[JClay]

So I plugged in to charge at a public level 2. Come back 8 hours later to find another bolt there! So awesome.

I finish my charge and am so excited to plug them in. Like a good samaritan, I hook up their car to the level 2 charger. I notice three flashes and exclaim “wow they are already 75% charged at least well I am happy to top them off”

I drive away.

I start thinking... what if they don’t have hilltop reserve on. What if they don’t come back for hours?

my girlfriend starts laughing.... “what if the owner comes back and his car is on fire because YOU plugged them in”

i laugh a little too. And then die inside.

 

[Bolt2019]

None of the above. I wouldn't touch somebody else's car.
lol (actually) on the last one.

 

[XJ12]

what if they don’t have hilltop reserve on

their choice, not yours. not like you snuck into their garage and plugged it in.

 

[wesley]

Plugging someone else’s car in without consent is bound to cause problems where I live, so I’m rather perplexed by the OP’s question. So that’s a thing in the U.S.? Cool.

 

[Fivedoor]

If I was at a L2 charger, and came back to find another EV parked next to me WITH THEIR CHARGE PORT DOOR OPEN only in that case would I plug them in... otherwise it is hands off.

Keith

 

[wonderbolt]

If I was at a L2 charger, and came back to find another EV parked next to me WITH THEIR CHARGE PORT DOOR OPEN only in that case would I plug them in... otherwise it is hands off.

Keith

Agreed, when all EVSE's are occupied and a vehicle is parked close with charge port door open I would plug them in, before public L2 charging was so common and redundant around my area I used to put a tag on the vehicle with my cell number and a "ok to unplug" opportunity charging only sign, I haven't used that since 2018... Now that we have more Level 2 spots than EVs it has not even been an issue.

 

[Sean Nelson]

Plugging someone else’s car in without consent is bound to cause problems where I live, so I’m rather perplexed by the OP’s question.

Really? I plugged into a free (no payment required) fast charger and went shopping, and when I returned there was an unattended LEAF that had arrived while I was gone and parked beside me. I assume the owner had also gone into the store to shop. I was done, it was pretty obvious that the LEAF wanted to charge (otherwise why would he have parked in an "EVs only while charging" spot), so I unplugged my car, plugged his in, and hit "start" on the charger.

It's a simple courtesy. Why wouldn't you do that?

 

[Curt]

When I was in high school, I got to school one day and parked next to a Chevy hot rod with the headlights left on. I opened its door and turned out the light. My friends were like "oh man! you're gonna get your ass kicked! never touch anyone's car!" Ever since then I've stayed away.

The CHARGE PORT DOOR OPEN idea is great, if everyone learns it as a customary signal. Except perhaps in bad weather.

 

[wesley]

Really? I plugged into a free (no payment required) fast charger and went shopping, and when I returned there was an unattended LEAF that had arrived while I was gone and parked beside me. I assume the owner had also gone into the store to shop. I was done, it was pretty obvious that the LEAF wanted to charge (otherwise why would he have parked in an "EVs only while charging" spot), so I unplugged my car, plugged his in, and hit "start" on the charger.

It's a simple courtesy. Why wouldn't you do that?

Two things:

1) Complimentary chargers are rare. Even the big shopping centers with their own chargers see them as an additional revenue stream and charges about the same level as others. Since almost all the public chargers are paid ones, you’d have to be generous enough to pay for the other car’s charging. If free chargers were easily available you’d think people would be more inclined to show that kind of courtesy, but...

2) Ever so often I hear about the cases where the person who came later would stop the charging in progress and plug in their own car (yes, very bad move). So people have become wary about someone else fiddling with the plug either way.

 

[Bolt2019]

Two things:

1) Complimentary chargers are rare. Even the big shopping centers with their own chargers see them as an additional revenue stream and charges about the same level as others. Since almost all the public chargers are paid ones, you’d have to be generous enough to pay for the other car’s charging. If free chargers were easily available you’d think people would be more inclined to show that kind of courtesy, but...

2) Ever so often I hear about the cases where the person who came later would stop the charging in progress and plug in their own car (yes, very bad move). So people have become wary about someone else fiddling with the plug either way.

I have experienced that at a free fast charger. (Sean: Hope) It was an Ioniq. No way to prove it of course.
I know of one grocery chain that has fast chargers. I otherwise see L2's. I don't see the point of those at a shopping center. So you get a few miles for the short amount of time you're there.

 

[Sean Nelson]

I otherwise see L2's. I don't see the point of those at a shopping center. So you get a few miles for the short amount of time you're there.

I gotta admit that if I'm at a shopping centre with free L2 chargers and there's an empty spot, I'll park and plug in and get a bit of a charge while I'm there. Why not? But I don't sweat it if I can't.

 

[Sibilance]

Really? I plugged into a free (no payment required) fast charger and went shopping, and when I returned there was an unattended LEAF that had arrived while I was gone and parked beside me. I assume the owner had also gone into the store to shop. I was done, it was pretty obvious that the LEAF wanted to charge (otherwise why would he have parked in an "EVs only while charging" spot), so I unplugged my car, plugged his in, and hit "start" on the charger.

It's a simple courtesy. Why wouldn't you do that?

I can imagine many many ways that this attempt at common courtesy would end up very badly for me, with me on the wrong end of a conversation with a police officer.

I mean, a past experience like that is EXACTLY why I second guess any common courtesy impulse. Getting viciously punished for good deeds has a way of sticking with you.

 

[Sean Nelson]

I can imagine many many ways that this attempt at common courtesy would end up very badly for me, with me on the wrong end of a conversation with a police officer. I mean, a past experience like that is EXACTLY why I second guess any common courtesy impulse. Getting viciously punished for good deeds has a way of sticking with you.

I dunno. I'd rather live in a world where common courtesy is the norm, so that's the way I'll continue to act. I still believe that it will be appreciated a lot more often than not, and if a police officer should become involved that they will exercise a little common sense. Yeah, I know, common sense is in short supply. But I still believe a world of decency is a better place than one of fear.

 

[wonderbolt]

1) Complimentary chargers are rare.

This depends on where you live. In general in my area free level 2 probably outnumber paid 8:1.

Within a 2 mile radius of my home are 30 free level 2 public charging locations.

It won't always be this way, most are networked, but it is today.

 

[NewsCoulomb]

The CHARGE PORT DOOR OPEN idea is great, if everyone learns it as a customary signal. Except perhaps in bad weather.

One of the many reasons public chargers should have coverings.

The bigger issue I've encountered is that people don't know that the charge port door being open is a request to be plugged in. Out of the several times it's come up, never once did the other person plug me in upon leaving.

 

[The Other Tom]

It's a simple courtesy. Why wouldn't you do that?

I'd do it for a Leaf or any other car except a Bolt due to the current 90% max charge restriction. Yeah, if they're parked at a charger I'd assume they wanted to charge but "out of an abundance of caution" I wouldn't plug a Bolt in. By the way, I use L2 at shopping centers, etc as opportunity charging and leave a note on my car to the effect that if someone else needs a charge, go ahead and unplug me and charge your car.

 

[Sibilance]

I dunno. I'd rather live in a world where common courtesy is the norm, so that's the way I'll continue to act. I still believe that it will be appreciated a lot more often than not, and if a police officer should become involved that they will exercise a little common sense. Yeah, I know, common sense is in short supply. But I still believe a world of decency is a better place than one of fear.

Hey, you asked why, I gave you my particular answer. I also believe a world of decency is a better place than one of fear, but I have to manage fear from others.

Considering that due to my particular... everything and where I live in the United States, I have had to contend with things like having the police called on me for holding a rake in my front yard? I think I'll contribute to common decency by NOT TOUCHING VEHICLES THAT DO NOT BELONG TO ME.

That's being decent to myself. I am not making the world darker by doing that. That's not on me.

 

[Sean Nelson]

Considering that due to my particular... everything and where I live in the United States...

Yeah, I guess I get it. I try to remind myself of my blessings every day, and one of the biggest is where I happen to have been born.

 

[GetOffYourGas]

Considering that due to my particular... everything and where I live in the United States, I have had to contend with things like having the police called on me for holding a rake in my front yard?

Where do you live, and what on earth is going on there to cause this situation?

 

[shrox]

Where do you live, and what on earth is going on there to cause this situation?

Plenty of places in the USA are like that, it's usually just spite or misdirected anger. I had a neighbor like that, fortunately it was never directed at me.