So excited to park in Electric Vehicle parking spot

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JCEV

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First time using a public charger while going to the hospital with parking designated right near the front. Gotta take a picture ....
 

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Sadly, in our town of Ann Arbor (and probably elsewhere, too), it's becoming politically incorrect to occupy a charging station with a plug-in hybrid. BEV drivers believe charging stations should be left open for their use because they don't have the option of motoring away on engine power. So we've never used a public charger in the nearly 9 months we've owned our Clarity PHEV.
 
insightman said:
Sadly, in our town of Ann Arbor (and probably elsewhere, too), it's becoming politically incorrect to occupy a charging station with a plug-in hybrid. BEV drivers believe charging stations should be left open for their use because they don't have the option of motoring away on engine power. So we've never used a public charger in the nearly 9 months we've owned our Clarity PHEV.
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That’s odd. I see the reasoning and now I wonder if that’s the same in Toronto.
 
Nah it depends how much charge you need. I expected only to be there an hour and needed a charge for 35km to top up. It becomes wrong if you keep the car too long after its been topped up. Some of those cars there were probably there for hours already. It's a hospital if you have a BEV better make sure you have enough charge to get home or take transit :) . A Tesla has a range of at least 400km , why should they get priority ? They also have free tesla charging stations, to me that is more wrong. I'll continue to take a spot if I need to top it up since why should I pay 9 times the rate of electricity and use gas . I think plugins should get priority because our electric range is shorter :)
 
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I agreed with JCEV. I don't think I will use public charger much except at my dealer but I will probably have a cardboard in the car and will pin it on the windshield stating I will be back at a certain time so the next person will have an idea of when the charger will be free
 
In my area there are no free chargers from what I can tell. They are all either paid by charge or by hour, or they are in a paid parking lot. I have seen some at dealerships but haven't inquired about the policy for using their chargers yet.
 
amy2421 said:
In my area there are no free chargers from what I can tell. They are all either paid by charge or by hour, or they are in a paid parking lot. I have seen some at dealerships but haven't inquired about the policy for using their chargers yet.
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When you view the charging spot on Chargepoint, there is a comment section and often people will post their experiences charging their car. Some will say that they had to go into the building to ask to charge, others will say that it is free and there is wifi and coffee in a waiting room. There are also many pictures that show where in the parking lot the charger is so you know right where to drive. It is really handy to do some research ahead of time. Most of the dealerships in our area (Buffalo, NY) are fine with you parking and walking to a nearby restaurant.
 
There's a sign at the charger in my dealer that said 'For Honda customer only', I don't know if other Honda dealer has similar sign but if they do, then you can at least charge at most Honda dealer. I also heard from someone with a Volt that he went into a Nissan dealer to ask if he can use their charger and they said no problem so just ask, the worst thing they can say is no
 
You are entitled to use a public EV charger as much as anybody else. I see no reason skip charging my batteries on the chance that somebody else might need it more than me.

As long as your aware of how long it will take to charge your batteries, and promptly move your vehicle to a regular parking spot once your batteries are charged, you are morally in the right. Those other guys will just have to get over it.
 
It depends on the dealership. On the Chargepoint app, some day for dealership use only. You can also check the recent history of who charged there. I just checked the nearby VW dealership and the recent cars were Kia Niro, Volvo, Prius and a Smart Car. But another dealership says VW only. Check the app first and then maybe call.

Some of the local chargers set up by the electric company are so busy that they set up a waitlist so you can get notified when it becomes available. Also, I get a text when I am fully charged and it says I must pick up my car within 1/2 hour.
 
The only real problem with sharing public chargers is when one of us (BEV or PHEV) leaves the car past the time its charged up, thereby blocking the charger just as surely as if it has been ICEd. As @Smitty74, @JCEV and @iluvscuba mention, there are valid arguments going both ways on this and so I don’t see any moral high ground here.

In my local area there are very few free public chargers and the BEVs, especially the Leafs with limited range really appreciate knowing when the charger is available since they drive from across town and have longer charge times than us. Locally almost all of us are using PlugShare to indicate when we are charging and the appoximate time we will be done as a courtesy.
When 1 charger services multiple spots, a sign that says whether or not it’s OK to unplug me if you have an emergency or need a quick charge and will plug me back in is good manners.

ChargePoint used to have a magnetic sign that one way said don’t unplug me and turned over said OK to unplug. No longer available and wouldn’t work on our aluminum sides. A hang tag for the charging handle might be ideal for us

Maybe I could print some and laminate them to offer at just cost and mailing.
How about some ideas about what to print, colors, and how to make it indicate OK to unplug and Do not unplug?
Or two separate hang tags?
Ability to indicate you must be plugged back in by a certian time? Or a place to indicate when you will be charged and open up the spot?
Ans ideas, gang?
 
I just saw this as well. My kids used to have a small white board so I will probably keep it in the glove box to use for this purpose although I like this frisbee. Shipping probably expensive though to Canada
 
insightman said:
Sadly, in our town of Ann Arbor (and probably elsewhere, too), it's becoming politically incorrect to occupy a charging station with a plug-in hybrid. BEV drivers believe charging stations should be left open for their use because they don't have the option of motoring away on engine power. So we've never used a public charger in the nearly 9 months we've owned our Clarity PHEV.
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So it's the perfect timing for you to stand up to those guy and tell them PHEV have the same right to use the public charger as well :)
If they didn't plan their drive ahead of time so they can be prepared for any situation, it is their fault to get stranded. Just like other people need to plan to have enough gas in their car to drive around and if they get stuck in death valley without gas, then they are on their own.
 
4 dollars every half hour for the 1 dollar of electricity. Had to park there regardless so I guess it's free :)
 
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