People Pulling Charger Out At Apartment Complex - How To Handle?

[devianxxx]

Hello,

I live in an apartment complex with 2 shared charging stations (in front of two EV-only parking spots). A few months ago, I woke up to an alert that my car randomly stopped charging at 60%. I figured it was a power outage or something, but I went to check my car, another Tesla owner had pulled up near the EV spots, ripped the charger out of my car (leaving only the locked adapter in my charge port which was stuck half open), and started charging their car. They left a note confirming that they did this - which honestly made me even more mad because wouldn't the mature thing been leaving a note saying "Here's my number - can you text me when you're done charging so I can use the charger?"

They also did this at 4AM on a weekend night, which of course makes me wonder about their sobriety or at least alertness - and thus whether I really want them fidgeting with my expensive car.

My apartment complex said this particular person had done it a few times, but they needed me to file a police report to take further action. An officer came out and kind of laughed it off, noting that simply having the license and the note doesn't constitute proof that that person was responsible ... and even having a video wouldn't have meant anything if I couldn't prove significant financial damage. He nonetheless did file a report.

Flash forward to today, and it happened again with a different Tesla (and no note). Worse, I was doing the periodic battery calibration as recommended by my Service Center so absolutely needed to hit 100%. I got the unplugged alert after business hours, so I had to go directly to the police. This time, they basically told me to F off and refused to engage further, saying that there's no universe in which this would be criminal, even if I captured the person on video and could prove financial damages.

Curious if anyone has any recommendations on how to handle this. I feel like the leasing office is pushing it off to the cops to avoid dealing with it, but since the cops aren't helping, it kills the weight I have to force the leasing office to do something. But I shouldn't have to worry about my battery getting messed up or charging port malfunctioning over this.

I know there are those 3D-printed locks, but if people are willing to do what I've encountered without apology, what's to stop them from ripping it out with the lock in place - and thus causing even more damage.

 

[ucmndd]

The police are correct that there’s nothing at all for them to do about this. Stop wasting their time.

This is between you, the other owners, and the complex management.

 

[Big Earl]

While it's neither criminal nor damaging to your car, it is poor behavior on their part.

Get one of those J-1772 locks, but if you do, be sure to vacate the stall when charging has finished. It's common etiquette to unplug someone if they've finished charging when the resource is limited (and when a charger can service multiple parking spaces), so if you're going to lock the connector to your car, you need to make sure that you vacate the stall when you finish charging.

 

[devianxxx]

The police are correct that there’s nothing at all for them to do about this. Stop wasting their time.

This is between you, the other owners, and the complex management.

The entire premise of posting this was to get advice on how to handle. Very curious on your recommendations here.

What do you say to the complex management, especially if they require you to get a police report before handling? Should I look up the owner's identity via license plate and knock on their door? Clearly, this isn't acceptable behavior. I feel like fighting fire with fire and putting the charger back in my car would only create a further problem - and we'd be in a game of plugging/unplugging each other all night.

And regarding the locks ... if this is common behavior, then that makes me wonder if someone would try to forcibly yank the charger out even with the lock in place, thus causing serious damage.

 

[ucmndd]

While it's neither criminal nor damaging to your car, it is poor behavior on their part.

Get one of those J-1772 locks, but if you do, be sure to vacate the stall when charging has finished. It's common etiquette to unplug someone if they've finished charging when the resource is limited (and when a charger can service multiple parking spaces), so if you're going to lock the connector to your car, you need to make sure that you vacate the stall when you finish charging.

Exactly this, great advice.

I’d put a note on your OWN car saying you’re actively charging and will move when you’re done. Maybe even leave a phone number for people to text.

Then move when you’re done.

 

[ucmndd]

And regarding the locks ... if this is common behavior, then that makes me wonder if someone would try to forcibly yank the charger out even with the lock in place, thus causing serious damage.

If/when somebody did that, then you’d have a reason to involve the police as you have actual damages.

 

[devianxxx]

If/when somebody did that, then you’d have a reason to involve the police as you have actual damages.

Tonight's cops told me that financially verified damages don't matter because I couldn't prove that the person outright intended to damage my car; it was probably more likely they're just a douche who was too impatient to wait their turn.

 

[Big Earl]

It sounds like there is a need for more EV charging in your complex. I'd recommend approaching management and your fellow EV-driving neighbors about installing additional charging stations. Tesla has a very compelling product on the market right now - the Universal Wall Connector - which can service both Teslas and non-Teslas in the same unit. If you install 6 or more, Tesla will handle the billing so your complex can pass the cost of electricity onto drivers without paying exorbitant network fees like what you find with ChargePoint and others.

 

[ucmndd]

Tonight's cops told me that financially verified damages don't matter because I couldn't prove that the person outright intended to damage my car; it was probably more likely they're just a douche who was too impatient to wait their turn.

Since when does intent matter when determining liability for damaging someone else’s property?

The cops are clearly trying to get you to buzz off because you’re asking them to get involved in a private property dispute with no damages or infractions. The apartment complex may not want to get involved and is giving you the runaround, but they’re the only ones that can create and enforce rules for the property as necessary.

The way I see it, your solutions are:

• Talk to your neighbors and try to establish an informal charging protocol
• Leave a note on your car to initiate such a conversation and/or make your own intentions known
• Buy a lock
• Move

 

[devianxxx]

Since when does intent matter when determining liability for damaging someone else’s property?

The cops are clearly trying to get you to buzz off because you’re asking them to get involved in a private property dispute with no damages or infractions. The apartment complex may not want to get involved and is giving you the runaround, but they’re the only ones that can create and enforce rules for the property as necessary.

Hence my frustration! But if you're definitely saying that the charge port being stuck in the half-open position for an extended period of time, the sudden removal of power, and the nixed battery calibration don't pose any risk of damage to the car, then that's at least good news!

It sounds like there is a need for more EV charging in your complex. I'd recommend approaching management and your fellow EV-driving neighbors about installing additional charging stations. Tesla has a very compelling product on the market right now - the Universal Wall Connector - which can service both Teslas and non-Teslas in the same unit. If you install 6 or more, Tesla will handle the billing so your complex can pass the cost of electricity onto drivers without paying exorbitant network fees like what you find with ChargePoint and others.

Yes and no. With the price reduction, people inevitably switching to EVs for their next car, and the amount of out-of-state transplants we have (who may be buying their first car in a while - so why not a Tesla?), there has been an uptick in EVs over the past year.

That said, I still feel like you can get a spot 2-3x times per week (which is fine for routine driving), but it may not always be at a convenient time. Meaning, you may have to do it during the workday and avoid going out to lunch, or you may have to do it overnight and wake up early to move your car

The issue is that a few cars clearly want to treat it like a personal garage. They *always* park in the adjacent spots (like - every time I drive by their cars are there), surely using their Sentry Mode cameras to wait for the actual charging spot to open, and then deciding to rip chargers out if they get sick of waiting.

I guess my hope was that there would be an easy pathway to getting their parking permits revoked, but the comments here make me think this isn't perceived as a serious or uncommon issue. Which stinks.

 

[jjrandorin]

I guess my hope was that there would be an easy pathway to getting their parking permits revoked, but the comments here make me think this isn't perceived as a serious or uncommon issue. Which stinks.

Its a social issue. The chargers are depending on people to self regulate, and in any situation thats the case, there will always be a few who are more about themselves and their needs than "lets all get along and share".

Its my opinion that the options you have are the same ones laid out by @ucmndd in post #9, with an additional choice of "Find backup charging and dont depend on charging there".

 

[ThomasD]

You could just unplug their car and just hang up the charging cable on the charger. They come out and plug their car in and as soon as they go back inside unplug their car and hang the cable up again.

 

[Watts_Up]

There is a free L2 charger near to my home, that a storage place installed in their parking lot.

When I am charging, I always use one of those J1772 lock, but I put my phone number on my windshield
and I mention that I am at walking distance and that I can come over if someone has an emergency need,
and I also put the estimated time when I will remove my car.

However, using Sentry, I always noticed people coming and trying to force my plug and leave, but never called me.

Note: @devianxxx about the 2 shared charging stations, are they free or need an App to use them?

 

[RayK]

However, using Sentry, I always noticed people coming and trying to force my plug and leave, but never called me.

You might have better luck putting your message inside the rear quarter window, as that's closer to the charge port and should have higher visibility to somebody standing next to your car contemplating on removing the charge cable.

 

[devianxxx]

Note: @devianxxx about the 2 shared charging stations, are they free or need an App to use them?

They're the same SemaConnect chargers that you see in a lot of apartments, but they're free to use in our complex. No app, login, etc. Just plug in and go.

 

[jjrandorin]

They're the same SemaConnect chargers that you see in a lot of apartments, but they're free to use in our complex. No app, login, etc. Just plug in and go.

This is part of the issue, actually (that they are free). The other issue with that is, since they are free, the management is not going to want any additional drama or overhead in dealing with them. Lodging multiple complaints will likely lead to someone saying "These things are costing us too much time, we need to bill for them in order to cut down on drama".

Bill enough, and there will be little to no drama over their use.

The only way the complex could deal with this officially would be to either bill for them and bill enough to make them "emergency only" chargers cause they cost too much, or let people rent out the space as an assigned parking space, or do nothing, and let the populace of the complex sort it out as long as it doesnt turn violent / to property damage against the complex.

Thats a lot of words from me to say my opinion is basically, because its free, you dont want to poke at the complex too much because their solution might not end up being one you like.

 

[Watts_Up]

This is part of the issue, actually (that they are free).

,,,and only two, Since they are free, and there is no registration and time out limit, someone can stay connected all the day with no issue.
And with the increasing number of EVs, it will be more and more difficult to be able to use them unless you are lucky or charge during the day.
I hope that the OP has other public L2 or Superchargers nearby.

I park in a garage, but I was able to install a plug connected to my electrical meter. But this could not be extended to every unit, because
the garage has already a lot of different types of conduits, between electrical, gas, water, sewage, phone, Internet, TV, security video...

The recommended approach if there will be a lot of request will be to have a company like Greenlots installing a pool of chargers,
with their own electric line coming from the street, and having their own registration and payment system.

 

[herrlich98]

Minor point about the J1772 locks, I had bought a plastic (3D printed?) one an used it for a while although I noticed that the fit wasn't that great and I could wiggle it around enough and push the J1772 cable connector button enough to get my car to stop charging and remove the cable. If it works correctly you'll have to use the app or car's dashboard to unlock the port. I now have a metal one which works a lot better although it was pricer and there still seems to be the unusual charging station when I can push the cable connector button down enough to trigger the unlocking of the connector. Your mileage may vary...

On the larger issue, the best case is the have a group of EV owners with a good culture of sharing and etiquette. I have been parts of some of these that did it via a large SMS group chat or a Slack chat. I think some of the charging networks or like PlugShare can help organize this although it could maybe be done with Discord. Of course the important part is forming the community which might be very hard if people have already gotten off on the wrong foot.

 

[zoomer0056]

There's a lot of good suggestion in this thread. Here's mine.

Have a conversation with the perpetrator.

The other thing to point out is that charging to 100% for battery calibration is not appropriate at this location. That take a long time and is not being a good neighbor.

Like @Watts_Up said, a note on your car with expected end time and your phone number would go a long way. Maybe attach it on the cable handle so it can't be missed.

 

[ODWms]

I’m at a loss to why the management can’t send this person a letter, telling them to keep their hands off the property of others. If you’re paying them rent every month, it shouldn’t be a bother to them.