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Learning Electric Vehicle Charging Etiquette

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Electric Vehicles Charging, and Sharing?
Electric Vehicles Charging, and Sharing?

How to charge your electric vehicle” might seem like a fairly straightforward exercise, similar to “how to refuel your conventional vehicle,” but what happens when there are limited chances to recharge?

The things we learned when it came to refueling our conventional vehicles have been handed down for generations. For the most part, we instinctively know that we have to wait in line at the gas station for our turn to refuel. Most of us know what to do about parking lines and restrictions, so we don’t park an Escalade in the motorcycle spot. Failure to stick within these norms of automobile behavior has led to untold numbers of passive-aggressive note-leaving, dirty looks, even escalating to violence in some cases.

It seems that we need to learn some things all over when it comes to electric vehicle parking and charging spaces, not so much at home or at fast-charging stations, but at work and other public-access stations. At first, with limited tech-savvy electric vehicle drivers, a forward-thinking company might install a couple of electric vehicle charging stations for its one or two employees. German software engineering company SAP installed sixteen electric vehicle charging stations in 2010, but over sixty employees now drive electric vehicles, so how do they divvy up charging times?

With difficulty, apparently, and there have been reports of people unplugging other electric vehicles, without ever knowing if the other one is fully charged or not. Another offense is the unplugging of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, “because they don’t need to be charged.” Of course, the biggest offense has to be a non-plug-in vehicle parked in a charging space, which could be just as bad as parking an electric vehicle there with no intention of using the charger. Here’s a little video covering some electric vehicle charging etiquette.

The electric vehicle revolution is happening now, and there are sure to be some teething pains along with it. Still, electric vehicle drivers, don’t attempt to break the lock that keeps the charging cable in another person’s charge port! Smartphone users, keep tabs on your charge levels and vacate the spot, if you can, so someone else can take advantage of the charging station. Conventional vehicle drivers, what are you even doing here?

Photo credit: National Renewable Energy Lab Foter.com /CC BY-NC-ND

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1 COMMENT

  1. There are a growing number of EV Charging Stations that do not make you pay for plugging in.  They are making money on the added business from everyone who wants to support sustainability  http://www.juicebarev.com

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