Charging Etiquette

[Riviot]

We pulled up to an Electrify America stop in Idaho to find one of the two 350kW chargers down, and the other occupied by a Chevy Bolt... No driver present, no Plugshare check-in, no note. Just pulling 30kW while we stayed an extra 10 minutes using the 150kW. I may have left a snarky note.

Who's the @$$hole in this situation, me or them?

Sponsored

 

[danielvdm]

I had this happen a few times on a recent road trip. One possible explanation is that the 150kW chargers were in use when the Bolt rolled up and they were forced to use the 350kW. I'm not really sure if they're justified in leaving the station in this scenario, maybe...

As for leaving the note, you're not the asshole, but expect this to happen a lot in your future so you might want to just learn to deal with it in a more healthy manner instead of getting pissed each time

 

[rodhx]

I write a lot of this down to folks who simply don't know/realize that not only do EVs charge at different rates but some chargers are faster than others. It's akin to the diesel drivers who lose their minds when someone is "blocking the diesel pumps" to get gas when the actuality is most folks assume the pumps are all the same because to them they are. Most of us need to look at it as an educational opportunity rather than a personal attack

 

[Dark-Fx]

Some of the 150kW stations still do 500A but don't have the 800V hardware, so you won't see a difference with the Rivian. EA didn't want to make it more complicated by introducing another charge level.

 

[sub]

You - the chargers are first come first serve. As long as they're actually charging, they're not doing anything wrong by using it. But if you think that the 350 kW chargers should be reserved for people who can make the most of it, then you shouldn't plug your Rivian into it either. So still you.

With Rivian's max charge rate of only 200 kW and average charge rate even lower, you are a much better fit for the 150 than 350. On a Lucid forum, I'm sure there's somebody complaining about the annoying Rivian owner who was plugged into a 350 kW charger only charging at 175 when they wanted to use that charger to pull down 300.

As far as leaving, that is the normal thing you do while charging.

To avoid getting annoyed next time also you can keep in mind that you only get that 200kw peak speed for a short time. Assuming you can actually get 150 from the 150, the total charge time at a 150 charger is only a few minutes longer then it would be at a 350 charger.

 

[Gator42]

Yah, I concur it’s kinda you. If there’s a hierarchy for keeping the fastest chargers open for the vehicles that can accept it Rivian isn’t at the top…

…best to keep things friendly. Far more egregious behavior is coming to a charging station near you- s00n you’re going to find a note stuck on your windshield for some rule someone else invented that you’ve broken. You won’t like it…

 

[ajdelange]

As far as leaving, that is the normal thing you do while charging.

That was true in the days when the OEMs featured what they couldn't (at that time) fix by advising prospective buyers that they could go to dinner, do their shopping or even take in a movie whilst charging. Today charges go a lot quicker - typically 20 - 40 minutes. As a consequence most who leave their cars are only gone a few minutes e.g. enough to hit the loo or get fast food. I'd say that at a Tesla SC station at least one is likely to find the owner sitting in his car.

 

[Zoidz]

From a completely different perspective, did you notify EA that one charger was down, or did you just assume that someone else reported the charger down?

While I don't yet own an EV, it seems to me that the proper proactive thing to do is for *everyone* to notify the company that a charger is down *every time* they encounter one. Am I wrong? The obvious solution here is *more* stations that *work*.

 

[Rousie13]

From a completely different perspective, did you notify EA that one charger was down, or did you just assume that someone else reported the charger down?

While I don't yet own an EV, it seems to me that the proper proactive thing to do is for *everyone* to notify the company that a charger is down *every time* they encounter one. Am I wrong? The obvious solution here is *more* stations that *work*.

Yes, this is what you should do. Everyone else may have assumed someone else notified them, and actually, no one notified them. It could have been a simple issue that EA could have fixed quickly.

 

[CommodoreAmiga]

Yes, this is what you should do. Everyone else may have assumed someone else notified them, and actually, no one notified them. It could have been a simple issue that EA could have fixed quickly.

People SHOULD notify EA... But really EA should also be self-monitoring. They should trigger alerts when station usage doesn't fit within trends.

 

[BoltEVowner]

From a completely different perspective, did you notify EA that one charger was down, or did you just assume that someone else reported the charger down?

While I don't yet own an EV, it seems to me that the proper proactive thing to do is for *everyone* to notify the company that a charger is down *every time* they encounter one. Am I wrong? The obvious solution here is *more* stations that *work*.

Absolutely a good thing to do! The downside, though, while I spent 45 minutes on the phone with the EA technician, plugging, unplugging, trying from my app, EA technician resetting the pedestal software, etc, 4 other people pulled up (including a blue Rivian!) and occupied the two working 150 kW chargers. The result was positive however, as I was given a code for a free EA session, and the EA technician was very apologetic and thanked me for my patience. But then, I had to wait an extra 20 minutes to get to a 150 kW charger so I could make it home. And it was only 20 minutes, because of the kindness of a Mach 3 owner who finished early to let me charge.

 

[ajdelange]

The downside, though...

And people wonder why those of us coming over from Tesla are nervous!

 

[BoltEVowner]

And people wonder why those of us coming over from Tesla are nervous!

And this is why a lot of us are hoping that Elon will get a move on, and start opening up the SC network to everyone else like they have done in Europe. Not going to hold my breath, as I understand it is going to be a lot more complicated with the proprietary plug change/adapters in the USA. This could, potentially, happen before there are a significant number of RAN DCFC stations.

Seems pretty lethargic of Rivian. Free charging on the nonexistent RAN for a year after delivery is going to be pretty useless for those with earlier deliveries!

 

[ajdelange]

And this is why a lot of us are hoping that Elon will get a move on, and start opening up the SC network to everyone

My fear is that if they do this (and I think they will) everyone wll flock to an SC rather than an EA (or other operator's) DCFC. The SC seem to be more conveniently located than EA stations and when one arrives at an SC it works (there have, of course, been exceptions to this). This will cause congestion at the SC and the llower volume of traffic will harm or kill EA and certainly some of the smaller operators. We need, or are going to need, EA and the smaller operators

 

[BoltEVowner]

My fear is that if they do this (and I think they will) everyone wll flock to an SC rather than an EA (or other operator's) DCFC. The SC seem to be more conveniently located than EA stations and when one arrives at an SC it works (there have, of course, been exceptions to this). This will cause congestion at the SC and the llower volume of traffic will harm or kill EA and certainly some of the smaller operators. We need, or are going to need, EA and the smaller operators

We are going to need them ALL! Totally agree. Tesla customers can use pretty much any charger, but it isn't vice versa for others yet. Tesla owners are going to be pretty disappointed once they show up and have to wait on Rivians (and others) to charge on their SC network!

But once we see the RAN buildout, Biden admin promised infrastructure charging network, and SC network opening up, it is all going to work out, and hopefully everyone is going to be a lot happier, and there will be more incentive to go EV.

Sponsored