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I drive an electric car and try to charge at work only twice a week. Although if I notice no one is charging at some point, I'll top it off, range anxiety is no

I drive an electric car and try to charge at work only twice a week. Although if I notice no one is charging at some point, I'll top it off, range anxiety is no joke. Our workplace has a 2-port charger just for executives. (Naturally, it's often unused.) Meanwhile the rest of us non-executives get to slug it out for the other 2-port charger. I have discovered that Volts are excellent fodder for "charge-rage." Their 3.3kW chargers work so slowly, it's difficult to keep from thinking "they can just use gas, right?" And their batteries are so small, Volt drivers want to charge every single day. What's worse is, their charge port is alarmed. Even if the Chargepoint display says charging is complete, if you unplug a Volt it sets off the theft alarm. Kind of fascinating to watch this evolve. Definitely need some better charging tech if electric cars are going to last.

killion 13y ago
My charge-rage is when I see a Tesla in one of the two charging spots at the Stanford shopping center. They have enough range to not need the power, the owners typically park there because they are the best spots in the garage.
- jonknee 13y ago
  Why do you care? I don't get upset at a Prius when I see one at the gas station and there are no available pumps. If people are using just for the good parking spot there is a simple fix--don't put them right up front. If I had a Tesla and was able to both get a charge and a good spot you better believe I would take it, even if I wasn't dangerously low on power.
- tdiggity 13y ago
  The ones at stanford shopping center aren't free, so the guy is paying money to use them. He probably needs it because they charge $2/hr which is about 2.5x the cost of charging at home.
- moocowduckquack 13y ago
  How does this make any sense? Are you just looking for stuff to be pissed off about? A car having a large battery tells you very little about how much charge is actually left in there. You don't know where they need to drive to next, where they have been, or anything. If you are annoyed, hassle shopping centers to install new chargers, don't get annoyed at the people using them. Besides, if they were rarely used, then the shopping center would eventually get rid of them, whereas if they are constantly used then the shopping center will eventually install more of them, as people charging their cars have to wait, which is excellent for shopping centers.
- spullara 13y ago
  I specifically never charge my Tesla out of the house unless it needs to be charged. I agree that it isn't fair to the cars that actually need the power to get home. I've only ever not done that once when a garage near a theater in SF was full, except for an EV spot. Got them to open up the gate and let me park right across the street :)
ck2 13y ago
In all seriousness, what does an electric car owner do if power goes out for a week or more, like after a hurricane?
- lmm 13y ago
  The same thing people who can't get gas after a hurricane do. (If you're worried about it running down to the point where it damages the battery, that takes more than a few weeks).
  - brigade 13y ago
    How much longer? NY Times' Tesla test drive saw loss of over 55 miles in range just sitting overnight, which was backed up by the data in Elon Musk's rebuttal [1] (yet ignored by him...) Anyway, my experience with blizzards is that it's not unusual for the power to commercial districts and gas stations to be restored within a day, yet for some residential areas to remain without power a week later. Plus, more gas stations are installing generators. [2] [1] http://www.teslamotors.com/sites/default/files/blog_images/ratedrangeremaining0.jpg http://www.teslamotors.com/sites/default/files/blog_images/r... [2] http://www.ny1.com/content/news/201898/fema-funds-to-help-ny-gas-station-operators-install-generators-for-use-in-emergencies http://www.ny1.com/content/news/201898/fema-funds-to-help-ny...
    - ck2 13y ago
      I remember reading somewhere they patched the software to fix that overnight loss to just a few watts. It is used to keep the battery warm and electronics running.
- grecy 13y ago
  if power goes out for a week or more, in the event of something as severe as a hurricane, I think driving will be one of your last concerns. Also note, without power, you're not pumping any gas either, so the problem is the same. Also likely a hurricane is going to destroy roads, traffic lights will be out, etc. etc.
Dylan16807 13y ago
Sounds like you need a cheaper, slower charger primarily for Volts. Better to have glorified extension cords serving all the cars than a fancy device that only serves one or two, right?

killion 13y ago

My charge-rage is when I see a Tesla in one of the two charging spots at the Stanford shopping center. They have enough range to not need the power, the owners typically park there because they are the best spots in the garage.

jonknee 13y ago
Why do you care? I don't get upset at a Prius when I see one at the gas station and there are no available pumps. If people are using just for the good parking spot there is a simple fix--don't put them right up front. If I had a Tesla and was able to both get a charge and a good spot you better believe I would take it, even if I wasn't dangerously low on power.
tdiggity 13y ago
The ones at stanford shopping center aren't free, so the guy is paying money to use them. He probably needs it because they charge $2/hr which is about 2.5x the cost of charging at home.
moocowduckquack 13y ago
How does this make any sense? Are you just looking for stuff to be pissed off about? A car having a large battery tells you very little about how much charge is actually left in there. You don't know where they need to drive to next, where they have been, or anything. If you are annoyed, hassle shopping centers to install new chargers, don't get annoyed at the people using them. Besides, if they were rarely used, then the shopping center would eventually get rid of them, whereas if they are constantly used then the shopping center will eventually install more of them, as people charging their cars have to wait, which is excellent for shopping centers.
spullara 13y ago
I specifically never charge my Tesla out of the house unless it needs to be charged. I agree that it isn't fair to the cars that actually need the power to get home. I've only ever not done that once when a garage near a theater in SF was full, except for an EV spot. Got them to open up the gate and let me park right across the street :)

ck2 13y ago

In all seriousness, what does an electric car owner do if power goes out for a week or more, like after a hurricane?

lmm 13y ago
The same thing people who can't get gas after a hurricane do. (If you're worried about it running down to the point where it damages the battery, that takes more than a few weeks).
- brigade 13y ago
  How much longer? NY Times' Tesla test drive saw loss of over 55 miles in range just sitting overnight, which was backed up by the data in Elon Musk's rebuttal [1] (yet ignored by him...) Anyway, my experience with blizzards is that it's not unusual for the power to commercial districts and gas stations to be restored within a day, yet for some residential areas to remain without power a week later. Plus, more gas stations are installing generators. [2] [1] http://www.teslamotors.com/sites/default/files/blog_images/ratedrangeremaining0.jpg http://www.teslamotors.com/sites/default/files/blog_images/r... [2] http://www.ny1.com/content/news/201898/fema-funds-to-help-ny-gas-station-operators-install-generators-for-use-in-emergencies http://www.ny1.com/content/news/201898/fema-funds-to-help-ny...
  - ck2 13y ago
    I remember reading somewhere they patched the software to fix that overnight loss to just a few watts. It is used to keep the battery warm and electronics running.
grecy 13y ago
if power goes out for a week or more, in the event of something as severe as a hurricane, I think driving will be one of your last concerns. Also note, without power, you're not pumping any gas either, so the problem is the same. Also likely a hurricane is going to destroy roads, traffic lights will be out, etc. etc.

Dylan16807 13y ago

Sounds like you need a cheaper, slower charger primarily for Volts. Better to have glorified extension cords serving all the cars than a fancy device that only serves one or two, right?