Charging etiquette. Would you do the same?

[tchavei]

Hi folks.

Haven't been around lately. Enjoying my Taycan, working, blah blah, blah. Story of my life.

Anyway. Yesterday I went with my wife to another town for lunch. After lunch we had to go to a supermarket and since I knew it had a 60kw charger and I was at 16% I thought I'd charge up while shopping for groceries.

When we got there, there was a car charging already. Bummer. I checked the charger station and the car was at 87% already. I told my wife "let's wait 5 min. Maybe the owner will return in the meanwhile".
After 10 min the charger beeped. I looked at it and the car connection had errored out at 89%. Owner no way to be seen.
Didn't know what I should do but I kinda needed the charge (16% remember) so I unplugged the cable, started the charge on my Taycan (after creatively maneuvering it at a 45 deg angle to get near the charging cable). I wrote a note on a piece of paper stating something like "You car wasn't charging so I took the liberty of charging mine" and left for groceries.

When I returned, car was at 66% and I also now had a paper on my windshield from the other car that had already left. I was expecting some rage text and a keyed car but instead it had written: "Thank you. Sorry for the trouble"

OK that didn't went that bad albeit kinda annoying.

We left that town and drove back. On our way home, wife remembered she wanted to grab something from a mall on our way back so we detoured there.
On arrival I saw another 60kw charger and of course a car was there charging.

So I peeked the charger screen again and guess what? Car was at 97% charge. I told my wife to go grab what she wanted and I stayed next to the charger. The car eventually reached 100% and the charger turned off. Owner, once again, nowhere to be seen. I still had 42% so I didn't really needed the charge but... come on. The charge would have been welcomed... Thought for about 20 seconds, unplugged the other car, started to charge mine. Made sure to close the lid on the other car.

Not sure how much time passed but wife eventually returned and my charge was at 68% so I unplugged and left. In that whole time the owner of the other car that had finished charging didn't show up.

I really don't know what's going on with people. When I charge my car, I'm either around watching or I keep watch on my mobile up. I also avoid charging above 85% so I will move my ass to the car to unplug and remove it when it's charged.

I still felt like a criminal unplugging other people's vehicles. It's not something I like. One day I'll unplug the car of the wrong guy and it'll be a mess.

How would you do it?

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[Jhenson29]

https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/threads/charging-ettiquette-unplugging-another-car.12540/

 

[bn8959]

It’s rude isn’t it. It would drive me mad. I’m still waiting for my Taycan, which will be my first EV. I’ve been watching busy charging stations to see what it’s like. It’s interesting when the EVSE shows the SoC and how long it’s been there for everyone to see. Seen several at 100% SoC with 1h+ charge times (and massive queues too). Not on.

 

[Hanny]

I thought that cars locked the charge ports and thus you can’t unplug unless car is unlocked?

As the unplugging cars, sorry but no matter the annoyance with others not being tentative of their charge state and vacating …. I wouldn’t personally touch the other car or charger cable. I may think differently to some but regardless would not touch another vehicle/charge port or accept anyone touching mine.

But I also would NEVER leave my car so that it remained plugged in and not charging, if the App alerted to a fault and stopped charging, I would immediately return to the car.

 

[bn8959]

Yeah I wouldn’t touch someone else’s car. I would just sit there and be really annoyed, like a true Brit.

 

[FmrSapper]

The very first time I used a public charger, same issue. All but 2 chargers were broke, one charging a Rivian with the driver standing next to it, the other charged at 100% and shut off with driver no where to be found. I parked, waited 10 min, no driver so unplugged his and started charging mine, while chatting with my wife in the car. The inconsiderate driver comes out of nowhere with his white trash girlfriend and gets in my face, threatens me and my wife, says never touch his f’ing car again etc, etc. Rivian driver comes over to my aid and tells white trash daddy to go piss up a rope, that I was right and he was an inconsiderate SOB. I just ignored him and kept charging my car. People like that don’t get it nor have consideration for others. I’ll do It again if need be.

 

[Hanny]

The very first time I used a public charger, same issue. All but 2 chargers were broke, one charging a Rivian with the driver standing next to it, the other charged at 100% and shut off with driver no where to be found. I parked, waited 10 min, no driver so unplugged his and started charging mine, while chatting with my wife in the car. The inconsiderate driver comes out of nowhere with his white trash girlfriend and gets in my face, threatens me and my wife, says never touch his f’ing car again etc, etc. Rivian driver comes over to my aid and tells white trash daddy to go piss up a rope, that I was right and he was an inconsiderate SOB. I just ignored him and kept charging my car. People like that don’t get it nor have consideration for others. I’ll do It again if need be.

Sorry to say that I don’t agree that you have the right to touch with someone else’s property.

 

[tchavei]

Ups.

After reading the thread, I still feel like a criminal for unplugging two cars yesterday but neither was actively charging. Under Portuguese law, at charging stalls that have a sign stating "on charge" under the EV charging sign can be legally towed if they aren't actively charging. So I kinda used that excuse in my mind to unplug them (instead of calling the police and waiting two hours for a tow). One was at 89% and errored out (not charging) and the other reached 100% and shut down.

Are you guys 100% sure about this "unable to remove plug thing when locked"?

I was 110% sure that while that is true for AC charging (because it's your cable after all) the same didn't apply to DC charging where the plug is owned by the charging stall. Both cars I unplugged yesterday had the cable unlocked and pulled out really easily (one was an ID3, the other was a Renault Zoe)

I've tried on my Taycan before and I'm pretty sure that all that was needed was to press the button next to the plug and it would interrupt the charge (if any) and unlock the plug after 5 seconds. I will test this again in a couple of days. Car locked, keys disabled correct?

PS: I'm in Portugal, system might be different here / Europe.

 

[whitex]

I wouldn’t personally touch the other car or charger cable.

Yeah I wouldn’t touch someone else’s car. I would just sit there and be really annoyed, like a true Brit.

Sorry to say that I don’t agree that you have the right to touch with someone else’s property.

That is the attitude I’ve had, however I think circumstances can change your minds. Imagine pulling up to a charger in the middle of winter. Your car on its last few electrons (eg 3%, which is the lowest I ever pulled into a DC charger at) and there is a car at 100% SOC blocking the only working charger. Do you unplug it and plug your Taycan in, or do you chance your car shutting down and freezing?

 

[rb33gl]

Hi folks.

Haven't been around lately. Enjoying my Taycan, working, blah blah, blah. Story of my life.

Anyway. Yesterday I went with my wife to another town for lunch. After lunch we had to go to a supermarket and since I knew it had a 60kw charger and I was at 16% I thought I'd charge up while shopping for groceries.

When we got there, there was a car charging already. Bummer. I checked the charger station and the car was at 87% already. I told my wife "let's wait 5 min. Maybe the owner will return in the meanwhile".
After 10 min the charger beeped. I looked at it and the car connection had errored out at 89%. Owner no way to be seen.
Didn't know what I should do but I kinda needed the charge (16% remember) so I unplugged the cable, started the charge on my Taycan (after creatively maneuvering it at a 45 deg angle to get near the charging cable). I wrote a note on a piece of paper stating something like "You car wasn't charging so I took the liberty of charging mine" and left for groceries.

When I returned, car was at 66% and I also now had a paper on my windshield from the other car that had already left. I was expecting some rage text and a keyed car but instead it had written: "Thank you. Sorry for the trouble"

OK that didn't went that bad albeit kinda annoying.

We left that town and drove back. On our way home, wife remembered she wanted to grab something from a mall on our way back so we detoured there.
On arrival I saw another 60kw charger and of course a car was there charging.

So I peeked the charger screen again and guess what? Car was at 97% charge. I told my wife to go grab what she wanted and I stayed next to the charger. The car eventually reached 100% and the charger turned off. Owner, once again, nowhere to be seen. I still had 42% so I didn't really needed the charge but... come on. The charge would have been welcomed... Thought for about 20 seconds, unplugged the other car, started to charge mine. Made sure to close the lid on the other car.

Not sure how much time passed but wife eventually returned and my charge was at 68% so I unplugged and left. In that whole time the owner of the other car that had finished charging didn't show up.

I really don't know what's going on with people. When I charge my car, I'm either around watching or I keep watch on my mobile up. I also avoid charging above 85% so I will move my ass to the car to unplug and remove it when it's charged.

I still felt like a criminal unplugging other people's vehicles. It's not something I like. One day I'll unplug the car of the wrong guy and it'll be a mess.

How would you do it?

Last Sunday, I arrived at an Instavolt charger to top up for the journey home. Both stands occupied. Waited in my car (didn't want to give away my place in any queue as I was next) for just over an hour before one came free - someone charging to 100%. The other car - a BMW - had completed its charge 40 minutes earlier. Driver nowhere to be seen. Plugged in the Taycan and got about 45kW in 30 minutes - 85%. The BMW was still there when I left.

Like you, I monitor the charge if I go for a coffee so I can move it when I've finished. Why do people think they can use the space for parking when others want to use it?

I think a steep charge for overstaying should be a requirement for all public chargers.

 

[tchavei]

Last Sunday, I arrived at an Instavolt charger to top up for the journey home. Both stands occupied. Waited in my car (didn't want to give away my place in any queue as I was next) for just over an hour before one came free - someone charging to 100%. The other car - a BMW - had completed its charge 40 minutes earlier. Driver nowhere to be seen. Plugged in the Taycan and got about 45kW in 30 minutes - 85%. The BMW was still there when I left.

Like you, I monitor the charge if I go for a coffee so I can move it when I've finished. Why do people think they can use the space for parking when others want to use it?

I think a steep charge for overstaying should be a requirement for all public chargers.

Yes it's annoying. I don't leave my car on a stall without it actively charging ever. Only happened once at a hotel during the night but when I realized, all 4 chargers next to me were vacant so didn't stop anyone of charging and I paid the bill (can't recall correctly but I was charged like 50 bucks or so.) lesson learned.

In any case it's a grey area. Sometimes unplugging won't solve anything as you can't physically squeeze your car near enough to charge.

A few weeks ago, at 23:00 I went to charge and a car had parked across both spaces, had finished charging and was just sitting there. There was no way to get my car close enough so I searched for another charger. One hour later I was finished. When I passed by the first charging stall that car was still there.

I think recklessly hogging charging spaces is just uncivilised but pulling the plug isn't that great dithery. I hated doing it tbh hence my post.

 

[tchavei]

Last Sunday, I arrived at an Instavolt charger to top up for the journey home. Both stands occupied. Waited in my car (didn't want to give away my place in any queue as I was next) for just over an hour before one came free - someone charging to 100%. The other car - a BMW - had completed its charge 40 minutes earlier. Driver nowhere to be seen. Plugged in the Taycan and got about 45kW in 30 minutes - 85%. The BMW was still there when I left.

Like you, I monitor the charge if I go for a coffee so I can move it when I've finished. Why do people think they can use the space for parking when others want to use it?

I think a steep charge for overstaying should be a requirement for all public chargers.

Yeah well... That depends on brand. Do we know for sure other cars can't control the DC charge? I'm very suspicious of that guy who's charge "errored out" at exactly 89% and the charger was displaying "car has cut the connection". Not sure the charger can bill you that way for the extra minutes.
The "abandoned" car was an uber too btw.

 

[whitex]

The solution to a lot of these problems has already been figured out by Tesla. It consists of a two prong approach:

1. Idle fees. Once the car is done charging, if it sits at a charger which has less than 33% of stations available, the non-charging car starts accumulating hefty idle fees (IIRC $1 a minute or more), after some grace period of maybe 5 minutes.
2. Automatic target SoC adjustment at busy chargers. When plugging into a busy charger, Tesla automatically lowers the target SoC to 80% IIRC, even if the owner set it to 100%. The owner can still override back to a 100% via the car UI or the app, since some situations actually do require 100% charge, but it eliminates the ignorant and oblivious owners who charge to a 100% because they once set the target and never bothered adjusting.

Of course this does require a reliable phone app so that drivers are notified, and functionality which CCS committee probably couldn't agree on - ability for the charger to lower the car's target SoC but still allow the user to override (again, 100% is in fact needed sometimes, I've done it, it's painfully slow, but no way around some travel intervals without it). So while it's probably impossible for the "everyone's idea must be included" committees, an individual DC charger operator could probably accomplish this by providing their own app which notifies the user of charging progress and allows them to set/modify the target SoC. Of course that would require a DC charger operator with a dictator driving a clear design vision, or else you end up back in the "design by committee" world, or as I like to call it "the great compromise nobody feels ownership nor is really proud of".

 

[Jhenson29]

Stations that are fast enough and numerous enough that it’s a non-issue. That’s the solution.

I just drove out to CA from STL in the 911. It was fantastic (albeit, expensive ?). I didn’t have to take anyone’s nozzle out of their tank to fill my car. ?

Bonus, the car didn’t catch fire.

 

[whitex]

Stations that are fast enough and numerous enough that it’s a non-issue. That’s the solution.

I just drove out to CA from STL in the 911. It was fantastic (albeit, expensive ?). I didn’t have to take anyone’s nozzle out of their tank to fill my car. ?

Bonus, the car didn’t catch fire.

Yea, but what if people parked their cars at the pump while they go shopping or eat? In CA they make you hold the nozzle while filling up, no nozzle locks. Not a practical solution for EV charging, lol.

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