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Anybody know DC plates "No Gas"

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I'm on my way home from NC desperate for a charge (40 miles left, 170 to go). I stopped at the Richmond Omni to charge only to find "No Gas' already using the one charging station available. No note with a phone number, so I have no way to reach this person. I have about four hours of charging to do and it's already 5pm No one at the hotel has a clue who's charging, as they have no procedures for logging in cars when they want to charge.

Can anyone help?
 
If it was a Model S you could have separated the charger cord plug from the J1772 adapter (that was plugged into the Model S) and plugged yours in.

Not cool. The other guy may have a long way to go too. One problem with the Model S is that there is no way for someone else to tell if the car is charged or not. Tesla says they darken the charge ring so as not to draw attention to the car, but I think the benefit of letting others know the state of charge outweighs this.

Bottom line: Always leave a card on the dash with contact info. My card can also show, via a paper clip, when it would be okay for someone to unplug me.
 
mknox: Could not agree with you more. However, if you are desperate for a 3 hour charge (which is what artsci needed on that charger) in order to get home, I think it is acceptable to stay with your car (and the other car that was plugged in), unplug the other car and charge. Without the other person leaving their info or posting their charging time on plugshare or a similar app, you have no way of knowing if they are overnighting in the hotel and won't be back until the morning. If I was the owner of the car that left no hint of how long he was charging and someone unplugged me for a few hours in order for them to get home, I don't think I would have the right to be upset, since I didn't let anyone know how long I was going to be charging on a free charger.
 
If other car was tesla, next time, call Test Roadside / Customer Support number and they are able to contact the other owner using VIN number. Try it out, it works.

Yeah, that's kind of creepy. I stopped at the Toronto store one time to charge and I asked the Tesla rep if I should leave a note in case they needed to unplug me. He said nope, we know who you are and can reach you if we have to.

- - - Updated - - -

Shouldn't the app notify whoever was the owner of that car that charging has stopped? I would come investigate if it was me. Sounds like unplug was the right way to do it.

The Tesla app doesn't (as far as I know) unless you proactively call it up and look. If it's a ChargePoint station, their app can send out text alerts and such. Never used Blink, but it's probably similar.

FWIW, I'd be pissed if someone unplugged me without asking. However, I do leave contact info on the dash. I would still expect a call.
 
mknox: Could not agree with you more. However, if you are desperate for a 3 hour charge (which is what artsci needed on that charger) in order to get home, I think it is acceptable to stay with your car (and the other car that was plugged in), unplug the other car and charge. Without the other person leaving their info or posting their charging time on plugshare or a similar app, you have no way of knowing if they are overnighting in the hotel and won't be back until the morning. If I was the owner of the car that left no hint of how long he was charging and someone unplugged me for a few hours in order for them to get home, I don't think I would have the right to be upset, since I didn't let anyone know how long I was going to be charging on a free charger.

I thought about that, but not knowing the car's state of charge I thought it would be rude to unplug the car. So I left a note with my phone number and a woman called about an hour later (didn't know if she was the owner or passenger) to let me know that the charger was available. I concluded that if I find myself using a single charger for any length of time I will always leave a note so I can be contacted by another owner in need of a charge.
 
artsi: IMHO, your decision was "right". How to know the other car/owner's situation? It could also be in a dire situation. I was in same predicament with just 15 miles left and found myself with other Tesla car/owner was using the only charger at Tysons Corner at a time. A couple of months back. I too left a note asking them to call me. A couple of hours later they called me and the guy was nice to say "thanks" for not unplugging him and my comment was: it is the right thing do. Then it occured to me that I should have called the Customer Support to find out when the owner was planning to return to charger. It is all about planning and having patience.
 
I'm thinking it might be a good idea for charging stations to post something like "Please leave contact information with your car if left unattended" or similar right on the charger or kiosk or some other visible place. With EVs becoming more and more popular, I think a lot of people are not even aware of this courtesy, and a reminder might be helpful.
 
Guys... It seems like everyone keeps re-inventing the wheel...

The following should be covered in EV 101 for all the folks who are first getting their EV.

I trained my 60+ old mother on charging etiquette, when she got her Leaf, that's been around since EV1/RAV4 (1st Gen)/Ranger, etc. days that and is well documented with a handy dandy EV Card to use at pluginamerica.org. I also add a printed out note to thank whoever is sponsoring the site AND include a QR code for iOS and Android for Plugshare on that note to show how to go about checking in, etc. for future use.


There are also well written advice on plugincars.com
 
Read the entire thread with appreciation for all the views regarding charging etiquette. However, I noticed that the question raised in the OP - and hence the title if this thread has not yet been answered. It's probably a moot question since all ended well but I am still curious. :rolleyes: