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I'll try to be brief, but had a little EV adventure yesterday.
Due to missing my pre-rush hour traffic departure window, I decided to go charge at the shopping center near work, eat something, and wait out the 1 hour traffic peak. but nothing was easy!
1) Both Blink stations were ICE'd out! Now.. it was a VERY busy Kroger parking lot and people were jumping into any free spot they could find. Since I was just burning time, I waited, as out of the way as possible, with my emergency flashers on so I could make eye contact with the perp(s). After a good 15 minutes a young girl came out and got visibly scared and apologetic. Apparently she didn't even see the little "EV only" sign atop the pole and was afraid her parents would freak out if she got a ticket. No worries, and thank you for moving!
2) Both Blink stations had malfunctioning RFID readers. Argh! But the displays were working, so I was on the phone to get a code.. when...
3) Leaf arrived on empty! Scott, whom I had never met before, was nearing the "reduced performance" level on his battery and was really needing to charge. So, being the gentleman all Volt owners are, I offered to let him in so he could charge. Remember I had waited 15+ minutes for this spot! Swapped our cars around in the busy lot - and his card wouldn't read either. So back on the phone with Blink.
4) Second ICE driver sneaks off! Augh! No eye contact with driver for the other spot, he/she was too quick while we were distracted looking up the serial numbers on the blink for the support operator. So I moved my car into the second slot (used a empty shopping cart to block the spot while I circled the packed aisle, 4 mins).
5) Leaf is charging, but blink can't find my account. Short version is she finally did, and everyone got to charge! Scot didn't know you can get a 6 character code over the phone from Blink. So that was lucky I was there. Also Blink now knows that location NEEDS service.
6) Leaf and Volt owners go eat Pho noodles, and rap about the car differences. Scot may even come to the local NTEAA meeting now.
Happy Ending for all batteries concerned! Side note: Apparently, Microsoft is EV friendly but is overwhelmed with demand. Scott didn't get to charge that day, because all the chargers were in use all day! All Leafs, but maybe they will get a maverick.
Due to missing my pre-rush hour traffic departure window, I decided to go charge at the shopping center near work, eat something, and wait out the 1 hour traffic peak. but nothing was easy!
1) Both Blink stations were ICE'd out! Now.. it was a VERY busy Kroger parking lot and people were jumping into any free spot they could find. Since I was just burning time, I waited, as out of the way as possible, with my emergency flashers on so I could make eye contact with the perp(s). After a good 15 minutes a young girl came out and got visibly scared and apologetic. Apparently she didn't even see the little "EV only" sign atop the pole and was afraid her parents would freak out if she got a ticket. No worries, and thank you for moving!
2) Both Blink stations had malfunctioning RFID readers. Argh! But the displays were working, so I was on the phone to get a code.. when...
3) Leaf arrived on empty! Scott, whom I had never met before, was nearing the "reduced performance" level on his battery and was really needing to charge. So, being the gentleman all Volt owners are, I offered to let him in so he could charge. Remember I had waited 15+ minutes for this spot! Swapped our cars around in the busy lot - and his card wouldn't read either. So back on the phone with Blink.
4) Second ICE driver sneaks off! Augh! No eye contact with driver for the other spot, he/she was too quick while we were distracted looking up the serial numbers on the blink for the support operator. So I moved my car into the second slot (used a empty shopping cart to block the spot while I circled the packed aisle, 4 mins).
5) Leaf is charging, but blink can't find my account. Short version is she finally did, and everyone got to charge! Scot didn't know you can get a 6 character code over the phone from Blink. So that was lucky I was there. Also Blink now knows that location NEEDS service.
6) Leaf and Volt owners go eat Pho noodles, and rap about the car differences. Scot may even come to the local NTEAA meeting now.
Happy Ending for all batteries concerned! Side note: Apparently, Microsoft is EV friendly but is overwhelmed with demand. Scott didn't get to charge that day, because all the chargers were in use all day! All Leafs, but maybe they will get a maverick.
