My opinion is that once a car is fully charged, they should leave so someone else that might really need a charge badly has an opportunity to charge.

 

There's no time limit or rules unless stated or posted on a sign somewhere. I can tell you that most facilities that put in charging stations really don't know or care too much about charging etiquette. They offer it because it makes their facilities attractive. Beyond that they don't really care to police or regulate these charge stations. So it's up to you how you want to use it. Personally I would be apprehensive about leaving my car plugged in for that long and deprive someone else of the opportunity. I'm OK with coming back from a day trip and wait another hour or so in the parking lot while the car charges up enough to get home. On the other hand I would feel really guilty not knowing if I might have possibly ruined someone else's day.

 

I read your "There are no signs for time limits and nothing about moving when done charging.", but if there's a sign or lettering on the spot itself like "EV Charging Only" it means you should not be parked there after your car is charged.

One of my oldest local charge stations has "Charging Only" & "2 hours max" signs but many times cars are in the spots for a long time after fully charged. I haven't been desperate yet, but I still usually just double-park them since I stay with my car to charge. Most cars can be unplugged when done. eGolf is supposed to, but my friends only did so on home chargers (L1 & 2). Chevy Volt alarms usually sound a few seconds after you unplug one, but I just ignore it, since I'm not the one doing anything wrong.

Many facilities have functional standard wall outlets, so I would check airport parking for them, since you'd still get about 60 miles added in the 12 hours you mentioned. You can "lock" your charger by driving onto the cord, or by putting it in the hatch & only closing it one click (it will still lock in that position), or with a small padlock in a hole through the plug's release button.

 

Thanks all. I was in the same boat of opinion as you all but was hoping there would be some that would clear my conscience and not make me feel so guilty.

As I mentioned I am really a sticker for the rules so if I expect anyone else to follow them then I need to be respectful of them myself.

I do like the wall socket idea. I'll have to look for one next time I am there. I am doubtful there will be one or at least one where I can get to but I'll still look. Fingers crossed. I saw on PlugShare where someone recommended to run the cable through the wheel and use a pad lock to hold it there to keep it from being stolen.

At some point in the future I imagine that there will come a time where there will be chargers where you can stay all day. I've seen a few long term parking lots that have chargers. There is no way to disconnect when fully charged in those lots. The Oslo Airport has 727 chargers. Thats crazy.

Hopefully the new LAX design will offer a ton more chargers.

 

It's often possible to park in the next spot over & run the cord there. Then when you're done someone else can still park & take your plug without you needing to move.

There are wall outlets by both of the 2 chargers I normally use, as well as the last parking structure I was in to check, & I've noticed them by at least 4 nearby parking lots. If they're not quite close enough, google images of "extension cord load chart" to make sure whatever extension you get is heavy enough for 12A.

 

ETS brought up a great idea about parking in the spot next to the dedicated EV spot. You can leave a note on your dashboard and let others know that they are welcome to unplug from your car if needed. I think that would be a good compromise.

 

This might help:

www. flylax. com / lax-parking-information

Click on "Electric Vehicle Parking" on the left and you'll find some rules to follow and contact information if more answers are needed. There is also a link to a PDF with locations and quantities of charging locations.

 

Thanks. There is a time limit for the DCFC but they don’t say anything for the L2 chargers. I guess its still the EV etiquette standard.

 

I guess it depends what "short-term parking" means. If I take the definition from tripsavy:

Short-term lots are located near airport terminals. They are convenient, but expensive. Short-term parking lots are designed for people who are dropping off and picking up passengers. If you leave your car in a short-term lot overnight, you will pay a lot for that convenience.

www.tripsavvy.com › which-type-of-airport-parking-is-best-2972623

Since you're essentially paying for the parking and any penalty fees associated with it- I think you can park as you will. If there's a lack of chargers or competition for them then the airport can adjust penalties to influence behavior or they can put more chargers to better serve. If you're "getting away" with short term parking when you're supposed to park elsewhere then that's a separate issue.

 

Which reminds me that conversely to my note above about "Charging Only", if all the signage says "EV Parking Only" or the like (no "Charge" or "Charging"), that very strongly implies that parking there without charging isn't prohibited, just inconsiderate. HOWEVER, I saw on PlugShare a pic of a car at LAX that was TICKETED for not charging (don't know whether it wasn't even plugged, or simply had finished), although that might be easy to fight if it's not posted as such.

 

I saw on PlugShare a pic of a car at LAX that was TICKETED for not charging

I think I saw that one too but I am pretty sure it was an ICE car that had a ticket.

 

Speaking of inconsiderate, I was once waiting by a free clearly-labeled "Charging Only" grocery-store charger that was blocked by an unplugged EV. I figured correctly that they were just shopping & would be out soon, so I waited & politely pointed out the sign & the many nearby empty ICE parking spots. The owner replied "Fine! So next time I'll just plug in even if I don't need to!".

 

Its pretty amazing how considerate the users of this forum are. There doesn't seem to be users here like the above issue. I keep up on the Electric Vehicle sub reddit and there are a lot of entitled EV drivers there. Its crazy.

In California you can be ticketed for being in an EV spot and not charging. I actually saw a Tesla with a ticket at the Harbor UCLA hospital. It looked like the Tesla was unplugged by someone because their J1772 adapter was still connected to their charge port. This is the one bad part of the law. How do cops know if someone unplegged them before they were done.

On the flip side it seems that Teslas are the biggest offenders of hogging free chargers.

 

The picture's caption says the car ticketed "for not charging" was an EV (BMW ActiveE), but it was probably a mistake since it looks very much like one of their gas models, especially if it wasn't plugged in, which isn't prohibited, according to their signs.

I wonder if the UCLA incident was due to their own rules, since it's likely private property so CA rules may not apply.

We tend to notice the offenders more. Tesla has a lot more on the road, so there will automatically be about a correspondingly higher number of inconsiderate drivers. It does happen to be a Tesla driver who is notorious for blocking my local charger, AND a Tesla driver in my grocery encounter above, but my best friend got a T3 when her 500e lease expired, & she won't even unplug a finished car when she can park right beside it.

 

You're right. I went back and looked and it was an ActiveE which I have never heard of. Sounds like it was a test car so hardly any on the road. It doesn't say if they were plugged in or not. It also looks like the pic is from a good 5 years ago or more.

The UCLA thing is interesting because there are a bunch of private chargers but someone posted the code to activate them on PS. I think they have asked the sherriff to check because there have been a lot of people using those chargers when they are not a visitor or an employee. They also leave them there for more than 4 hours and the time limit is posted. The ticketed Tesla was on a weekend and there are 4 visitor chargers on the other side of the campus. No code or anything needed to use them. I am assuming that the Tesla was there a really long time and another person got fed up and disconnected them. The funny thing was it was a 500e that was connected to the cable that the Tesla had. I am assuming that at least. Who know if someone else disconnected the Tesla and put the charger back and the 500e connected. Well the 500e had goal posted so they weren't charging either.

I wish there was a standard for all EV's to show if they were actively charging and what their charge level was like how the 500e shows. Some EV's show some sort of indication and some don't or at least don't make it easy to see.

The chargers at the Del Amo mall are free and I always see at least 5 or more of the 14 or so spots fully charged. I think people drop their car off there and leave it overnight. Its easy to tell there since the chargers will blink blue while charging and solid when fully charged and plugged in. Green when available.

 

I once started to get irritated looking for an unfamiliar car's "charging" light. It's especially hard to find if it's off when done charging (like a Fiat's), AND you don't know whether it's somewhere on the dash, or by the plug. However, I suddenly realized that there's a "charging" light on all chargers that I knew of at the time. Unfortunately I haven't figured that out for the new Volta chargers, but their phone app will show it, & it even auto-updates within a few seconds of charge completion.

The Fiat's 5 bars (or even if all cars had a public % display while charging) aren't really that indicative of how long they'll be charging. For example, if the final bar was already blinking when you arrive, it could be done in 1 minute or 48 minutes, & if the first bar is blinking, the owner could still be back to unplug in 1 minute, if he was just trying to get barely enough to make it home a block away. So I got one of these, & hang it from my rearview, even when I'm sitting in my car while charging (so people can see without even asking)....:

Will Return Sign with Clock Hands

 

As for the plugged Fiat with "goalposts", some public chargers need to be reset in order to charge a Fiat. Some have a button, some auto-reset in 15 minutes, & some (like most ChargePoints) you replace the plug in it's holster to reset. My friend's work ChargePoints with reset buttons always require reset unless a Fiat was the last car plugged in.

I thought my link above would show the pic:

 

As for the plugged Fiat with "goalposts", some public chargers need to be reset in order to charge a Fiat. Some have a button, some auto-reset in 15 minutes, & some (like most ChargePoints) you replace the plug in it's holster to reset. My friend's work ChargePoints with reset buttons always require reset unless a Fiat was the last car plugged in.

What does the “reset” on a charge station do exactly? Does it reinitiate some sequence?

 

Yea I don't even need to know at what state of charge they are in. Just like to know who is not charging and who is. Looking at the chargers is an easy option for now.

 

Still, if they ARE charging, it would be nice to know if they're going to come & unplug in 1 minute, instead of you giving up & driving away (hence my sign). I'm shocked at the number of EVs that drive past while I'm in my car getting ready to unplug, & they don't even stop to ask if I'm leaving, or just plugging in.

 

My fiat doesn't seem to like those free Volta charger. I've kind of given up on those.

 

Weird. My 2013 likes them just fine, with only one exception: The north-east charger at the OLD Long Beach Whole Foods (next door to Petco). Once in a while that one would need the 15-min auto-reset.

One time while it was rebooting the other one became available so I plugged in & it was fine (as usual), but while I was charging, the other one reset & a Tesla plugged in & it failed. Then when it reset itself a Leaf plugged in & it failed. Then when it reset itself a Bolt plugged in & it worked.

Another time I didn't wait for it to reset, but just headed home. On the way home I stopped at my oldest local charger & it failed too, so I just went home, plugged in my stock cord, & it was fine, as were both of the other chargers, every time since then.

 

I read that the plugs on these Volta wear out and don't make good contacts with the fiat, causing the goal post problem? They do seem pretty loose and have a lot of play in them compared to the chargepoint stations.

Also, how do you reset the volta station, or any of the free chargers for that matter? I tried a clipper creek one today and the charging fault light on the station lit up as soon as I plugged it in the car as well as the goal posts on the dash.

 

My car doesn’t have issues with Volta’s but I do have issues with half the charger by EV connect which are GE units.

 

I mostly just wish people would at least use the ”Check In” feature in PlugShare, where you can describe how long you plan to be charging. Between the Volta chargers and other sponsored chargers that are effectively “free” there is no way to know how long someone might be, so even if I know how to tell if their car is charging, I have no idea if it is worth waiting 15 minutes to pull in to charge soon.

I find myself using the feature as much as possible, and I am considering printing myself out a card to put in the passenger back window (and maybe near the dashboard lights in the front) that shows the PlugShare app logo and download links/suggestions, to say, “Check the PlugShare app to see when I’ll be done charging.” That at least offers a way for us to communicate with one another as drivers, through messages as well as posts that show up for each charging location while in use.

Nowhere near as integrated as in-app indicators like Tesla is offering, but absolutely better than nothing, or than having someone unplug my car before I’m done charging because they feel more desperate, or they don’t know what the lights on the dashboard mean. (Thankfully this has only happened a couple of times, but if they had used PlugShare, they either would have known when I was going to be done, or could have messaged me to let me know when they were planning to be done.)

 

Thanks Yeti! I didn't even think of using the "checkin" feature for that. I guess now I'll have to try to figure it out. Now that you point it out, for free chargers (& even for paid ones, if they want them to be more useful) maybe they should make it a requirement to tell it your charge time before it will turn on. That way others would know when they'd be able to plug in. They also could have a wait-list that you could put yourself on. Maybe these are the kinds of integration you mention Tesla has.

I don't know how to reset a Volta, but my local Clipper Creeks have buttons like this pic:

 

I just remembered the auto-resetting ones I mentioned above are old Voltas, so maybe new ones are the same: When they fault, they automatically re-boot. It says on the units that it takes 15 minutes, but when I time it the lights reset in about 12 minutes but I wait 15 before replugging, just in case.

 

Here is where I am fighting a bit of a moral dilemma here. I travel a lot for work and I often take day trips. I'll fly in and out the same day. Normally I avoid LAX as much as possible but I found out that their short term parking has free chargers. So for the first time yesterday I decided to try them out. I arrived to the chargers with just enough charge (30%) to get home. Plugged into the charger at about 6:30am and didn't return until 6:30PM.

I've noticed that some airport parking now offers valet with charging. I think until charging is super ubiquitous everywhere, that seems to be the best option. I don't think I've ever tried to count on the airport having charging stalls, because it's really the luck at this point.

 

All but ONE local Volta has also been fine for me. That one is "VERY old" according to the guy repairing it when my friend happened to pull up.

In over 5.5 years, the ONE other charger that gave me problems is a ClipperCreek as pictured above.

That's not counting EVERY ChargePoint at my friend's work, which work fine, but only AFTER reset (unless a Fiat happened to be the very last car plugged into it.)

 

Speaking of, do any of you guys periodically clean the contacts in the charge port? Mine looks a little like gunpowder residue in there, not sure if cleaning them periodically would help alleviate charging problems…