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Charging cable removed repeatedly at SFO

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My husband travels a lot for work, mostly out of SFO, and always parks in the short term parking facility. He has been plugging in his Model S at the Chargepoint chargers on the first floor.

Yesterday he took a day trip to San Diego. He plugged in his car around 12:30pm and someone unplugged the charging cable at 8:50pm, according to a text from Chargepoint. When he returned to his car at around 10pm, he found his adapter sticking out of the car and a note apologizing for being confused and taking the cable out. I'm not sure exactly what the note said because I haven't seen it.

So, today he went back to the airport (yes, he travels a lot). He plugged in at around 1:30pm. A little while ago, I just got another text that said that the plug had been removed at 2:54pm!!

What is up with that?? Have others had the experience of having their cables repeatedly removed? This is not a case where he is leaving it for extended periods of time. Yesterday it was supposed to be plugged in for less than 12 hours. Today it was going to be left plugged less than 24 hours. Seems very rude and kind of a violation. BTW, he said that there were only two EVs in 6 EV charging spots when he left it there a few hours ago.
 
Seems like there's a possibility, at least with ChargePoint, to complain to the charger network. If somebody unplugs the cable, and then that same cable is then promptly used by another registered ChargePoint customer (like, within a minute or two), then it's a pretty good bet that that customer is the one that did the unplugging. Perhaps a complaint could result in a message from ChargePoint to the customer, telling them to knock it off.
 
Couple of other possibilities:

Just plain mean hooligans (not much can be done), or more likely, some of the "anti EV" people, walking by saying "I'll fix him", hard to say really. Luckily the Model S has such a huge range, your likely to still be ok, it is good to plug in to keep the parasitic load miles from going away, but that shouldn't be much of an issue in "short term parking"
 
it would be cool if you could put a camera in loop mode and turn it off when you get the text notification that someone messed with the cable. Maybe the cam will be enough to deter the person?
 
I wonder if some people look at the S and see no visual indications on the car that it is charging so they assume it is finished charging. I am assuming they could look at the EVSE and see it is indeed charging, but some people can be lazy or get confused.
 
Separate subsets of human population:

a. Folks with spare junkers in the yard.

b. Folks that go flying in aeroplanes.

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NYT: Quote ME, ME!! Then I could hang up my jock & forevermore bask in the glory bestowed upon me, world without end, amen.
 
When I first got my vehicle with 4.1 I would get messages from ChargePoint indicating that the cable had been removed — when the truth was that the Model S had simply finished charging and stopped pulling any power. With 4.2 the situation changed and I now get a "drawing very little power" message instead. What firmware is your vehicle on?
 
I've parked my Roadster in the SFO parking structure many times and never had this happen. I park by the United terminal if that matters. Also, for the chargers that are right by the elevators there's no way to park another car next to yours to charge so if he was parked there then it was definitely hooligans. If he was parked across from the elevators at the bank of chargers then it could have been someone stealing a charge. I would call Chargepoint and get a small padlock.
 
I bought and tested a lock that will work with the J1772 handles with the hole for a lock. This is perfect for this purpose.

http://www.amazon.com/The-No-120KAD...e=UTF8&qid=1362078240&sr=8-10&keywords=120KAD

It is... but it's a little odd that the padlock costs $2.96 and the shipping is $10.75. Just good to keep in mind that the lock probably costs $3.00 to $5.00 locally and it's better to pick it up elsewhere unless local is very inconvenient for some reason.
 
I bought and tested a lock that will work with the J1772 handles with the hole for a lock. This is perfect for this purpose.

That's $11 shipping for a $3 lock. Can you tell us the lock shank diameter and "U" turn diameter (center to center), which I assume are the critical measurements.

Edit: Found specs here: http://www.masterlocks.com/product/no-120kad-solid-brass-padlock,821,38.htm

Screen shot 2013-02-28 at 11.33.26 AM.png


EditEdit: Found at Lowes: http://www.lowes.com/pd_89189-382-120KAD_0__?productId=3734565&Ntt=master+lock+padlock
 
That's $11 shipping for a $3 lock. Can you tell us the lock shank diameter and "U" turn diameter (center to center), which I assume are the critical measurements.

Edit: Found specs here: http://www.masterlocks.com/product/no-120kad-solid-brass-padlock,821,38.htm

View attachment 17379

Yes, the Shank diameter is 2.1 mm and the inside U turn diameter inside is 11.0 mm

A= 2.1 mm
B= 15 mm
C= 12 mm

The diameter of A must be 3.0 mm or less. I don't believe that 4 mm will fit.
 
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