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

[devianxxx]

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.

I understand this point in theory, but it's not really consistent with how people use the charger here. The implied practice is that you don't have access to the charger every day (it's not a private garage) ... but when you do have access to it, it's yours for a while. The spots are near the clubhouse and aren't ideal parking for any of the residential buildings, so there's limited risk of people treating it like a permanent parking spot. You have to be intentional about charging.

So people generally don't do quick top-offs here, and you rarely see a car there for less than 5-6 hours. And it's even longer overnight - on average, the car you see taking up the spot at 9PM is still going to be there at 9AM. Whether that's because they did a full 0-100 charge or just left it in the charger until they woke up, the point is that they're there.

Up until recently, this has never caused a problem because it ensured the typical driver would only have to charge 1-2x per week. If the spot was full, the normal members of society would wait until later or tomorrow to charge. If you couldn't wait, you went to the nearby Supercharger (something I and any other owner I know here had to do maybe once or twice per quarter max, because again, the system works if people approach it with respect). But it seems like there's this new school of wanting to have a few hours on the charger everyday, even if they have to pull it out of other cars.

 

[derekmw]

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.

I think free chargers are a really bad idea. It only encourages bad behavior with no consequences. Around our area, there are a few free chargers, and only a handful of cars that use it, hogging it 24/7. They sit there even when completed and only move it to allow someone else they know to take the spot.

 

[afadeev]

The implied practice is that you don't have access to the charger every day (it's not a private garage) ... but when you do have access to it, it's yours for a while.

That's what YOU would like the rules to be.
Clearly, your neighbors do not share that opinion.
Your most productive path forward is to establish communication channels with your neighbors, and agree on a shared set of informal rules for sharing the free chargers.
That, or request that the apartment management RAISES the cost of EV charging to let free markets regulate demands on a constrained resource!

Escalating this to the apartment management (who don't want the hassle) and the police (filing police reports without a crime being committed can itself be a crime) clearly hasn't worked. Time to try something different, and talk to fellow Tesla owners face-2-face?!

So people generally don't do quick top-offs here, and you rarely see a car there for less than 5-6 hours. And it's even longer overnight - on average, the car you see taking up the spot at 9PM is still going to be there at 9AM. Whether that's because they did a full 0-100 charge or just left it in the charger until they woke up, the point is that they're there.

That clearly doesn't scale.
You have 2 chargers, and at least 3 Teslas. Likely more. Likely way more EVs in the future.
You can't expend to hog the charger 9pm-9am and not get challenged!
Have you considered that you might have established a reputation as an EV charger hog, and other EV owners might have been complaining on you to the apartment management?

If the spot was full, the normal members of society would wait until later or tomorrow to charge.

No, not if the other person needs a charge to get to work (or somewhere else) tomorrow!
Or for any kind of an emergency.
Or when some other EV owner treats the shared charger as a personal property from 9pm-9am, for no good reason (it does NOT take 12 hours to charge a Tesla)!

But it seems like there's this new school of wanting to have a few hours on the charger everyday, even if they have to pull it out of other cars.

 

[PianoAl]

The lock should solve your issue. There's a big difference between slipping the plug out and intentionally breaking something.

 

[zoomer0056]

The lock should solve your issue. There's a big difference between slipping the plug out and intentionally breaking something.

Good for keeping someone else from disconnecting you. It's also a hog enabler. Can't we all just get along and be mindful, probably not.

 

[devianxxx]

That's what YOU would like the rules to be.
Clearly, your neighbors do not share that opinion.
Your most productive path forward is to establish communication channels with your neighbors, and agree on a shared set of informal rules for sharing the free chargers.
That, or request that the apartment management RAISES the cost of EV charging to let free markets regulate demands on a constrained resource!

Escalating this to the apartment management (who don't want the hassle) and the police (filing police reports without a crime being committed can itself be a crime) clearly hasn't worked. Time to try something different, and talk to fellow Tesla owners face-2-face?!



That clearly doesn't scale.
You have 2 chargers, and at least 3 Teslas. Likely more. Likely way more EVs in the future.
You can't expend to hog the charger 9pm-9am and not get challenged!
Have you considered that you might have established a reputation as an EV charger hog, and other EV owners might have been complaining on you to the apartment management?



No, not if the other person needs a charge to get to work (or somewhere else) tomorrow!
Or for any kind of an emergency.
Or when some other EV owner treats the shared charger as a personal property from 9pm-9am, for no good reason (it does NOT take 12 hours to charge a Tesla)!

The perpetrator in question is still plugged in - it's been about 16 hours since this happened. So no, they're not some well-intentioned rebel advocating for a new charging policy. Nor are they someone who had an emergency drive this morning. They're just an impatient and selfish jerk with no respect for fellow man.

Fortunately, the apartment manager at least superficially agreed with me and has agreed to issue a final warning to this person before having their access to parking revoked. They confirmed that I was irrefutably, 100% in the right, apologized for the inconvenience, and did not raise any concerns about my own charging habits (which are not 9-9 by the way, I was merely saying what I see other people do. I'm out late so don't get home early enough to secure the overnight slot on my chargers. I'm also the only person I know who consistently unplugs when charging is complete).

There are many EVs here ... most of whom do 5+ hour charges 1-2 times per week and respect other people's property. Two cars are pulling out chargers without permission or apologies, while sometimes keeping their cars plugged in for 12+ hours.. So, no, this isn't what I'd like the rules to be, it's what our community has decided - even the people who are touching people's property without their permission agree that at 25 miles of range per hour, you're going to want to charge for a few hours minimum.

While I think this is mathematically the correct approach, you're right that it might not be sustainable and that charging norms may need to change over time. But that's something that should be handled maturely, either through peer conversations or requests for management assistance and/or imposition of time limits, not by ripping people's chargers out without notice and then using the charger for longer than that car was in the first place.

 

[Ed243]

When you get the notification charging stopped, go out and pull the plug out of their car and sit there and wait for the person to return.

 

[zoomer0056]

When you get the notification charging stopped, go out and pull the plug out of their car and sit there and wait for the person to return

Yup, seems like a face to face is the way. Will be much more productive than spending time on TMC. No matter their personality, be respectful, find a mutually beneficial resolution. At this point, its on you to to resolve. Easy for me to talk, good luck in real life.

 

[ucmndd]

Yup, seems like a face to face is the way. Will be much more productive than spending time on TMC. No matter their personality, be respectful, find a mutually beneficial resolution. At this point, its on you to to resolve. Easy for me to talk, good luck in real life.

Society has devolved to the point that we're all terrified of interacting with people personally. Much easier to stay anonymous and engage "the authorities" to handle things for us.

Terribly unfortunate but also somewhat understandable in a place like the US where the culture around confrontation, violence, and deadly weapons has gone way off the deep end.

 

[brkaus]

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?

I’m curious. Do you do business with this place that has the free charge spot ?

 

[father_of_6]

Just my opinion, but I think all of the suggestions here are missing the mark. There's only one true way to resolve an issue like this, and it's been captured in the video below.

 

[Watts_Up]

I’m curious. Do you do business with this place that has the free charge spot ?

No, the charger is outside in front of the office, so anyone can use it.

 

[Mercimek]

Sorry to hear you are going through this. A note on your windshield indicating when you’ll plan to leave may be a good start in building diplomatic relationships with the other charge consumers in your building. A charging lock would also be a good step.

Last ditch effort if all else fails is too unplug their car as soon as you get the notification.

Perhaps the charger should have a sign up sheet where people can sign up to use it in a particular day of the week?

 

[RSpanner]

I would just move to a different dwelling or out of state.

 

[Ed243]

Just saw a video on Scotty Kilmer's car repair YouTube channel where Scotty is saying people are attaching razor blades to gas pump handles. Be careful. Take a good look before just grabbing the charge handle.

 

[zoomer0056]

I understand this point in theory, but it's [battery calibration] not really consistent with how people use the charger here.

Worse, I was doing the periodic battery calibration as recommended by my Service Center so absolutely needed to hit 100%.

 

[KenC]

I'd dangle a note on the charge handle, asking any ignoramus trying to pull the handle, to text first, to find out how much longer you're going to charge.

 

[hey8you]

We have this problem at my work with the free chargers. Its Drs and RN(so highly educated people) unplugging peoples cars. This has been a known issue for years. People have tried to contact the police(we have our own police force) and they have stated its not illegal to unplug someone else's car. They agree its not right but nothing they can do. I work security so I get to watch the cameras so we know who is doing it. The only solution is to put a lock on it. I have the locking ring for my car. I also seen other cars who do not have a locking port use a small pad lock on the handle. There is a tiny hole just under the button so a luggage lock fits in it. My coworker has had his car unplugged several times. His port does not lock. There are a few people that know to leave their charge ports open so we know to just plug them in after we are done. Unfortunately most of our staff do not know that and just leave.

 

[brkaus]

free will will eventually fade away. And ports will lock. Or like the leaf, it will have an option to unlock when done charging.

It’s too much hassle for companies to deal with.

 

[zoomer0056]

There are a few people that know to leave their charge ports open so we know to just plug them in after we are done.

That seems like a good idea among friends.