavior like removing charging cords, parking on top of cords, keying, etc.
If ATMs and cell phones can have HD video cameras, its time charging stations have them too.

What about segregating EVs and PHEVs? L2 for EVs and L1 for PHEVs?
Even if there is no segregation, I just don't see how it is cost-effective to let any car occupy a L2 spot long past the time its fully charged. L1 maybe, but definitely not L2. There should be some sort of penalty for not moving within xx minutes of reaching 80% or more SOC.

 

Whew, sure am glad we don't see those monster sized vehicles on the roads anymore

 

I think that would work at a work place. For Public chargers it would depend on available parking spaces.

 

This is just one small discussion among "friends", and look how hard it is to agree.

I can foresee owning an electric vehicle or hybrid plug-in (as an addition) in the near future as cost, efficiency and availability presents itself equally to the population, not just a few CARB states. However I will in no way tolerate some unknown Joe or Jane Citizen, who because they have a like type vehicle, taking it upon themselves to do anything to my vehicle, let alone pulling the plug just because they "want" to use it, or feel "more entitled" to it...free or paid for.

We can discuss what's right, fair or whatever until hell freezes over, but this problem will not resolve itself until regulation, oversight and penalty is put in place. We are not in kindergarten and the idealistic belief that people or life as a whole is fair and compassionate is just a fairy tale.

This was an entertaining and enlightening discussion for me, but it was just that.

 

I am not really suprised about any road rage stories in california. At least in this one only a car was keyed. No guns were pulled.

Here you go for the link

Volt owner shares negative experience at a public charging station - Torque News

The prius driver seems like a real a%%hat. First parking on a charging cord, is bad enough, but sure we all have bad days. But then keying a car because you were unplugged. Violent over reaction. I don't think owning a plug-in has anything to do with this drivers bad behavior, if the story is true. Said driver probably kicks dogs too, if the story is true.

The volt owner has nothing to be proud of. He should not have unplugged a charging car. But you would not expect that bad behaviour to result in keying.

Now its not like the over reaction of the florida retired cop that decided the crime of texting your daughter during previews in a movie theater should result in a shooting, but we should have standads for living in a society.

Solution for california is probably to have drivers have better manners, but I doubt that is going to happen. For the charger problems, that should be simpler. Charge a fee on some of these sought after public chargers. Even if it was only $1/hr most in the california plug-in survey said they wouldn't use them. For those where vandalism is likely to happen, but cameras on the chargers. If that A$$hat that keyed the car had to pay for it and a fine and a youtube public shaming I bet fewer people would act that way.

 

Both were at fault, the Volt driver should have plugged the Prius back in and started the charger back up for him. The Prius driver probably didn't realize he parked on the cord, but also highly overreacted by keying the Volt over less than $1 worth of free electricity. The Volt had it coming but it's still messed up to key someone's car regardless.

I strongly feel the solution to these problems comes with two steps. One, as long as the charger is providing charge, it needs to be automatically locked to the car and only unlocked once the car is full or the person who enabled it taps out. Two, to prevent people hogging the spots, even for the free ones, once the car is charged, the system should send a text message or automated phone call to the owner, and give a 15 minute waiting period before starting to charge $10+ an hour. Problem solved.