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"Charge done indication" feature request

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Today I sent the feature request below to Tesla. Some of the reasons for this are covered in another thread, but the key difference here is that you can select the charge level (maybe less than the charge limit) at which to indicate that you're OK if someone unplugs you, and you can decide whether to unlock the charge port at that point.

And after sending this, I thought it might be clearer and more direct to call the setting "Indicate done at x%" rather than "Allow unplugging at x%".

I'll let you know what response I get.

Hi Tesla,

I'd like to request a feature relating to charging. I think this change will become necessary and very valuable in all electric cars as EVs become more widespread.

In a public or shared charging location (e.g. hotel, condo, office building, shopping centre), there are two main problems that restrict full use of the charging stations. First, all too often, non-electric cars park in the spots that are within reach of the cable. And second, EVs stay in the spots after they are sufficiently charged, making them unavailable for other EVs.

For the first issue (ICEing), the solution is proper signage followed up by enforcement. Much can be done to help with this problem, but it can't really be solved by the car itself.

However, the second problem can be. The feature I'm requesting is to be able to set a charging level above which the owner agrees that the charge cable can be removed. Here's how I see it working:

  • Add an on/off option in the charging settings called something like "Allow unplugging at:"
  • If this option is enabled, the user would select a charge percentage. This indicates that they agree that someone else can unplug the cable above that level.
  • The maximum value would be the charge limit setting, so it probably makes sense to set both with two sliders in the same popup.
  • If the option is enabled, there is also a check box labeled "Unlock charge port".
  • These settings would be remembered per GPS location, just like the charge limit and charge current.
  • When this feature is enabled and the cable is plugged in, when the state of charge reaches the "allow unplugging at" level, the charge port ring would turn solid green, and if the "Unlock charge port" option is selected, the charge port would be unlocked. Charging would continue, unless this charge level is also the charge limit.
  • Note that the charge port ring would be solid green even if the car is still charging and even if the car is locked. This is the indication to other EV drivers that they can unplug the cable.
For this feature to be most useful, the charging location would need to be set up in a way that the cable can reach multiple parking spots. This is already the case in many of the charging locations I have visited, and I think it should be easy to make this a common setup. All it takes is a longer cable with some cable management (auto-recoil or just a cable track). I believe this will be a common arrangement in hotels, where people will typically park for longer than necessary to charge, and the hotel would not want to make its guests move their cars. But the feature can still be useful even in the case of one parking spot per charging station.

Here are the use cases I see:

  1. When you charge at home or anywhere where you know you have exclusive access to the charge station, you would not enable this feature.
  2. When you charge at a public charging station that has a Tesla connector (Supercharger or public HPWC), you would set the "Allow unplugging at" level and enable the "Unlock charge port" option.
  3. When you charge at a public location with the UMC, you would set the "Allow unplugging at" level but not enable the "Unlock charge port" option so that your UMC won't get stolen. You would attach a note to the cable saying "If you need to charge, go ahead and unplug the other end when the charge port turns solid green".
  4. When you charge at a public location with the J1772 adaptor, you would set the "Allow unplugging at" level but not enable the "Unlock charge port" option so that your adaptor won't get stolen. You would attach a note to the J1772 adaptor saying "If you need to charge, go ahead and unplug once the charge port is solid green". (Actually, anyone could unplug the J1772 connector at any time, but today people don't know when it's OK to do so.)
  5. The selected level could be the charge limit (I want to stay plugged in until my selected charging level) or a lower level (I need to charge to x% to reach my destination, but if nobody needs the charging station, I'll keep charging to y%).
  6. Even if the cable only reaches a single spot, this feature can be used along with a note attached to the cable saying "If you need to charge, call me at xxx-xxxx when the port turns solid green and I'll come move my car".
Finally, for this to be really effective, other EV manufacturers would need to do something similar. So as you discuss sharing charging technologies with other OEMs like BMW and Nissan, please consider encouraging them to implement a similar feature.

Thanks,
Peter
 
Good suggestion. I agree, some form of charge complete indication is necessary to facilitate charger sharing.

I charge at work occasionally and need to share with Leafs, Volts, IMEVs, Ford Focus EVs, Smart EVs, and just about any other EV in there I forgot. Each has a different way of indicating charge complete, or none at all. It's maddening. Some common convention would be welcomed.
 
This doesn't help with ICEing. This is about knowing when someone is done charging so you can either unplug them and charge from a nearby spot (if the cable reaches) or call them (if it doesn't). Yes, more charging spaces would always help, but the intent here is to make the most efficient use of whatever number of charging stations the owner decided to invest in.

As for complexity, it's a pretty simple feature - my message is long because I tried to be thorough about the kind of details Tesla would need to work through if they are going to do it. It's really just two settings - when to turn the charge port green (or never, as it is now), and whether to unlock the charge port at that point. Much less complex than trying to guess if charging is done, trying to track people down by license plate, etc.
 
I like the idea. Whenever I charge at a J1772 station, I monitor the car with the mobile app to make sure someone doesn't unplug the charger (for those few who know it can be done). But once I've reached my charging limit, it can be a pain to go to the car and unplug it (ie middle of dinner in a restaurant, movie, etc) so that others can use the charger.

As others have mentioned, it would be great to have some light standards for EV's rather than each manufacturer doing their own thing.