Hogging a chargepoint

55 minutes? That's nothing. The last one I was waiting for was a brand new local Leaf in Blanchardstown that was charging for well over 2 hours (car abandoned). This is probably the second busiest fast charger in Ireland. Some people are just ignorant pricks / imbeciles. The only thing that works is bringing in hefty charges for charging.

There needs to be a €10 an hour charge added once you go an hour charging over full charge, that would police itself.

I was in ennis one day and seen a leaf charging for nearly 3 hour's.
Because I parked near them, and came back and the thing was still plugged in....

I think we all have anecdotes about public charge points abuse.

My two personal favourites are the woman who left her 2016 red Leaf plugged in for 10 days at the SCP in Tesco Maynooth. She had been left a few notes by others and I just happened to be there when she returned (dropped off with suitcases, looked like she'd been away). She balled up the notes and threw them on the ground.

The other was a woman and her Leaf at the FCP in Longford. Parking at that one is very awkward. I pulled in and noticed she was plugged in but not charging. I had to awkwardly position the car with one wheel on the footpath so the cable would reach. I unplugged her and plugged in my own car. She arrived back 20 minutes later, and was a bit dismayed I'd unplugged her. She said she plugs in every morning for an hour while she walks the dog.

Billing for public charging can happen soon enough.

Went into a garage todaywas at 10% took 3 minutes to top up..was on the road again... the joys of petrol.

NSAman wrote: »

Went into a garage todaywas at 10% took 3 minutes to top up..was on the road again... the joys of petrol.

Good lad. You're paying for that privilege with between 7x and 10x the fuel costs, higher motor tax, higher servicing costs, and a vastly inferior driving experience. But if it works for you.

Actually I think I'll buy a helicopter.

NSAman wrote: »

With petrol at 2.40 a gallon and road tax of 125 a year for me, it makes more sense than an EV currently.

In Ireland, the home charging is the only way to go. Public charging stations simply are not sufficient. Here they have charging stations in all supermarkets, which is fine for city/town driving, but with long haul it simply isn’t an option for most currently.

Ok, didn't know you were abroad, apologies. 2.40 a gallon -- where is that? I lived in Utah in 2016 and petrol was $2.30 a gallon. Ironically EV charging was probably more developed than here. Fast forward to 2018 and petrol was closer to $2.90 a gallon. Go to California and you can add a dollar to that.

Oh, and the other irony is that electricity here was/is about 10% cheaper!

n97 mini wrote: »

I think we all have anecdotes about public charge points abuse.

My two personal favourites are the woman who left her 2016 red Leaf plugged in for 10 days at the SCP in Tesco Maynooth. She had been left a few notes by others and I just happened to be there when she returned (dropped off with suitcases, looked like she'd been away). She balled up the notes and threw them on the ground.

The other was a woman and her Leaf at the FCP in Longford. Parking at that one is very awkward. I pulled in and noticed she was plugged in but not charging. I had to awkwardly position the car with one wheel on the footpath so the cable would reach. I unplugged her and plugged in my own car. She arrived back 20 minutes later, and was a bit dismayed I'd unplugged her. She said she plugs in every morning for an hour while she walks the dog.

Billing for public charging can happen soon enough.

Was just gonna ask, can you just unplug someone else's car if they're taking the pi$$? Pig ignorant fckers everywhere these days!! No regard for anyone only themselves...

mickdw wrote: »

What are the general rules re hogging charge points.
I notice there is a single charge point outside the offices of Mayo co council in castlebar. Without fail, every time I pass there is a leaf plugged in. It would appear that this car remains plugged in all day everyday.
Parking is at a premium also at this location and as such, plugging in results in a handy parking spot.

No rules really. First come first served. And all slow chargers like the one you mention are "destination chargers" where you can plug in and leave your car all day or all night. That's fine.

In Dublin you have to pay for your parking the same as any other car. Outside Dublin, in most places parking is free while you are plugged in. The Leaf you mention isn't doing anything wrong.

The problem we are discussing in this thread is the fast chargers though. Still no rules, but the problem is that only one car can charge at a time. If you plug in the new model Leaf (charging from empty to full takes 2.5 hours - probably longer than any other EV). There is nothing anybody can do about it

But it is very frustrating obviously for anyone waiting at a fast charger. Most EVs just need a top up, a charge from 20%-80% takes no more than 20-30 minutes in most EVs. Compare it with this situation at a conventional petrol station. You arrive completely empty and you would not make it to the next petrol station. There is only one pump. And the person filling their car up at the pump, is pumping in a few drops of petrol at a time. And they are completely ignorant and they don't listen to your advice of pressing the holder harder so more petrol flows. And you are waiting hours for them to finally finish.

Wtf ? wrote: »

I know nothing re the etiquette of this ev thing ?

The problem is that the etiquette is not working even if 95% of the owners are the nicest, kindest bunch yet the remaining 5% are ignorant imbeciles...

Only a temp problem though. As soon as it costs say 30c per kWh plus 30c per minute, all those fukcers will be gone from the chargers

Welcome to boards.ie anyway, happy first post!

n97 mini wrote: »

Ok, didn't know you were abroad, apologies. 2.40 a gallon -- where is that? I lived in Utah in 2016 and petrol was $2.30 a gallon. Ironically EV charging was probably more developed than here. Fast forward to 2018 and petrol was closer to $2.90 a gallon. Go to California and you can add a dollar to that.

Oh, and the other irony is that electricity here was/is about 10% cheaper!

Charging stations are pretty well developed in most towns/cities here. The local supermarket has 15 Tesla high speed chargers. In all the times I have been shopping I have only seen one car using it. Despite the number of Tesla car on the road here, I think most are home charged.

Electricity is cheap here. Illinois... someone was saying they liked the hybrid, I did toy with getting a hybrid, but simply the cost even with the incentive was not worth it for me. Certain things here cannot go electric, even though they have electronic part engines eg. Trucks...Ram/F150. Power and hauling are what they are used for brute force basically.

I am still enthralled that etiquette rules have not been issued in relation to public chargers there in Ireland...common sense dictates that you should not hog a charger, but judging by many of the eco-die-hards here (and I know this is a generalization) common sense doesn’t play a large part in their psyche.

What actually is the etiquette? For instance I see people complaining about cars being plugged in for 55 mins / an hour but I would have thought that that is the norm and would be perfectly acceptable? Also if someone needs a charge to 80% and someone else arrives saying they need 10 mins then are they expected to stop charging and let them charge? I don't have a clue but was just wondering.

I obviously don't have an EV but it's clear to me from passing my local charge points that not charging seems to be a disaster. For instance there is what looks to be a fast charger in the Lidl just off the M1 in Drogheda. Whenever I go there there always seems to be the same leaf and outlander phev parked up charging. This means that anyone coming off the motorway that genuinely needs a charge can never use it.

I'd imagine once EVs go more mainstream that there will be some awful road rage incidents.

Wanderer78 wrote: »

How long does it take to fully charge a car from dead?

The car is not usually dead, you would arrive with 5-15%
To get from that to 80% in a new leaf can take 45-55 minutes.
In an Ioniq it would take ~25 and in a kona could take 80 minutes +

upinsmoke wrote: »

Are those chargers free? People been frugal?

Yes they are currently free, it's people being arseholes to be honest.

I would go loopy if I'd paid for a car that wouldn't get me from A to B without stopping no matter how much money I was saving

To be on the road to Cork only to have to stop off, possibly get stuck behind some eejit like mentioned above and add an extra hour+ onto the journey with the kids screaming blue murder and the other half throwing me dirty looks for buying the car in the first place

instead of a fore court, I'd be heading to the divorce courts.

it's all grand in theory until you realise that any lengthy journey means a possible clash with a a$$hole (I'd have to find a public charger in cork too as the house at home wouldn't have one)

not for me I'm afraid