Borrowing (Stealing?) charging or unplugging EVs to charge your own car

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interestedinEV

Well-Known Member
With a scarcity of chargers, people trying to hog charging spaces, you are going to see more such headlines in the next few years. Norway apparently is trying to pass laws to prevent this but it may not be a crime in other countries. Some bizarre examples

https://insideevs.com/news/399826/nissan-leaf-driver-unplugs-tesla-video/


Nissan LEAF Driver Unplugs Tesla To Get Some Juice In Dallas, TX


https://insideevs.com/news/361845/tesla-owner-charges-steals-electricity/

Tesla Driver “Borrows” Electricity From House Without Warning Owner

upload_2020-2-21_8-37-3.webp


https://insideevs.com/news/381857/never-unplug-another-ev-charging/



 
Well, in general I wouldn't touch another car.
However, if you're on a road trip and some assh*** is sitting in a charge spot fully charged and not showing up and there is nothing for you to do because there are no other chargers and you can't make it to another one. I might be trying to unplug and plug myself in.
 
  1. 110/120 VAC outlets - where local governments put up seasonal lights. Sometimes the all weather outlets are not turned off.
  2. 208-240 VAC outlets - where food carts show up for street events. Best to ask parking enforcement if you can use them.
  3. L2 chargers - only for fee chargers (Blink) are broken and no evidence of repair.
  4. Tourists sites often have NEMA 14-30 or NEMA 14-50 plugs for RVs and some are free.
Asking often works explaining how long you need and offer to pay a buck for a charge.

Bob Wilson
 
If someone is really in a pinch, I would let them use my EVSE. But they would need to ask (mainly because I would need to open the garage door for them to have access).

But to just pull up and plug in without asking? That takes balls.
 
Yeah, using an outlet without asking is definitely not the way to go. However I'm not surprised that some people do. A lot of people are entitled to everything nowadays.
 
I don't think any reasonable person would believe it's okay to plug in to someone else's outlet without permission. I really don't get the "Tesla Driver 'Borrows' Electricity From House Without Warning Owner" situation. I wonder if the driver was drunk. He could have knocked on a few doors in the neighborhood and likely could have found someone to let him charge, once he gave them his sob story. As it is, he risked arrest and possibly jail time.

Now, the case at the top (the "hairbun" guy), that perhaps isn't quite so clear-cut. Is it possible he thought the Tesla car was finished charging because once you lock a Tesla car, the charging port light goes out (so I'm told, anyway) so he didn't think it was still charging? But my guess is that no such thought was involved; my guess is he just didn't care about anybody else and so unplugged the other car merely because he wanted to use the charger.

What I hope we don't get into, on this forum, is trying to paint all drivers of a certain type of EV with the same brush. There are a-holes in every walk of life, and neither Nissan nor Tesla have any test to prevent an a-hole from buying one of their cars. The "hairbun" guy being a jerk doesn't mean Leaf drivers tend to be jerks, it just means that some jerks do drive EVs.
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Pushmi-Pullyu said:
Is it possible he thought the Tesla car was finished charging because once you lock a Tesla car, the charging port light goes out (so I'm told, anyway) so he didn't think it was still charging?
Click to expand...

Can you unplug a charging Tesla? I've never charged a Tesla but I would think and that is still my understanding that you cannot unplug unless you unlock the car or the car is in fact done charging.

Just like our Kona does. And even when it's done charging you would have to have the auto unlock charge port activated?

So if these assumptions are correct. I am coming to the conclusion that the Tesla driver is actually at fault because he's blocking the charger, not charging? And the other driver simply was so annoyed of that fact (possibly had to continue on his road trip) that he unplugged the Tesla?
 
Pushmi-Pullyu said:
What I hope we don't get into, on this forum, is trying to paint all drivers of a certain type of EV with the same brush.
Click to expand...

While I agree with you, but by numbers it may be a little different. That is because of the sheer volume difference and the law of averages.
Let me give an example, and say 1% of EVs owners are jerks and there are 800,000 Tesla drivers s and 200,000 other EVs and PHEVs drivers.
So 1% of 800,000 is about 8000, and 1% of 200,000 is 2,000. So one could twist this number and sensationalize this and say "80% of the EV jerks in study are Tesla owners". They may be stating the truth but not the whole truth.

As someone said, there are lies, dammed lies and statistics.

I do not for a moment believe that Tesla owners or Leaf Owners or any other group are different from the overall population. You have a jerks everywhere. And nothing at all to suggest that one group of EV drivers are less ethical (or more ethical) than another group. However facts can be twisted.

And by the same token, as Tesla is present in much larger quantities, most of the victims will be Tesla owners. Another sensational headline "80% of EV crime victims are Tesla's"
 
When I lock my Tesla or my BMW i3, the plug is locked. But the Tesla uses a passive adapter that does not lock the J1772 plug.

Bob Wilson
 
bwilson4web said:
When I lock my Tesla or my BMW i3, the plug is locked. But the Tesla uses a passive adapter that does not lock the J1772 plug.
Click to expand...

With the Kona, the default is to lock the plug, but there is a button on the dash to disable this. Sometimes people leave notes in their car inviting people to take the plug if they need it (typically done when you don't really need a charge all that badly).
 
ericy said:
With the Kona, the default is to lock the plug, but there is a button on the dash to disable this. Sometimes people leave notes in their car inviting people to take the plug if they need it (typically done when you don't really need a charge all that badly).
Click to expand...
Just a side note; the button on the Kona EV will only unlock the J1772 connector once the user selected level of charge is reached (once activated)
see 2:54 of this video:

This is to help secure the equipped portable EVSE in an unsecured area.
The same system is applied using DCFC - CCS charging as shown here:
 
bwilson4web said:
When I lock my Tesla or my BMW i3, the plug is locked. But the Tesla uses a passive adapter that does not lock the J1772 plug.
Click to expand...

So, the Tesla plug is locked when you plug in to charge, but if you use a J1772 adapter then it's not? Is that right?

And is the Tesla plug locked if you charge at a Tesla Destination Charger with a "Tesla" logo on it?

Inquiring minds want to know!
;)
 
R P said:
I have a hanging card with my cell phone number that I can attach, and can stop the charge remotely with Blue Link. Then the plug can be pulled.
Click to expand...

Now that is showing courtesy to others!

I've seen similar comments from a few EV owners about leaving a note in their window stating how long they expect to be charging and whether or not it's okay to unplug them or not. But leaving your phone # so they can negotiate if they need a charge... IMHO that's a much better solution.
:)
 
Yeah, actually at the free charger that I use all the time, has a few cars that do that. So it kind of caught on... Some of them don't require a remote unlock like mine, just a note to unplug. There's a bunch of condos there, so I think they live very close by.
 
The plug lock is in the body of the car socket. So the car lock holds the adapter.

In contrast, the passive adapter is latched by the J1772 plug which can be easily unlatched. But I tend to not worry about L2 charging that can charge no faster than 31 EV miles per hour.

My last cross country trip, I found L2 charging useful only if taking a nap or sleeping in a motel. Using a Tesla distribution charger does lock.

In theory. I could put a PVC ring on the adapter that holds the latch down and trimmed to fit to the body. Then the car lock could hold the adapter and PVC ring that holds the J1772 latch down.

Bob Wilson

ps. I’ll try to post pictures later.
 
R P said:
Yeah, actually at the free charger that I use all the time, has a few cars that do that. So it kind of caught on... Some of them don't require a remote unlock like mine, just a note to unplug. There's a bunch of condos there, so I think they live very close by.
Click to expand...
I just coped an image similar to this from the internet, sized and printed it, then glued it front and back to a stiffer cardboard base. I actually use a small yellow posted notes pad (which I keep in my car) to stick a page with my cell number when required.
upload_2020-2-23_8-6-44.webp
 
BlueKonaEV said:
If the other car is done charging, I don't see a problem but not if it is actively charging..
Click to expand...
That's why my card has two sides. The green side means that I would be happy to let someone else charge if they really need to. My fav free charging station only has two plugs, and most times at least one is free. But sometimes both are in use, which means that perhaps someone else who really needs a charge now is denied.
 
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