Sticky Suggestion: Charging etiquette

homer911

I've been a bit put off lately by the "EV Police" ranting on about etiquette at charging stations on the FB forum and posting pictures of registration numbers which I consider an invasion of privacy (Not of me or anyone I know I hasten to add!)

Could we have a sticky here on charging etiquette and leave it at that.

I'd hate to think that EV owners were creating a negative impression by threatening ICE owners or other EV owners with the guards, clamping, photos etc. Be polite please!

gabsdot40

Some of my rules would be
Stay in or at least near your car when it's charging. (popping into a shop =ok, going to the cinema = not ok)
If another car has finished charging but is still plugged in then it's ok to unplug it.
If another car is charging then you should wait till it's finished.
Charging points are not car parking spaces for EV.
Just my opinion

Cleveland Hot Pocket

Nothing wrong with posting photos including number plates
Also nothing illegal with it either. If you're in the public domain then you're fair game.

homer911

Cleveland Hot Pocket wrote: »

If you're in the public domain then you're fair game.

That's the kind of attitude that annoys me. If I was one of these people it would make me more determined, not less, to stay where I was.

By all means report them if what they are doing is illegal in some way, but confronting them, arguing with them and threatening them should be a last resort. Asking nicely will generally get a better response.

reboot

homer911 wrote: »

That's the kind of attitude that annoys me. If I was one of these people it would make me more determined, not less, to stay where I was.

By all means report them if what they are doing is illegal in some way, but confronting them, arguing with them and threatening them should be a last resort. Asking nicely will generally get a better response.

Its not the fault of Ice drivers if they don't know the charge points have two bays, because Ecarni will not paint the second bay green in some places. The signage generally is a mess,with fines applying in some towns and not in others.

mgbgt1978

homer911 wrote: »

I've been a bit put off lately by the "EV Police" ranting on about etiquette at charging stations on the FB forum and posting pictures of registration numbers which I consider an invasion of privacy (Not of me or anyone I know I hasten to add!)

Could we have a sticky here on charging etiquette and leave it at that.

I'd hate to think that EV owners were creating a negative impression by threatening ICE owners or other EV owners with the guards, clamping, photos etc. Be polite please!

I presume you're referring to photo's of reg numbers which were taken on a public road ???
Where they can be seen by absolutely anybody. Hardly an invasion of privacy.

homer911

mgbgt1978 wrote: »

I presume you're referring to photo's of reg numbers which were taken on a public road ???
Where they can be seen by absolutely anybody. Hardly an invasion of privacy.

Or in a car park..

Its an invasion of privacy because its threatening, unnecessary, wont achieve anything and could make the problem worse - it also gets EV owners a bad name..

Cleveland Hot Pocket

mgbgt1978 wrote: »

I presume you're referring to photo's of reg numbers which were taken on a public road ???
Where they can be seen by absolutely anybody. Hardly an invasion of privacy.

If you're in the public domain then legally all is fair game.
Same as if you are taking a walk down o'connell street, you are fair game for anyone to take a photo of you.

People charging beyond 80 % would be a major annoyance for me, the fast chargers were designed to charge to 80% and no more, beyond 80% the charge rate slows down to about 7 kw or less and greatly increases the amount of time someone has to wait to charge.

homer911

Deleted User wrote: »

People charging beyond 80 % would be a major annoyance for me, the fast chargers were designed to charge to 80% and no more, beyond 80% the charge rate slows down to about 7 kw or less and greatly increases the amount of time someone has to wait to charge.

I dont think EV owners know this - some labelling on the charging machines would help a lot - why cant eCars come up with some basic etiquette and put notices on the chargers?

homer911

homer911 wrote: »

I dont think EV owners know this - some labelling on the charging machines would help a lot - why cant eCars come up with some basic etiquette and put notices on the chargers?

I should have said the nature of batteries means the charge rate slows down as voltage rises so it isn't possible to charge faster much above 80%.

mr.dunkey

I think you are entitled to charge at a point from 1-100% if you need it from a FCP. Once when the car is finished you are with the car.
Some people need the 100% esp Gen 1 leafs that might need range. I know a full FCP charge might take 45 mins or more.
two leafs parking at a triple FCP is not on when we now have Zoe and i3s that need the other spot.
Any car can be left charging only, once its finished id expect it to be moved. You wouldn't park at a fuel pump and go the cinema.
In some states in the USA BEV have priority over PHEV for Cps

I met a man with an outlander today at the Naas qc, he had finished charging. Have to say I agree that priority should be given to beg over phew because the phew can still drive home the beef can't, however I can't see this being possible to implement.

Yesterday I met a leaf owner who pulled up a few mins after me and I stopped the charge a few mins later when I knew I had enough to get home. I would never tie up a fast charger just because I can or to get as much free electricity as possible. If I had taken it to 100 % he would have been waiting the guts of 45 mins more.

Once you pass 90% there is no practical amount of charge going into the car.

dloob

As the numbers of evs increase isn't this going to be more of a problem?
Most charge places seem to only be able to handle two to four cars at once.
I wonder what can be done?
More charge points I suppose.

dloob

dloob wrote: »

As the numbers of evs increase isn't this going to be more of a problem?
Most charge places seem to only be able to handle two to four cars at once.
I wonder what can be done?
More charge points I suppose.

Four cars at once ? no you can only charge one car at a time.

In Park Pointe, the ESB have installed a 2nd fast charger because seemingly this is a very busy spot.

They will have to do this to all the busy spots and they have said they will. I don't think they can start charging people if they have to queue for a long time.

dloob

Deleted User wrote: »

Four cars at once ? no you can only charge one car at a time.

In Park Pointe, the ESB have installed a 2nd fast charger because seemingly this is a very busy spot.

They will have to do this to all the busy spots and they have said they will. I don't think they can start charging people if they have to queue for a long time.

Yeah I should have said one to four,I've seen a few bigger installations around like the motorway services near enfield, it seemed to be able to handle 4.
Although maybe they were just being generous with the green paint and it can only charge two at a time.
Most seem to only do one alright.
The charger coverage seems a bit random, not much in Connemara that isn't in a hotel, not great for tourists.
Head up the N17 though and the small village of Ballindine has filling station with two, including a fast charger.
I guess it's on an important route to Galway from Castlebar and beyond and it does have a supermacs!

dloob

dloob wrote: »

Yeah I should have said one to four,I've seen a few bigger installations around like the motorway services near enfield, it seemed to be able to handle 4.
Although maybe they were just being generous with the green paint and it can only charge two at a time.
Most seem to only do one alright.
The charger coverage seems a bit random, not much in Connemara that isn't in a hotel, not great for tourists.
Head up the N17 though and the small village of Ballindine has filling station with two, including a fast charger.
I guess it's on an important route to Galway from Castlebar and beyond and it does have a supermacs!

Some sites have a fast charger and a slow ac charger too but usually not 2 fast chargers. I think in the garages on the M1 and any other major route there should be a minimum of 2 fast chargers.

Cleveland Hot Pocket

Deleted User wrote: »

Some sites have a fast charger and a slow ac charger too but usually not 2 fast chargers. I think in the garages on the M1 and any other major route there should be a minimum of 2 fast chargers.

Absolutely ridiculous.
I did a journey yesterday that I usually do 1/2 times a month. Navan to Stradbally and back, and as I do most journeys these days,I am thinking how would I make this journey in an EV.

It was ~90 miles each way, so I would have had to charge each way. But I think I had driven 100km from navan before seeing a charger.
This was going m3 - m50 - m7. You'd think we'd have a better fast charge setup especially on motorway networks.

Cost and a suitable charger location are the main obstacles.

It won't be that long until 150 - 200 mile range electrics are available. The Chevy bolt is sure in 2016 work a claimed 200 mile range and even 150 miles would be a big improvement.

Longer range would greatly reduce the burden on the fast charger charger network.

Cleveland Hot Pocket

I've said for a while now that 200 miles of real range would be the magic number.
It would mean that charging en route would not be a necessity even for the long distance commuter.

Once a range of 150-200 miles become available, widespread adoption of EV's by "paddy de motorist" will happen. IMO.

200 miles would be nice but I'd like to see the battery specs of the bolt to get a better idea if it's possible.

If the Leaf needs an average of 28 KWh power 100 miles according to the ESB, then you'd need at least 56 KWh for 200 miles, roughly. Unless they can keep the weight down.

cros13

dloob wrote: »

Yeah I should have said one to four,I've seen a few bigger installations around like the motorway services near enfield, it seemed to be able to handle 4..

Both enfield locations have a CHaDeMo rapid and a two port 22kw charger.
So four spaces marked. It's important to have an extra space beside the rapid so that if someone is blocking the sapce the rapid can still be reached.

dloob wrote: »

The charger coverage seems a bit random, not much in Connemara that isn't in a hotel, not great for tourists.

The 2015 program from eCars will add a ton of rapid chargers to the west coast.

Cleveland Hot Pocket wrote: »

Absolutely ridiculous.
I did a journey yesterday that I usually do 1/2 times a month. Navan to Stradbally and back, and as I do most journeys these days,I am thinking how would I make this journey in an EV.

It was ~90 miles each way, so I would have had to charge each way. But I think I had driven 100km from navan before seeing a charger.
This was going m3 - m50 - m7. You'd think we'd have a better fast charge setup especially on motorway networks.

You passed rapid chargers at: Navan itself, Nissan Ballycoolin, Blanchardstown, Parkwest, Belgard Nissan, Newlands Cross, Naas Monread, Junction 14 Services and Portlaoise Midway.

Only Nissan Belgard and Ballycoolin are not accessible 24/7. Blanch, Naas and Portlaoise are multi-standard.

For Leaf owners at least there's nowhere in Ireland you can't get to and back from.