Ski Resort L2 Charger etiquette

[ndmiller]

First come first serve, welcome to the post pandemic mindset of the American consumer (aka : My Turn). People are selfish today like no other time I've experienced in my life and I'm from the Northeastern US. Either you deal with it or call it out, I prefer the latter.

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[DevSecOps]

Don't charge unless you need it. If you need it then be prepared to go an unplug when you're done. If you can't get back (as another said in an example of snow shoeing) then don't use it.

I'm not sure why people think that just because they don't want to be burdened, someone else should be. It's a lazy/selfish attitude.

 

[RandomMcRandomFace]

First come first serve, welcome to the post pandemic mindset of the American consumer (aka : My Turn). People are selfish today like no other time I've experienced in my life and I'm from the Northeastern US. Either you deal with it or call it out, I prefer the latter.

Unsure what or who this is directed at but thinking someone is going to depart a ski area, move their car to a lot that is likely far away, wait for a shuttle bus and then return to the mountain, I don’t know what to say. These are all day spots with chargers at them. That’s the general understanding because the alternative is nonsense (as in you’d never use them unless you planned on skiing a short day). Again, don’t plug in if you don’t need to, that I get. But if you need 4-5 hours of charging, of course you are going to leave it for the 8 hours. Pandemic has nothing to do with it.

Yea, some of you folks don’t ski . . . I also assume no one uses the chargers at airports - or do you fly back to move your car? Not every charger is intended to be a “move immediately upon completion.”

 

[Ingo B]

L2 etiquette 101:

Always check in on plug share!!!

The L2 is there for me to use, but it's entirely conceivable that somebody needs it worse than I do. If I have checked in with plugshare, they can contact me and present their case for needing it more than I do.

This applies whether it's a hotel, ski resort, or any other public charger.

Given the state of today's infrastructure and resources, this seems the best solution, or at least stop-gap until chargers become more common.

 

[MountainBikeDude]

9/10 times the charger isn't being occupied by someone in desperate need of a charge. No one would drive to a ski resort knowing they can't make it back, banking on a L2 charger to get them down the mountain.

I would argue that if I chose to take advantage of free or cheap L2 charging while at a ski hill, that's my choice, and to say it should be saved only for the desperate is unlikely to happen.

Also, moving your vehicle at a crowded ski resort mid day is also unlikely and likely just a massive time kill PITA cause the next person on the charger probably is rocking up with 60% or greater charge. Most chargers are 6.2kW as well, so even a full day of skiing is less than half a Rivians capacity.

 

[RandomMcRandomFace]

9/10 times the charger isn't being occupied by someone in desperate need of a charge. No one would drive to a ski resort knowing they can't make it back, banking on a L2 charger to get them down the mountain.

I would argue that if I chose to take advantage of free or cheap L2 charging while at a ski hill, that's my choice, and to say it should be saved only for the desperate is unlikely to happen.

Also, moving your vehicle at a crowded ski resort mid day is also unlikely and likely just a massive time kill PITA cause the next person on the charger probably is rocking up with 60% or greater charge. Most chargers are 6.2kW as well, so even a full day of skiing is less than half a Rivians capacity.

I do it all of the time. I can get up to VT with 30-40%. I drive to the lift early, plug-in and charge all day, then I don’t need to charge on the way back.

 

[DevSecOps]

Yea, some of you folks don’t ski . . . I also assume no one uses the chargers at airports - or do you fly back to move your car? Not every charger is intended to be a “move immediately upon completion.”

I think you're missing the point. If you choose to be selfish or lazy then don't plug in to start with. Your vehicle charging is your burden, no one else's. If you need juice to get home, then spend 30 minutes after skiing at a DCFC. I ski all the time at Heavenly in Tahoe, and it's a 30 minute gondola ride from the base to the mountain, so 1 hour in total. I sure as hell won't go down and unplug and move it, you're right about that. But I wouldn't plug in to begin with, because that's just being a dick.

If there's a sign that says "parking WHILE charging only" and you aren't charging, then be prepared to come back to no vehicle at all, especially if I see it. If you left your car at a gas pump while eating at a restaurant across the street, you would expect to be towed. It's no different.

You seem to think that your need for electrons is more important than anyone else. I'm sure you would be pissed if an ICE vehicle was parked in an EV charging spot. Is that any different that an EV that's not charging... nope!

 

[Cascadian]

Always assume that those that take those spaces need to charge to get home.

I don’t need a charge when going to Steven’s Pass from Seattle so will not take the chargers (4) there no matter what the rate.

on the other hand when I go to Whistler I will arrive with less than 20% charge at best and need to charge to 100% before going home (note that this is not a day trip). Charging is limited there so it’s best to find a L2 and sit on it as long as possible. There is no overnight parking (snow clearing) so I often get up early (6am) and plug in. I will then leave it there until perhaps 10pm. Even then I may not get a full charge in one session and have to do another session before departure day.

 

[WSea]

I’ll chime in here and playing the devils advocate. A few weeks ago I was at Crystal Mountain Resort. The L2 chargers there are the only option between there and the I5 corridor. So spending 2 nights up there I absolutely needed to charge at least one day to be able to make it back to civilization.

It’s easy to assume that everyone at the ski area is taking laps on their favorite lifts, most are. On the other hand other people are snow shoeing, ski touring and other nature activities that take you further away from the resort.

In my case I ended up charging for a little over 6 hours. Also for the record the resort has the charger set to free for the 1st four hours and then $15/hour after. So it was a spendy charge but again I really had little choice.

How many kwh did you get over 6 hours? The problem with those Flo units is they're power shared. I've seen anywhere between 400wh to 3.2kwh on the flo app this winter...making them almost worthless unless you really need it to maintain. Last summer I had much better luck however I was the only one charging...think I got about 28kwh over a bit more than 4hrs

 

[WSea]

What I would do is print out something with the time you started charging and give it 4 hours.
Get yourself a Google phone number (free) and have people text you if they would like to charge after that or getting close to the time.

Where would the other vehicle park?

 

[defcon888]

Where would the other vehicle park?

They would text you and then you would text them back telling them you are on your way down to move the vehicle. Then they could move into the charging spot.

4 hours of charge on an L2 would give any EV enough charge to get to a DCFC.

 

[WSea]

They would text you and then you would text them back telling them you are on your way down to move the vehicle. Then they could move into the charging spot.

4 hours of charge on an L2 would give any EV enough charge to get to a DCFC.

Most skiers aren't going to waste an hour doing that plus trying to find another parking spot

 

[superfly_snook]

Go to Eldora where they have 56 lvl2 chargers for free and it's not an issue

I hope other resorts do this. Doesn’t have to be free - that is nice they provide it for free but I would be fine paying just to be able to charge on trips to the mountains.

 

[RandomMcRandomFace]

I think you're missing the point. If you choose to be selfish or lazy then don't plug in to start with. Your vehicle charging is your burden, no one else's. If you need juice to get home, then spend 30 minutes after skiing at a DCFC. I ski all the time at Heavenly in Tahoe, and it's a 30 minute gondola ride from the base to the mountain, so 1 hour in total. I sure as hell won't go down and unplug and move it, you're right about that. But I wouldn't plug in to begin with, because that's just being a dick.

If there's a sign that says "parking WHILE charging only" and you aren't charging, then be prepared to come back to no vehicle at all, especially if I see it. If you left your car at a gas pump while eating at a restaurant across the street, you would expect to be towed. It's no different.

You seem to think that your need for electrons is more important than anyone else. I'm sure you would be pissed if an ICE vehicle was parked in an EV charging spot. Is that any different that an EV that's not charging... nope!

Agree to disagree. If I am a dick for using spaces in this manner, I will live with that. If you are arguing that you need 4-5 hours of charging but decide not to charge because you are skiing all day, well then sir, thank you for the charging space! NO ONE and I mean NO ONE leaves a ski area to move thier car. It is absurd to suggest otherwise and a completely unreasonable concept. I am not suggesting people should park at a space for 30 minutes of charging, but if you need the charge, then park there. And getting towed? Yea, um, that’s not a thing at any charger I’ve ever been too (you know the charger is locked into the car, right?).

 

[DevSecOps]

Yea, um, that’s not a thing at any charger I’ve ever been too (you know the charger is locked into the car, right?).

It most definitely is a thing. Yes, the charger is locked to the car until charging is complete, at which time it unlocks. So therefore, yes you can, and should be, towed from a parking spot intended for vehicles that are actively charging if you are not charging. Not sure about your state, but it's completely legal in California to tow a vehicle parking in a charging spot, if they are not charging (Vehicle Code 22511).

Entitled EV owners get into an uproar over being "ICE'd" but for some reason those same people think it's okay to do the EV equivalent of ICEing.

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