Charging etiquette- someone unplugged me!

[Tim Green]

I was waiting next to an ev being charged. I asked the driver if they were waiting for 80% and she said “no 100% of course”. I said she may be there for hours, she had not heard of the 80% “norm”. Fortunately she agreed to stop at 80%, so all was ok.

 

[ShaneCP]

I was waiting next to an ev being charged. I asked the driver if they were waiting for 80% and she said “no 100% of course”. I said she may be there for hours, she had not heard of the 80% “norm”. Fortunately she agreed to stop at 80%, so all was ok.

I had similar on a rapid at a service station, gridserve was on free vend that day for some reason, I was waiting for an e-corsa which was charging really slowly at 93%. I asked if they were going to be long and she said she was waiting until 100%, because it was free. I said it would take ages. After 15 minutes she decided to end the charge and I plugged in. In the meantime, 2 more EVs were waiting for the 1 working CCS charger!

 

[Kithmo]

More education required from the supplying dealers or probably more education of the salespeople at the dealers.

 

[Guru]

yeah you sound like that kind of person that would spend 40 minutes trying to get to 100% when other people needed a charge. I wouldn't unplug you but I would certainly empathise with anyone that did. Learn to share. And as far as 'don't touch my car' just lighten up.

Really, you got that from my post? Suggest you read it again!

Fact is the network in the UK is improving but still needs to get much better. When we first got our EV if we were heading home from the west country we could top up at Birchanger (near Stanstead airport) and that was it, the last charger before we got home in rural Norfolk so in the winter we HAD to charge to 92/93% to actually make it back. Any less then that and we would end up parked somewhere on the A11! My point was that I knew how much power I needed and would have been very annoyed if someone unplugged me just because I was over 80%.

That said I tended to remain in the car when charging and would explain that to anyone who asked and usually they were very understanding.

Of course things have changed rapidly in the last 2 years, we now have an MG4 LR so it's much easier to do the longer journeys and there are now 5 new chargers between Birchanger and home so the need to get enough in to make it back in one hop is no more. Infrastructure is key and all these petty disputes over chargers will disappear if there's enough to go around.

 

[djenson]

Interesting point with EV's like the gen 1 ZSEV. Range on that is quite short,meaning that extra 10% could be a massive difference, and battery is not that large. The time taken from 80-90% would be significantly shorter than something such as a tesla model S.

Point is though, does the car allow you to unplug before the charger has finished? AS far ask i understand, the charger has got to tell the car it is finished before the car unlocks?

Infrastructure is key and all these petty disputes over chargers will disappear if there's enough to go around.

Right on the money

 

[Kithmo]

I'm beginning to see the attraction to plug-in hybrids now with the present situation.
Petrol getting cheaper, electricity getting more expensive, chargers not working, queues at working chargers and now disputes at chargers.
Of course I could never go back to ICE, I love how BEVs drive and like filling up at home on off peak electricity.

 

[DB Go Rex]

I'm beginning to see the attraction to plug-in hybrids now with the present situation.
Petrol getting cheaper, electricity getting more expensive, chargers not working, queues at working chargers and now disputes at chargers.
Of course I could never go back to ICE, I love how BEVs drive and like filling up at home on off peak electricity.

Don't return to the dark side.

 

[Jon Farmer]

… my car was locked, I thought that locked the charger in place too. Am I wrong?

yes, ccs. I wouldn’t touch anyone else’s car.

I’m not sure about anyone else but I can unplug a charger from a car without touching it.

 

[bobbleknob]

Also you cannot assume that the car on charge is the culprit that unplugged your car

How can it be unplugged, I thought they were locked until unlocked by the owner of the car being charged

 

[Deleted member 10911]

I’m not sure about anyone else but I can unplug a charger from a car without touching it.

No chance of unplugging my MG unless triggering the emergency stop on the charger, which consequently shuts the whole thing down. Think it may annoy a few people.

 

[Grumpy]

Unfortunately on a Tesco CCS rapid charger its easy to stop the charge on a connected charger if you know how. I've watched a Leaf driver do it. Took less than 10 seconds to do.

 

[Kentishman9]

Charging etiquette-someone unplugged me!
Hi, just wondering what you folks think of this scenario. I plugged into the fast charger in Tesco. When I returned to the car I had been unplugged by another MG driver. Their car was now being charged. My app showed I was no longer charging. It appears I had stopped charging at 80%. I didn’t realise my charger lock would release when I reached 80%, allowing someone to unplug me. Any thoughts on any of this?

I have had to do this at a hotel I use frequently in Yorkshire. A member of staff (not a guest) leaves their car plugged in while the work. So I unplug it why not I'm not the villain here. ( Note it's always the same car)

Do Tesco have rapid chargers? I though they were all fast max 22kwhr.

Yes the one at Tiptree does

 

[Deleted member 8213]

Tiptree Tesco has a rapid? I didn't even know they had electric yet ?‍?

 

[Jymbob]

I've used a Tesco rapid charger which actually had a button where you could override the default (which was to stop at 80%) and tell it you wanted to carry on to 100%. It's easy to miss, especially given they're not all built the same. If a car isn't charging then it's fair game in my view.

 

[Thebiglad]

I have a 2021 Gen 1 ZS EV and regarding the locked-in or not locked-in of the charging plug I have found that if it is fully re-charged and the car is unlocked (parked in my courtyard) then SOMETIMES I can simply unplug it from the car, but most often I need to use the remote key to unlock it.

 

[Rubberduck]

Hi, I’ve had my MG ZS EV Trophy LR only for a few months and only use it for commuting to work. My experience of chargepoints and charging are only positive.

I am located between two Chargeplace Scotland ( CS) charging stations and have used both. My first time charging was an anxious occasion. I hadn’t ordered a Chargepoint card because I thought I didn’t need one (I was wrong). I had done my homework and knew I could use a web page linked to CS but when I tried this it didn’t work. Luckily there was an experienced user already showing another rookie what to do. He told me to download the CS app which I proceeded to do. By the time he had finished with the other person my app was about ready to try. It did not work but this kind gentleman offered his card to use. Now I have to point out that charging was free at this time but it was still a kind gesture.

The next time at the other chargepoint the same thing happened (I had ordered a card immediately after the first charge but it had not arrived). Again another kind fellow who was just finishing offered me the use of his card. He told me the App would not work if the chargepoint was offline even though it was operational. I received my card before the car needed it’s next charge.

Touching on the other point raised. I think the MG App defaults to stopping at 80% (not sure if it unlocks the charge plug at this point). I know this because occasionally (and only if there was no one waiting) I would charge to perhaps 85% – 87% and the first time I tried this the charge stopped because of this. So if someone turned up and your car had finished charging then I do not see anything wrong in removing the plug in a careful manner from your car and using the chargepoint.

Another time I got mixed up and couldn’t release the plug. The chargepoint was saying it was finished but the plug would not release. I pressed the emergency button and managed to get it out. The reason I am mentioning this incident is because the charge point was now non operational. I phoned the number shown and was told that it would become operational when it had performed it’s safety checks which could take anything between 15mins to 45 mins. So it’s unlikely that the person disconnected you using this method.

 

[Deleted member 8213]

Hi, I’ve had my MG ZS EV Trophy LR only for a few months and only use it for commuting to work. My experience of chargepoints and charging are only positive.

I am located between two Chargeplace Scotland ( CS) charging stations and have used both. My first time charging was an anxious occasion. I hadn’t ordered a Chargepoint card because I thought I didn’t need one (I was wrong). I had done my homework and knew I could use a web page linked to CS but when I tried this it didn’t work. Luckily there was an experienced user already showing another rookie what to do. He told me to download the CS app which I proceeded to do. By the time he had finished with the other person my app was about ready to try. It did not work but this kind gentleman offered his card to use. Now I have to point out that charging was free at this time but it was still a kind gesture.

The next time at the other chargepoint the same thing happened (I had ordered a card immediately after the first charge but it had not arrived). Again another kind fellow who was just finishing offered me the use of his card. He told me the App would not work if the chargepoint was offline even though it was operational. I received my card before the car needed it’s next charge.

Touching on the other point raised. I think the MG App defaults to stopping at 80% (not sure if it unlocks the charge plug at this point). I know this because occasionally (and only if there was no one waiting) I would charge to perhaps 85% – 87% and the first time I tried this the charge stopped because of this. So if someone turned up and your car had finished charging then I do not see anything wrong in removing the plug in a careful manner from your car and using the chargepoint.

Another time I got mixed up and couldn’t release the plug. The chargepoint was saying it was finished but the plug would not release. I pressed the emergency button and managed to get it out. The reason I am mentioning this incident is because the charge point was now non operational. I phoned the number shown and was told that it would become operational when it had performed it’s safety checks which could take anything between 15mins to 45 mins. So it’s unlikely that the person disconnected you using this method.

Every CP Scotland charger I've used doesn't let the plug go when it's complete. I have to manually release or ring them up.

 

[cenasf]

I think we all need to change our mind set, if charging is finished we should allow others to take it if it not charging any more , no body should wait untill I go an do all my shopping and whatnot

However if its middle of charge , I prefer they get electrocuted ( not lethal unless its just started..?)

 

[Kithmo]

I think we all need to change our mind set, if charging is finished we should allow others to take it if it not charging any more , no body should wait untill I go an do all my shopping and whatnot

However if its middle of charge , I prefer they get electrocuted ( not lethal unless its just started..?)

My mindset is, if the charge is going to be complete before I get back then I won't start the charge and park elsewhere.
On a rapid I would sit in the car anyway.

 

[Wellsie]

Hi Folks
Interesting post regarding the unplugging dilemma, I guess it depends how desperate you are to get charged ,if the unaccompanied EV was not charging I think I might give it five minutes and if no one turned up I would probably think it's O.k. to unplug in a careful way .