Do you ever forget to plug your EV in at night (is it even a problem)?

Don't have an EV yet but, went ahead and voted "never" anyway since I'm one of those anal enough to remember to religiously plugin anything that runs on a battery.

Never, it's a routine. You park the car and plug in, nothing special about it.

I always plug in, well, almost always. Staying more than 15 min? Plug in! I know it doesn't do that much on most locations, but it's a mindset I have. "A plugged in Roadster is a happy Roadster!"

dsm363 said:

... but if you can remember to charge your mobile phone each night, this should be similar.

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I've never forgotten to plug in my car, just part of the parking routine ... but I have forgotten to plug in my phone many times . So if someone always remembers to plug in their phones routinely (unlike me), they should NEVER have a problem with remembering to plug in their car.

In 5+ years, never once did I forget to plug in when I meant to.

*but* a few times I missed an exit as I was very low on charge and sweated a lot as I headed the long way back to the charge spot, but still managed to make it, just barely.
(Keep in mind I was driving EVs with much shorter range than a Roadster, so "almost out of charge" events are more common.)

When I had a home where the car was visible from the interior, it was pretty rare (I'd check before I went to bed, just like making sure my cellphone is plugged in). When I did forget while I was there, it was often because I had intended to go back out so I didn't plug in or because I'd passed out on the couch.
Now, I live on the fourth floor of an apartment complex with a large shared garage area. I don't have a convenient way to know if I messed up my routine.

For those of you who are never forgetting (seems like everyone so far!), do you use the car generally at least once a day (I do)?

I'll admit, I'm quite surprised at the responses so far. I must be losing it! :smile:

I use my Roadster virtually every day, with rare exception. If I had to go back out to the garage to plug in, I'd definitely forget on a regular basis. I plug in when I park, with charging set for later in the evening. And then I forget about it.

Not sure how much you guys all know about research/statistics. But while a poll like this is interesting, it really doesn't prove very much about "normal" people and their habits. There is, in this group, a huge selection bias--those who have an EV, particularly an EV like the Tesla Roadster, even more particularly if they're active in a site like this, are very motivated to learn about, their car. You guys know how many cells are in the battery pack, how much torque it produces at 0 RPM, you change charge modes and can speak eloquently about the design of the car and it's history.

As the EV becomes more and more mainstream there will be more and more people like my wife and average "Joe's" who just want to get in and drive. They may accept that it's easier to plug in at home, but their habits and routines may not be as conducive to their remembering to do so. We're talking about the folks that'll never visit an EV forum, don't care about torque or battery cells here...and a poll of those folks, I think, would produce much different survey results.

Not sure if what this poll is trying to see. I voted 1-4, because although I don't forget to plug-in, 1-4 times a year the plug-in doesn't work as I expected.

For example, I put the car in storage mode the night before a 3 week trip away. The next morning, I found the helper had thoughtfully unplugged it for me (which she does most mornings before I leave for work). I plugged it back in, rushing to the airport, and it seems the car switched back to standard mode. Annoying and a waste of electrons.

Another example; range mode. The order you do this (open charge port door, set it on the VFD, etc) matters, and is not clear.

dsm363 said:

Anyway, I don't think it's much of a concern or any reason for someone not to get an EV. I think issues of cost and range will be bigger factors for most people.

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I agree completely, but there will be some growing pains, I think, with the main stream buyer/owner.

My commute is 50 miles so the couple times I've forgotten it hasn't mattered. Like one of the other posters the times have always been because of a distraction upon arriving home (wife comes out to greet me w/ the dog and baby, I have a groceries or something to haul in, etc.).

I've forgotten to plug it in twice. Also one other time I plugged it in after the 12:10 AM timer start time. On my Leaf, that means it waits until the next day to charge unless you hit the charge-now override.

I guess I'm the only one who's forgotten to plug in over 10 times -- usually when distracted by the wife/kid. Truth is that it just doesn't matter; I could forget 3 times in a row before I need to start worrying.

DRM said:

I could forget 3 times in a row before I need to start worrying.

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That might be why you forget more, since it's not a big pain point to forget in your case. That'll be my case as well. 95% of the time, I'll probably put less than 30 miles on the car in a day. With the 300 battery I'm likely to get, I could forget for a week at a time and not care. The days I'd travel 200+ miles are going to be well known in advance so I'd have plenty of motivation to remember to fully charge before hand.

In 2.5 years forgotten 4 times (unloading, car cover, phone type distractions). Remembered two of them just as going to bed. One of the times I had to take the gasser, one it did not matter. Two were just not sliding the switch so it will be good to eliminate that.
Not having a car the next day is a powerful remembering tool in the future.

I have had my charging fail many more times than the above "operator error". Many and various reasons why.

Tesla is basing a lot on their charging data http://www.chron.com/business/article/Tesla-hopes-to-generate-buzz-at-electric-car-2228971.php see at the bottom.

Thing is i would think there will be a lot of differences in use of a sports car use and a 4 door sedan.

In over 2 years I've "forgotten" to push the slider maybe once or twice. However, I've "chosen" not to charge it many times. Meaning that it just doesn't need a charge every time and therefore I don't even make that huge of an effort to plug it in all the time (that is at work, not at home where I usually don't ever plug it in). I use my Roadster nearly every day and I use it like I would use a "normal" car. At home I hardly ever plug it in and even when I'm away - anything from a couple of days to a couple of weeks - I just let it sit.....unplugged....when the state of charge is sufficient. During a routine check a few months ago a Tesla mechanic checked the battery and told me that mine was, after two years (and yes, a measly approx. 12k km , in an even better shape than the "average" battery in a new Roadster as far as capacity is concerned. Works for me.