Human civilization functions largely because there’s a certain set of rules, unspoken and spoken, written and unwritten, that we humans all, collectively agree to abide by. I’d say about 75% of these rules are about where you can or can’t poop or which parts of your body you have to keep hidden under fabric. The other stuff is important, too, especially the parts that deal with how we interact with cars. Some rules are, of course, sacrosanct, like never fucking with another person’s vehicle. It’s against the rules. But times do change, and sometimes the set of rules needs updating. Currently, we’re in the early stages of a mass transition to electric vehicles, and as a result, I think we need to update and define how to properly interact with these electron-huffers. Specifically, we need to define the rules around EV charging etiquette, so let’s just take care of that right now.
There’s one specific rule that really needs defining, and that has to do with a particular reality about charging electric cars: it takes a while. Well, really, two realities: it takes a while, and there’s still not really enough chargers. The internal combustion cars that have heretofore dominated the automotive landscape had neither of these restrictions: fuel stations are plentiful and pretty much everywhere, and even if you have a massive fuel tank, you can fill up a car in, what, ten minutes, tops? It’s pretty much a non-issue.
But, for EVs, that’s not the case! Sure, Tesla has a nice robust network of Superchargers, but even that pales compared to the colossal number of gas stations in pretty much any country, and EVs from other manufacturers have to rely on a patchwork network of chargers that often don’t, you know, work. If a parking lot has EV chargers at all, it’s often just a handful, crammed into some corner, and it’s very likely one of those charging slots is already occupied by a car. Is that car still charging? What if it’s done charging, but the owner is nowhere to be found, and it’s just sitting there, idly hogging a fat electron hose that you could be using?
What should you do? This is exactly the scenario our newest EV owner, David, encountered when attempting to charge his BMW i3 at the Autopian/Galpin West Coast HQ parking lot (David just got the i3 back from the dealer; he’ll show you what’s wrong/whether the battery seems new soon!):
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Did David do the right thing by unplugging a no-longer charging car and plugging that cable into his car? Was he in the right to close that car’s charge port door? Well, wonder no more, because I have consulted with the Egyptian god of thunder/lightning (and the desert, and chaos, and a few other side gigs, but lightning was the closest I can get to electricity), Set, who has provided the theological backing for these new Holy Rules for Charging EVs.
These will be the rules for EV charging from this point on; I’m willing to listen to suggestions and commentary and adapt the rules, but I’ll have to consult with Set, and boy is he cranky.
Some of these rules are for the EV owners, some are for the carmakers. Let’s get into them.
1. Thou Shalt Not Hog a Charging Point Without Charging
As much as possible, if you’re at a charger and plugged in, you damn well better be charging. It is the responsibility of the EV owner to at least make a good faith attempt to know when their car is done charging (many cars have apps that tell the owner this information) and when their car is done, it should be unplugged and, ideally, moved to make the charger available for someone else. Of course, you shall never park in a charging spot if you have no intention of charging, or are driving a combustion-only car. That’s just a dick move.
2. Thou Shalt Unplug A Fully-Charged Car From A Charge Point If Needed
Understanding that humans are fallible, and may sometimes leave a fully-charged car plugged in after it is done charging, it is deemed Right and Just for another EV owner to unplug a fully-charged car from a charger. This may only be done if the car is charged to at least 80%; any lower is not permitted. The 80% number has been chosen as that is the generally recommended regular charging level to use for optimal battery longevity, and most fast chargers are designed for maximum charging speed up to 80%. Charging from 81% to 100% takes longer, and while this is permitted at a public charger, that last 20% is not a protected right.
3. Carmakers Must Build Cars With External Charge Indicators And Plugs That Release Locking At 80%
Currently, most EVs have some sort of external charge state indicator, and most also have mechanisms to lock the charging cable in place. These rules will mandate clearly legible external charge state indicators on all cars as well as mandating that any locking mechanism for the cable will release when the charge level hits the owner’s pre-set level or 80%, whichever is lower.
I know these are absolutely possible because many EVs already operate in a manner close to this. Above you see the Hyundai Ioniq 5’s external charge state indicator, as well as a menu setting that unlocks the cable when charged.
Here it is in video, even:
Over-the-air software updates may be needed for all EVs to make certain that they unlock charge cables at 80% charge, and, if no external charge state indicator is present, the manufacturer will be responsible for a recall and retrofit of the necessary hardware, on pain of that company’s CEO being taken into the desert by the god Set and subject to the god’s cruel whims until those changes are made.
4. Thou Shalt Carefully Close Charging Doors or Panels On Cars You Unplug
In the event that you do remove the unlocked cable from a car charged to 80%, it is the responsibility of the cable-remover to carefully close the charging port door on the other car. You must treat the car with as much or more respect that you would treat your own car. So, no slamming.
5. Thou Shalt Be Careful With Thy Cables
Currently, the state of cable management at EV chargers is more primitive than your average vacuum cleaner. Cables generally do not retract, they tend to be thick and ungainly, and it is up to the users of the cables to replace them neatly, which Thou Must Do. Thou Shalt Not just leave the cables on the ground, and if you need to run a cable over a car to get to yours, Thou Shalt Make Certain that the cable in no way impedes that car’s ability to move or leave, and cannot cause any damage whatsoever to the car. If there’s any doubt at all – an antenna may be bent, a rubber scuff may be made on a hood or roof, then Thou Shalt Calm The Fuck Down and Wait until you can get plugged in without potentially impairing anyone else’s car.
So, what do we think of these? I think they’re solid rules; I’ve gotten some pushback on the 80% criteria, but I think you can go to 100%, but you’ll need to remain with the car and negotiate. Still, I’m open to hearing opinions and discussion! I can say the same for Set, but, worth a try, right?
If all cops have the right to touch your trunk when they approach the vehicle, the public should be able to police themselves with a simple door hatch.
I only use public charging if I’m on a road trip. As such, I’m never too far from the car whilst it’s charging, especially since some of the stations are in slightly sketchy locations (looking at you, eastern section of Harrisburg, PA). I’m back on the road once I hit 80% and usually spend no more than 30 minutes anywhere.
The only other public charger I’ve used recently is a L2 Chargepoint at Ikea. Those are much slower, so there’s no possibility of my car reaching peak charge even if I’m that godforsaken store for an hour.
Any EV owner who knowingly hogs a charger/space without actively charging is a selfish arsehole. Thankfully, I haven’t encountered any yet, given how seldom I have to charge out in the wild.
A lot of these (fairly reasonable) charging rules are automatically enforced when the charging station charges by the minute.
Want to charge to 100% ? Sure, that will cost a bit more at the slower rate.
Hogging the charger because you can’t be bothered interrupting your lunch ? Be my guest, but you will pay for it.
Does anyone use a physical lock in the loop on the charger release to keep someone from undoing it?
Teslas lock when charging, unless you use an adapter (locks available for those too). That being said I rarely use public charging unless road tripping and then I just stay with the car. 20 minutes to stretch and relax.
Please also write etiquette for using gas pumps.
I’ve left my car fully charged at a charging spot once. My parents were in town, got a popup on my phone that my car was done charging, and decided that I’d rather be an asshole to strangers for twenty minutes than be an asshole to my parents by running out early. A guy pulled the plug from me while I was out and I don’t blame him.
Does the charging system send a notice when the car is at 100%? if not these rules are invalid. the time to charge is never linear, the systems slow down, the cars inverters slow down, temperatures and use on the other chargers effect time. I can honestly foresee plenty of road rage on any car that is owned by someone that unplugged another person’s car. Especially if they walked away and left it to charge up. it might be small in the form of unplugging there car and moving on, or bigger in the form of physical damage to the cars. This particular area of potential problems really needs actual rules written down and monitored by the owners of the charging stations. Etiquette is pretty subjective and the entitled arrogant people that think they are more important than others will definitely not abide by any unwritten rules and then the ones following it initially will also stop showing etiquette. this is entirely why we have so much crappy driving videos and the need for dash cams to avoid getting dinged for someone else’s bad behavior.
Sounds like a California problem to me.
Leave it to the EV crowd to demand more rules, regulations and fees, which ironically apply to others in the EV crowd……
I don’t see any rules proposed here that any of us would not also follow (and probably already do).
Troll much?
Surprised they dont insist ICE drivers pay for even more chargers at every parking spot because their shit dont stink
I often go on long trips where there are legs that require charging to 100%. Instead of a specific charge percentage it should be that the plug unlocks when your car reaches the currently set charge limit. For folks who always charge to 100% when unnecessary, they will lose in the end when their battery needs to be replaced! For folks who need to charge to 100% they won’t get unplugged at 80%.
you still can’t get into the spot to use the charger if the thing is unlocked. Also some EV companies actually show the 100% on the dash when the batteries actually hit 80 to avoid overheating the batteries and increase lifespan. the bigger issue is using fast chargers too often, but if these EV’s are going to truly be a viable alternative then the alternative cannot cause undue lost time as they currently do.
It would be nice if people followed these (except the 80% one) but I wouldn’t count on it. People mostly avoid hogging a gas pump while they go shop in the mini mart because there are people right there who will judge them. When it’s expected that you’ll be away from your charging vehicle for an extended time anyway they feel no pressure. Back when I had my 500e I was constantly unable to charge either because of PHEVs topping off their 25 miles of ev-only range or cars that had hit 100% hours ago. ICEing wasn’t nearly the problem that fully charged EVs were. I ended up no longer driving that car outside of it’s single-charge range because of PHEVs and topped off EVs taking up so many chargers that I couldn’t count on getting the needed juice.
The 80% rule seems like a bad idea when road trips are challenging enough in an EV without having to worry about getting unplugged before you hit your needed charge level. Want to unplug a fully charged one though? Absolutely!
As someone else mentioned, there should be parking-meter like charges to cars who sit while not charging. Give people a 3 minute grace period to respond to their phone notice, and then start deducting the parking rate.
If left too long, a larger fine could be assessed.
That doesn’t help people who are waiting, but it is a start.
two-way chargers: after the grace period, the charger starts sucking the electricity back out of the car. the paid-for electricity.
Give it to free to the next user as an apology for the wait.
Tesla Superchargers do this. Its called Idle Fees, and the cost is based on how busy the Supercharger location is. Also, at busy sites, the car’s charge level is automatically set to 80% (and you get a notice on this too). You can manually set it to higher, but it flashes the same warning when you go to change the setting and when you’re done changing the setting.
I believe these idle fees also apply to cars with free supercharging. I have a car with free supercharging, but I’ve never left it on a charger while not charging.
Kudos to Tesla
This model is partially already in place and working in Santa Monica, CA. In that city, all public chargers (that is to say, all those in city parking lots and structure and those that are curbside on city streets) are operated under contract with one of the major charging networks. All of these have a four-hour charging limit, and you get a ten-minute grace period afterwards. If you still haven’t unplugged, they charge you $1.00 per minute until you do. And just to make sure you know even if you ignore the sign at every single EV charging parking space saying this, the network sends you a warning message at three hours, 45 minutes if you are still plugged in at that point, spelling out the specific $1.00 per minute charge.
I can’t think of a technical reason why there couldn’t be an increased charge rate or a similar penalty once a vehicle gets to 80%. Besides all that, I have been advised that charging past about 80% or 85%, unless you intend to immediately “burn off” the extra charge after unplugging, shortens the life of the battery pack. (I will leave it to the rest of you to tell me if that’s correct information or not.)
And also, there’s nothing that I can see which would prevent programming the charging station to halt the process once the time limit or maximum charge permitted is arrived at. Another incentive to “hog” the charger removed … and the more of those you eliminate and make it more inconvenient (physically or financially) to engage in that behavior, the less likely it is someone will do that anyway.
Personally, I prefer to stay with my vehicle while it is charging, because I actually get a lot of reading done while I wait. I’ve gotten better at crossword puzzles since I got my EV.
I can imagine this working relatively easily in Santa Monica, Cambridge, Berkeley, Madison, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, maybe Austin, at least according to my readily admittedly broad stereotypes of those places. BTW – I’m a native but expat Los Angeleno, the city which raised road rage to high art. I don’t know if it would work in my hometown.
There is. Electrify America charges a 40 cents/min idle fee with a 10 minute grace period. Tesla charges a variable idle fee per minute with a 5 minute grace period – 50 cents/min if the supercharger station is 50% full or more, and doubles the idle fee if the station is 100% full.
These rules are woke, whatever that means, and will therefore be ignored by much of the population.
Fortunately, that portion of the population is VERY unlikely to own an EV anytime soon.
No, but that same population DOES ICE EV chargers on a regular basis just to be huge douches.
As far as I can tell, “woke” means acting out of anything other than short term self interest.
” “woke” means acting out of anything other than short term self interest.”
And the the correct word that fits that definition is Altruism/Being Altruistic
‘Woke’ is something that happens to people after they’re done sleeping.
And I don’t give a shit about idiots who want the definition of ‘woke’ to be something else entirely.
“These rules are woke”
I’d say they’re more ‘good’ than ‘woke’. ‘woke’ is something that happened to me in the morning after I was done sleeping.
Yeah, this is going to be a mess. Even in the ICE world we have things like people who don’t pay at the pump and doing a week’s worth of beer, snack and lotto buying while their vehicle just sits there, not even pumping, then sitting longer as they go back for change and the carton of smokes they forgot.
I think they’re good rules, but I understand the apprehension. The “80%” rule is the one I’m most skeptical about. If I’m doing an EV road trip, I may very well want a higher percent.
Still, I think if the population could agree on them, they’re fair overall.
Also, nice username
Nah, you’re wasting time. Just stop at the next charger. Only an issue if you’re out in the middle of nowhere where you’ll not find another charger on the way to your destination.
Or if there is no charger at the destination. This happens sometimes and if you don’t start with a full charge you might not make it back to the charger you started at.
This is why Buc-ee’s has 100+ pumps at its newest stores. People park at a pump, stick the nozzle in and then go in for 1/2 hr to an hour. Their business model, however, should be very successful for the transition to EVs once they start replacing pumps with chargers.
They do WHAT, now? May I propose another rule? One that says if someone does this, irrespective of how many damn pumps there are, you get to reverse up to their rear bumper and fill your car up on their dime.
You need to see what a Buc-ee’s is and how it works… It’s designed for this. MaximillianMeen is probably bang on the nose. I have 100% confidence this is NOT what they intended, and 110% confidence the transition to EV charging will work very much in Buc-ee’s favor.
I try to hit up Buc-ee’s anytime I’m in Texas. Even though there are 100 pumps, I fill up and then move to a parking spot so I can leisurely shop for my Buc-ee’s branded goods and services. This is the way.
Tesla charged at the Buc-ee’s in Baytown, Texas. The place is awesome and great food and the cleanest public bathrooms ever.
Visited Buc-ee’s for the first time over the winter and was surprised to learn that this brand new location had no EV chargers, not even a basic L2. Seems like a lost opportunity to me since their business model seems to rely heavily on people hanging around the store for a while.
Apparently they have signed a deal with Tesla for superchargers in a few of their locations. Looks like they may be holding out for grant money from states/fed before going all-in on charging.
https://www.motorbiscuit.com/does-buc-ees-have-ev-charging-stations/
Baytown, Texas Buc-ee’s is awesome!
“Even in the ICE world we have things like people who don’t pay at the pump”
Does the pump take cash? No? Is there a convenience fee or higher price for using a credit card? Yes?
Then I’m going inside.
I didn’t say it was wrong to pay inside. What’s wrong is to not then go right out and start pumping fuel.
OK, I’m with you there.
Yeah but most stations disallow parking in front after handicapped, food order, small cars, pregnant women etc. If i Can’t use their closer spots after buying $100 of gasoline i am leaving my car at the pump to pee. I don’t shop at these places they are way too expensive.
Rule #0: When it comes to non-public charging, some animals are more equal than others.
A buddy of mine was a security manager at a large employer that offered free workplace charging. Those chargers brought out the most selfish, entitled and elitist behavior in the executives who used them. They repeately ignored reminders from the system to unplug their vehicles and when a lower employee (usually with a very range limited Leaf) asked security for help to free up a charger my buddy would go to the office of the exec to politely ask them to move their car only to get his head bitten off and his job threatened. The most egregious asshole was high up on the company’s legal team. The company was kicking around various ideas to fix the problem but since those solutions had the potential to inconvenience those same executives nothing actually happened, at least until the time my buddy moved on to greener pastures.
If you want to get rid of rule #0 you need to either have #chargers >> #cars that need them or at least smart chargers with multiple cables that can automatically select the car in the most need regardless of the owners position in the hierarchy. The latter may however incur the wrath of the odd legal team exec who’s angry their car has been disconnected for a few hours and since bled off a trivial % of its charge.
I don’t know about the 80% charge rule. Sure, in the vast majority of cases you might be able to assume that the person charging is local and 80% charge is sufficient… but people’s personal situations are unique and complex – they might NEED a full charge that day. Unplugging them before full charge could cause anything from mild inconvenience to totally ruining their plans.
Let’s also remember that as EVs become more popular, more condo/apartment dwellers will be using public infrastructure. If these folks don’t have access to charging at their building, unplugging them before 100% is a significant inconvenience to them relative to someone who can charge at home.
In summary: don’t unplug before 100%. People’s personal situations are too complex for you to assume that 80% charge is enough.
Or they’re on a road trip and calculated carefully that they need beyond 80%, and this was the location they could stop long enough to get it.
This might work in other parts of the world, but not in ‘Merica!
I mean a kid gets shot for knocking on the wrong door. Kid and Dad get shot for a ball rolling into a neighbor’s yard. Kid gets shot for pulling into the wrong driveway. Yeah, none of those rules will work in ‘Merica
Cheerleader gets shot for jumping in the wrong car.
This really strikes a chord with me as someone that lives near Akron, OH. Where 8 pigs (one of whose family I know) can gun down an unarmed kid and face absolutely no consequences. Great country we’ve got here.
Absolutely do not unplug my car just because you think I have charged enough.
I will be nearby and monitoring the charge level and will move the vehicle ASAP once I have what I need if there are people waiting. That hasn’t happened to me yet, but it’s what I would do.
In our early days of EV ownership we planned a day trip to a small city about an hour away. There was one DC charger between us and the destination city with no L2 chargers at the destination so in our 2017 LEAF we needed a full charge at that DC charger in order to get to the city and back to the charger.
Some asshat unplugged us at 85% because they felt we had all we needed. They were wrong and we missed our dinner reservations because we then waited for them to finish before plugging back in.
Also to repeat someone else’s comment, don’t close a charging door if you aren’t familiar with the model. Some may be powered, others not, and you don’t want to break something.
But if you’re at 100%, how much more charge do you “need”?
Maybe if all EV owners / drivers get firearm carry permits, all will go well.
An armed society is a polite… Err… Never mind.
A Tesla Model X owner had run his charging cable right over the hood trunk of my little Figaro, leaving some scratches in the Pale Aqua laquer, so I suddenly felt the urge to test the Tesla’s panel gaps with my bodily waste water..
Funny you mention these, as I ran into a situation in NYC.
I found a supercharger to top me off from my trip from NJ to LGA airport. It said it would be 45 minutes, so I left to get something to eat. I came back and the car was now surrounded by cars with owners in them. Got lots of dirty looks and I drove off with a now full battery. Mind you, the car dinged it was full as I sat down to see where I was at chargewise, so it wasn’t like I was holding the plug up.
I noticed that Tesla charges you for sitting on a charger not being used, maybe that system should be implemented everywhere? I don’t know how you’d do it with public chargers, maybe put a light on to show when a car is done charging so someone could remove it?
Ok as an EV owner who road trips this is not far off the unwritten rules most EV drivers I know follow. TBH they’re best summed up as ‘don’t be an asshole and don’t touch another person’s car.’
1) Move when you’re done charging unless you finish charging at an hour everyone is usually sleeping in which case do it as soon as you wake up; yes pre coffee)
2) If someone is at 100% go ahead and unplug them. If they aren’t, don’t. Similarly don’t get upset if someone unplugs you if you’re charged.
3) Don’t fuck with another car’s charge port door. You don’t know how it works, and it won’t get damaged by sitting open for a few hours. It’s literally designed to do that. You might fuck it up by messing with it.
4) Charge only as much as necessary on a DC Fast charger with a line. Stop when you can comfortably make it to your next planned stop.
I purchased some hang tags (similar to the “Do not disturb” tags in hotels), intended to be placed on the EVSE plug. One side (red) says “DO NOT UNPLUG” / the other (green) says “OK TO UNPLUG” – both sides list my cell#. There’s additional information, like on the red side it goes on to say that I’m necessity charging, while the green side says I’m convenience charging, but they get the point across.
I have these as well. Haven’t had occasion to use one yet though.
“Human civilization functions largely because there’s a certain set of rules, unspoken and spoken, written and unwritten, that we humans all, collectively agree to abide“
I’m sorry but what country do you live in? Because I live in the one where an old woman was assaulted for respectfully asking someone to wear a face-mask during a global pandemic.
You want Etiquette? Take a Delorean to a 1955 Texaco Full Service Station because EV charging brawls are the future.
#6. When choosing an open charger space, men’s room urinal rules shall apply.
What?
No steady eye contact with any other drivers?
Always choose the furthest space from an occupied space to plug in?
No eating in the car?
Don’t drop your trousers completely to do it?
I’m confused as to how this helps.
Adjacent chargers will sometimes share a circuit and be power throttled if a second person plugs in, so not a bad idea to leave a space when possible.
I see nothing about complimenting someone’s watch…
Actually not a bad rule as adjacent chargers sometimes share the same circuit so slow down when you plug in directly next to someone else.
That’s silly. You can’t share a charger.
Having a PHEV, I’ve never used public charging, mainly due to being able to 110 charge at home. A set of etiquette rules would be great if the need arises, but just like polite society, it depends on the people involved to follow them, as there is no enforcement other than social pressure.
What would help tremendously is if the car and charging station manufacturers got together, agree on not only plugs but also the display of charge status, and basic rules of use by anyone, then post it. Everywhere. While not law, it would provide a good reinforcement.
Yup. Well said In The Mike Lane.
Whenever I read any supposed rules on etiquette I immediately think of mankind’s long-standing struggle with shopping carts in parking lots.
The cynic in me knows the rules will never work completely.
But the optimist in me thinks we all need to try harder.
Volt owner here; when I use public chargers I try to leave a spot right next to me, and I put a little sign in my window (someday I’ll get a proper one laminated instead of my janky ass looseleaf) telling folks I don’t mind if they unplug me to charge their EV. It’s gratifying to see a Leaf or something that’s taken me up on it.
That’s very nice. I like that. SOme sort of indicator in the car would be cool. Like a little screen that you could put a message on.
Hmmmmm – perhaps that is something useful that can be done with the external alpha-numeric displays showing up now on concept EVs.