So near my work is a park and go for commuters and they have a free 7kw charger. Up until recently most people don't have a problem sharing the plug, but with the influx of new Tesla drivers this year more and more people have been using it. Not a big deal except now people are unplugging my car while it's charging and putting a Karen lock on the charger so you can't take it back out.
When I first got to work there was a MY with a lock on it that was done charging. I waited about 15 minutes before I had to go into work to see if anyone showed up to unplug it. So I left a note saying if your going to lock the charger please don't leave it plugged in while it's not charging and wrote the time I got there so they can see how long I was waiting. I left my adapter in the charge port of my car as I always do when someone is there ahead of me charging so they can plug it in when they leave. I didn't have time to go back out and check if they unplugged their car for a couple hours because I was working. Normally I would check the cameras, but I was under 20% so the sentry mode was disabled. I go out and check and of course they don't have the courteousy to plug me in. Whatever, two hours would of helped, but I still had 4 hours on my shift. I was only hoping to get up to about 50% before my shift was over.
While I was working another MY pulled up and then he got picked up by someone else, left the car there and took off. Right before my shift ended he came back with his volt, unplugged my car and put a lock on his car so I couldn't plug back in and took off again. I always plugged this guy in when I see him parked there even before I got my MY and I was driving a volt too. I know this MY because it has unique panda shaped neck pillows in it. I know they are gonna leave the car there overnight because they always do, but if you don't plan to come back when it's done charging why are you locking it? I know I was tying up the charger for four hours, but I got their first, I work there, and I was actually charging. I have always plugged his car in in the past and I thought we had a good relationship.
Everyone use to have no problem sharing this charger, but now everyone has locks and ties up the charger when they aren't using it. I wasn't going to order a lock, but after tonight I guess I have to. I lightweight want to bring some shears and cut the lock off if people keep leaving their cars idle on the charger, but that just feels petty.
I work two jobs and commute about 60 miles a day, so the free charging helps. I honestly didn't expect to be able to charge today just because I know the charger is busy and was ok with going to the supercharger up the street after work to make sure I had enough charge to get through my commute tomorrow. I only have a level one charger at home so by the time I get home there is barely enough time to get 40 miles of range back so I would be pushing it if I didn't at least charge a little tonight somewhere else. I want to install a level 2 at home, but I will need to wait and see if I get the CA bay area rebate to help upgrade the electrical and put in the outlets.
I'm just kind of annoyed with the EV community in my area and more specifically the Tesla community in my area. The leaf driver that uses this charger leaves a note on his car that says take the plug if it's done charging because he knows he can't get back to the car before it finishes charging and that's how we all use to do it. If I have time before I go into work I leave a note with an estimated time the charging will be finished so people can come back and use the charger. If the green light is off on the charger then you can grab the charger off another car and plug in because the other car isn't charging. Even if you aren't familiar with this charger, Tesla owners know what it looks like when another Tesla is charging. It just sucks that now I feel like I have to lock the charger if I feel like I want to use it.
Side note: Now that I think about it the white volt that picked up the guy who took the charger out of my MY looks like the same one that had the alarm set if anyone unplugged the volt even though he always left the volt idle on the charger after it was done. You don't want people taking the charger if you're not done, that's fine, but you need to be making an effort to unplug when you're done then. if you don't want someone else unplugging you try and be a little more courteous. Just needed to rant about this and see where the overall community is on this, and who knows. Maybe the people involved in this story might see this and have a good reason for doing what they do. Feel free to share your feelings on this whole situation because I would rather we all just go back to sharing a good thing.
When I first got to work there was a MY with a lock on it that was done charging. I waited about 15 minutes before I had to go into work to see if anyone showed up to unplug it. So I left a note saying if your going to lock the charger please don't leave it plugged in while it's not charging and wrote the time I got there so they can see how long I was waiting. I left my adapter in the charge port of my car as I always do when someone is there ahead of me charging so they can plug it in when they leave. I didn't have time to go back out and check if they unplugged their car for a couple hours because I was working. Normally I would check the cameras, but I was under 20% so the sentry mode was disabled. I go out and check and of course they don't have the courteousy to plug me in. Whatever, two hours would of helped, but I still had 4 hours on my shift. I was only hoping to get up to about 50% before my shift was over.
While I was working another MY pulled up and then he got picked up by someone else, left the car there and took off. Right before my shift ended he came back with his volt, unplugged my car and put a lock on his car so I couldn't plug back in and took off again. I always plugged this guy in when I see him parked there even before I got my MY and I was driving a volt too. I know this MY because it has unique panda shaped neck pillows in it. I know they are gonna leave the car there overnight because they always do, but if you don't plan to come back when it's done charging why are you locking it? I know I was tying up the charger for four hours, but I got their first, I work there, and I was actually charging. I have always plugged his car in in the past and I thought we had a good relationship.
Everyone use to have no problem sharing this charger, but now everyone has locks and ties up the charger when they aren't using it. I wasn't going to order a lock, but after tonight I guess I have to. I lightweight want to bring some shears and cut the lock off if people keep leaving their cars idle on the charger, but that just feels petty.
I work two jobs and commute about 60 miles a day, so the free charging helps. I honestly didn't expect to be able to charge today just because I know the charger is busy and was ok with going to the supercharger up the street after work to make sure I had enough charge to get through my commute tomorrow. I only have a level one charger at home so by the time I get home there is barely enough time to get 40 miles of range back so I would be pushing it if I didn't at least charge a little tonight somewhere else. I want to install a level 2 at home, but I will need to wait and see if I get the CA bay area rebate to help upgrade the electrical and put in the outlets.
I'm just kind of annoyed with the EV community in my area and more specifically the Tesla community in my area. The leaf driver that uses this charger leaves a note on his car that says take the plug if it's done charging because he knows he can't get back to the car before it finishes charging and that's how we all use to do it. If I have time before I go into work I leave a note with an estimated time the charging will be finished so people can come back and use the charger. If the green light is off on the charger then you can grab the charger off another car and plug in because the other car isn't charging. Even if you aren't familiar with this charger, Tesla owners know what it looks like when another Tesla is charging. It just sucks that now I feel like I have to lock the charger if I feel like I want to use it.
Side note: Now that I think about it the white volt that picked up the guy who took the charger out of my MY looks like the same one that had the alarm set if anyone unplugged the volt even though he always left the volt idle on the charger after it was done. You don't want people taking the charger if you're not done, that's fine, but you need to be making an effort to unplug when you're done then. if you don't want someone else unplugging you try and be a little more courteous. Just needed to rant about this and see where the overall community is on this, and who knows. Maybe the people involved in this story might see this and have a good reason for doing what they do. Feel free to share your feelings on this whole situation because I would rather we all just go back to sharing a good thing.