Waiting/queuing etiquette, flow

[hobbit]

I'll admit I haven't had to wait for a DCFC that often, and when I did the queue was only one deep.
But now some charger sites are apparently slammed, and somewhat unlike fuel islands are *not*
designed with any particular flow in mind at a lot of sites. You can't just sit behind somebody and
creep up when they finish and move. You often can't even sit near a charger without blocking a
traffic lane past it. So how are people actually handling this? How close are they getting to brawling
over who's next in line?

_H*

 

[R P]

I haven't had to do that yet with my Solterra or Ioniq 6. But back when I had the Kona, did it often at the free L3 chargers. If others were waiting there ahead of me I simply asked them where they were in the queue and then parked nearby not blocking a charger, beside the others. Would also take a look at the people still charging to see how far along they were. If the queue looked too long, I would move on. Others did the same thing. Never did run into any would be queue jumpers. The process worked well. This was back when the 350kW PetroCanada chargers were free (not anymore). And people would quit at 80% if others were waiting. These days I just don't see any queues anymore. Even at the Chevron chargers which are still free (albeit because they often go into slow Conservation Mode).

 

[bwilson4web]

I've only run into single L2 stations being occupied. Often because a dual unit will have one down or damaged. So I just drive to another or find something else to do.

I've only been blocked once at a Supercharger station in Nashville. A tornado had wiped out power lines and large areas had no juice. The 8 chargers were down to 4 and the others were too far away. But within a 'bathroom break' interval, a charging lane opened up.

In Las Vegas, I drove past one busy Supercharger station at a strip Casino that also had traffic congestion and parking fee nonsense. I abhor 'the strip' and prefer 'old town' casinos.

Bob Wilson



Bob Wilson

 

[andyG59]

I have witnessed generally good charging etiquette (which to me includes helping people having difficulty) and strive to model that as well. In my EV travels the last five years I have learned to plan ahead and avoid frequently full or problematic sites whenever possible. Also I plan stops with plenty of electrons to get to a backup charge location. That said, I have rolled up to a public DCFC or L2 station 335 times (yes I keep track) and the majority of the time I am still the only EV. The majority of those 335 stops were in Florida, less than 10 times all the EVSE were full, and no owner was nearby or looking like they wanted to talk. In those instances rather than wait I drove to the next charge location. One of those 10 times, at a public library free L2, the i3 driver voluntarily unplugged (apparently lived nearby). Another time at an EVgo 1x50 kW site (35 kW on a good day for the Focus Electric I had at the time) the Bolt owner let me know how much longer they would be charging, I was staying nearby and in no hurry, so I came back later.

When the station became full when I pulled in or while I have been charging. Maybe ten times I have unplugged when someone was waiting when I got back to the car, or when I was on a good charge session and sometimes talking to another EV owner charging. Once in a downtown a Tesla drove up and went to one of half a dozen other plugs a couple of blocks away.

 

[electriceddy]

Maybe ten times I have unplugged when someone was waiting when I got back to the car, or when I was on a good charge session and sometimes talking to another EV owner charging.

Done the same myself when the occasion is provided.
It's pretty obvious when an EV owner really needs to charge ASAP, out of town plates, families with kids etc. Most of the time I convenience charge so not a big deal.

people would quit at 80% if others were waiting.

That seems to be the mutually accepted protocol I have found as well.
It just makes sense and is the polite thing to do.
Most DC chargers in my area have lots of overflow parking, so waiting in queue is easy.

 

[R P]

Yes, I have often witnessed and done so myself, people helping others having difficulty. Generally EVers are a pretty nice bunch. I have often got into conversations with others there while waiting for my car to finish charging. We like to talk about our EVs...

 

[Simmons]

I've only run into single L2 stations being occupied. Often because a dual unit will have one down or damaged. So I just drive to another or find something else to do.

I've only been blocked once at a Supercharger station in Nashville. A tornado had wiped out power lines and large areas had no juice. The 8 chargers were down to 4 and the others were too far away. But within a 'bathroom break' interval, a charging lane opened up.

In Las Vegas, I drove past one busy Supercharger station at a strip Casino that also had traffic congestion and parking fee nonsense. I abhor 'the strip' and prefer 'old town' casinos.
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Bob Wilson



Bob Wilson

That Nashville tornado story is wild—nature really doesn’t care about travel plans. And I can’t blame you for skipping the Strip; between the traffic, parking fees, and crowds, “old town” casinos feel like a breath of fresh air by comparison.