[mcstrangelove]

Sorry if this is a petty post, and please direct me to an "etiquette" thread if necessary.

My office houses about 250 workers and they have graciously supplied 7 EV spots. Unfortunately there are at least 10 of us who drive EVs. In the past few months, I've noticed some of these drivers leave their charge cords in the socket, thereby "holding" their parking spot when they go to lunch, attend meetings, even over the weekend. One BMWi driver has just left his cord hanging there permanently whether his car is there or not (mind you, I don't know who these other drivers are). One day, I arrived to work and his spot was empty so I parked there and plugged my car in. End of day I noticed I had no charge in my car (coincidence? Or did the jerk unplug my car? I don't know for sure). Today, another car left their cord hanging in the only available spot (presumably they were at lunch). I ended up parking my car there because it just doesn't seem right to "hold" an EV outlet if you aren't charging.

I feel like if this continues I'll need to talk to our Operations Dept, but first I just wanted to feel others out on this situation. Are these people in the wrong or is it me who is being a jerk? I don't feel it's right to block a charging station if you aren't actively charging your car.

Thanks for your insight and/or experiences!

 

[Dutch]

In a similar thread someone once said "do you get to just park at the pump and assume it's your space for keeps?"
I think the etiquette is still being established so some things need to be handled pro-actively.

My place of work currently has 6 perm mounted Lev2 chargers (for free...yippee) and there are 5 of us using them, but we already know who everyone is and have an agreement in place that if more people show up we'll start "trading off" at noon so everyone can charge. Management agreed to the point that they've already set up a group email box [email protected] so that we can all chat back and forth if needed.

So far our biggest problem has been getting "ICE"d which is weird because unlike most places, our spots are FAR away from the entrance. Management jumped on that issue fast.

Personally, I'd think your site security (if there is any) should collect the chargers left behind and hold them at their security office until the owners collect them. Then policy can be discussed with the offenders.

 

[chadrockey]

Yeah, the way it works where I am are that there are 40 or so spots. Like Dutch mentioned, there is an EV mailing list that you can join where they send out notices. There's also a spreadsheet sent out every couple months with makes models and license plates so there isn't spam when someone hogs a spot (you can call/email them directly).

The way things normally work are that there are shifts for AM/PM that change out at noon. The reservations are coordinated by the facilities manager. Priority for AM/PM shifts go to those who drive pure EVs and need the charge to get home. After that, I think it's EVs, then plug in hybrids. Not all the spots are reserved though. Unreserved spots are available first-come, first-serve. Reserved spots are up for grabs at 9:30am and 1:30pm for the AM/PM spots.

Another thing they did was that most areas where there are chargers, they either used the double chargepoint (yes we have to pay ) poles with two chargers, or if there's only one, they used to have the AM parking space next to the PM parking space and strongly encouraged you to not lock your charger and disconnect your alarm. That way the PM person could just move the charger at noon when it was their turn and no one had to find other parking spots.

That being said, the rate is a little more than my EV-TOU submeter at home and that I'm not eligible for any reserved spot means I don't really use the chargers. Only if there's a long trip after work that I know about before hand and I'm not busy, do I bother with the chargers. Only the Nissan Leaf users are desperate for charging. I never see any of the Tesla drivers there.

 

[obermd]

I work on the Colorado School of Mines campus. There are six or eight L2 EV charging spots. While we can charge for free we're limited by campus policy to only four hours at a time - basically you can charge either in the morning or the afternoon. So for me I arrive early and plug in and then go out at lunch and move my car. I have seen one Gen 1 Volt that plugs in in the morning and remains all day. There are signs at the charging stations with the policy printed on them.

Lots of Leafs on campus.

 

[bjrosen]

If the operations dept is responsible for the EVSEs then you should ask them to put up a sign with some basic rules, i.e no ICE cars, maximum number of hours.

 

[jcanoe]

Sorry if this is a petty post, and please direct me to an "etiquette" thread if necessary.

My office houses about 250 workers and they have graciously supplied 7 EV spots. Unfortunately there are at least 10 of us who drive EVs. In the past few months, I've noticed some of these drivers leave their charge cords in the socket, thereby "holding" their parking spot when they go to lunch, attend meetings, even over the weekend. One BMWi driver has just left his cord hanging there permanently whether his car is there or not (mind you, I don't know who these other drivers are). One day, I arrived to work and his spot was empty so I parked there and plugged my car in. End of day I noticed I had no charge in my car (coincidence? Or did the jerk unplug my car? I don't know for sure). Today, another car left their cord hanging in the only available spot (presumably they were at lunch). I ended up parking my car there because it just doesn't seem right to "hold" an EV outlet if you aren't charging.

I feel like if this continues I'll need to talk to our Operations Dept, but first I just wanted to feel others out on this situation. Are these people in the wrong or is it me who is being a jerk? I don't feel it's right to block a charging station if you aren't actively charging your car.

Thanks for your insight and/or experiences!

Are you saying that some of the EV drivers leave their EVSE behind when they move their vehicle? An EVSE is worth several hundred dollars, what secures the EVSE from being stolen?

 

[timoshev]

Have your operations guy post signs stating the rules of the game. This situation seems to be a peek into the future when all those Model 3 owners try to charge at the same time at popular locations. Strict rules will be required. I hope no one gets hurt......

 

[mcstrangelove]

Honor system I guess. The garage where the EV spots are located is quite small and has cameras, so I suppose they feel safe. Only the BMWi driver leaves his overnight, as if to say "THIS IS MY SPOT!"

I suppose talking to our Operations Dept is the way to go. I just didn't want to bug them with this First World Problem, when they are dealing with lots of other issues.

Thanks everyone. I'm glad to hear that I wasn't exactly being a jerk.

 

[Barry]

The way I see it, the EVSE does not hold the spot. Just park in any open spot. If there is an EVSE there, unplug it if necessary, and plug yours in instead. It seems ridiculous to me that anyone would expect that leaving an EVSE behind would make that their exclusive parking space. I don’t see any etiquette problem with that at all.

Where I work, our main problem is ICEing the spaces, and the next problem is EV drivers using the spaces for convenience parking when they are not charging. Our spots are right up front, which makes those problems worse.

The best solution I have found is that I arrive at work at little early, so I usually get the first pick of any spot and get my charge for the day that way. By the afternoon it is usually more of a mess, but my car is elsewhere by then.

 

[jcanoe]

Honor system I guess. The garage where the EV spots are located is quite small and has cameras, so I suppose they feel safe. Only the BMWi driver leaves his overnight, as if to say "THIS IS MY SPOT!"

I suppose talking to our Operations Dept is the way to go. I just didn't want to bug them with this First World Problem, when they are dealing with lots of other issues.

Thanks everyone. I'm glad to hear that I wasn't exactly being a jerk.

Management should address this for the benefit of all employees. Management should clearly communicate to the employees who can park in the EV spaces, for how long, no holding a spot if you move your plug in vehicle, not responsible for lost/stolen EVSE equipment, no ICE vehicles etc. The security desk/office should have an up to date list of plug-in vehicles including make, model, color, license plate and owner contact information if they need to contact the owner.

 

[canehdian]

For the left behind EVSE, unplug it, plug yours in and turn in the other EVSE to a "lost and found" box

 

[bjrosen]

Question, are they providing EVSEs or just AC outlets? You mentioned that the BMW leaves his cord hanging, does that mean he leaves his own EVSE there? If that's the case ask facilities to install more outlets. 120V outlets don't cost very much.

 

[llninja]

My previous employer had charging stations at their larger offices in the west coast, and the internal forum flame wars were an interesting read. People monad and groaned about not having enough spots, being ICEd, people who were fully charged not moving their vehicles, and even volt owners were chastised for not freeing up spots for leaf and i3 owners who needed to charge or else they wouldn't make it home. The rent-a-cops jobs were not to police this, and the only thing they would do is write up a "ticket" which was a written warning with no fine or real repercussions. They even went so far as to drop yello stripes in every other spot to keep people from pulling up and unplugging and existing vehicles charging. The rumor was that some high level exec's car got unplugged, so they made the spot 1 par per EVSE. If you had an electric vehicle they you could park there and not plug in, making the spots similar to handicapped spots. And the flames that appeared when a Tesla owner dared to park and plug in, the masses linched the poor guy for having a big battery.

I was happy to be at a small site with no charging. The office politics can get really nasty when demand outpaces supply. The parking rage was entertaining from afar, but I wouldn't want to be in the middle of it. I even spoke to the guy in charge of EVSEs worldwide once to try to convince him to install something at our site. I wouldn't want his job.

 

[mcstrangelove]

No, my work just supplies the outlets. I assume the BMW driver must have another one at home.

 

[quirkySquirt]

As a friendly reminder, make sure you can access those security feeds and that they're real. Just in case that petty i3 owner decides to get malicious. Really need to get more outlets it sounds.

 

[Coppersnowboarder]

At work, the agency in charge of electricity cut the electricity going to our parking lot lamp posts. Very ignorant leadership. Meantime, the dumpster is always filled with the personal household trash of employees, so that some weeks the trash from business operations cannot be deposited to be sent to the landfill. The employees do not pay for household trash collection at home. At home, a resort location, most demand for a nearby public charging station is complete by the end of the business day, so I can almost always charge my vehicle for two hours in the parking lot at night. I compensate for my use: I shovel snow and salt the ice in the charging station parking area so guests do not get stuck when charging their vehicles, typically Tesla, BMW, and Nissan.

 

[El Dobro]

Have copies of the EV parking rules printed up, take Mr. i3's EVSE to the operations office, attach a copy of the rules to it and park where you want to. First come, first serve, no holdsies.

 

[Sean-a-Tron]

Typically charging etiquette for parking spaces is to only use them if you need. If someone is plugged in and their battery is full, it's OK to unplug them so you can charge up. However, these are just general guidelines. Chargers on private property should have rules posted nearby and make them enforced.

 

[flyingsherpa]

I started an EV Owners list at my company by just leaving a note on the windshield of every EV I saw at the charging stations. It just said something like "Hi, I'm putting together an email list of EV owners so we can all keep in touch and have a unified voice when discussing future charging options with management". Pretty much everyone responded and I was able to generate an accurate roster. We never all met in person, but did try to hash out etiquette via the email list. We all agreed other people could unplug us once done, though the usefulness of that was dubious once they stopped allowing us to park (in unmarked spots) at odd angles to reach the spots if they were still occupied. Anyway, getting everyone's email was helpful, and I tried to inform them all of general etiquette (move once you're done, etc) and most people follow this. But there's always a few jerks who think the rules don't apply to them and ruin it for everyone. There were also a few who were very entitled about charging options and would make constant rude demands to our Facilities group for more charging stations at different locations (this is why we can't have nice things). Honestly, I think the fairest thing is to have access-controlled EVSEs (I have seen swipe cards or smartphone-activated ones), and once someone abuses the set rules (e.g. stays plugged in all day when there is a 4 hour limit), their access is revoked for a month or something. I later moved to another job site and we have less competition for the EV spots here, so I haven't had to deal with this crap as much lately, thankfully.

OP, you are right, it's rude to hog or reserve the spots. But the policy needs to be clear, and either have it posted there or to an email list of all owners so there is no excuse for not being aware of it. Enforcement can sometimes be tricky, especially if office politics get involved. If things stay bad... at some point, you have to decide if all the heartache is worth saving a few dollars a week of electricity.

 

[hallcp]

Here at my company the policy is to limit your charging to 4.5 hours per day at our Level 2 chargers. That pretty much insures two shifts at the chargers. We're a pretty rule-abiding lot at my company, so this works out pretty well.

I have also seen people pull the charge cord from a car when the light on the EVSE indicates that it is no longer charging. How cool that is with folks is a little unclear to me. As for myself, I have no problem with that, or even if a starving Leaf driver were to occasionally get desperate and pull my plug before my Volt was fully charged.