Plug-In Road Rage: It begins

So the Volt driver who sent an angry email to the Leaf owner ("Don't unplug me!") did the right thing? The Leaf guy should have been stranded at work with an empty battery & no way to get home?
Wow.
I think there solution to such conflicts is to give the EV higher priority, because EV with empty battery cannot get home, while a hybrid with empty battery can still move
.

 

A common standard would help, as well, reducing what is today, fragmentation of levels, protocols and hardware.

 

Just finished reading all the replies..... It bothers me that the general attitude is: My hybrid is more important than the EV..... if he cannot get to a workplace charger, and is left stranded at work with an empty battery and no way home....

well tough.
My parents taught me that is "selfish" behavior. If I had a chargeable hybrid I would rather drive home on gasoline power (and let an EV coworker have a full battery) versus driving my hybrid on electric (and leave an EV coworker stranded).

 

Which is fine when all precipitants are courteous, but it appears that this isn't the case. Which probably shouldn't unexpected with rising numbers of plug ins and human nature.
Besides, I though the PPI's smaller battery advantage meant it should be fine with standard outlet charging, or charging not at all with the high gasoline efficiency.

Without CARB rules, it should be fine even then with a mountain mode equivalent. Has there been any in depth reviews with the car on the range extender? Further software intervention on CARB's part might make the performance lower than what the specs say.

 

The argument could go the other way too.

PiP owners need to plug in more often as per design -- therefore, PiP should have the priority. Higher range plugins can accumulate more charge over night, therefore lower priority in public chargers.

Under extreme weather, I can understand yielding the BEVs due to safety issue.

 

Anyone contemplating a EV or PHEV should evaluate charging options at home, work, and their normal driving area. Most assume charging is readily available or will be soon. Once I decided I wanted a Toyota Prius Hybrid (Prius 5), I realized that I could install Level 2 charging at home and work. The Prius Plug In was my choice with a 9.8 mile work commute. I do venture off the my normal route and even a Leaf could leave me stranded. Where's the affordable EV commuter with EV range between the Leaf and the Telsa S (around 125 miles)? With that in mind, I feel the Prius Plug In is my best option at this time.

 

Just like gas stations with leaded, unleaded, diesel, big diesel, ect. sized nozzles and fill ports on vehicles. The Government is going to have to take charge and set enforced standards for charging stations and vehicle manufactures, in addition to my previous comments, whether we like it or not. I see no other solution for public accessed charging, privately controlled or commercial.

 

Which is fine as long as all the plug ins in the area are PHVs, but there is also BEVs out there. Even if the BEV has the range to meet that day's needs, a midday charge will keep the discharge from going deep. Extending the battery life, and thus shrinking the car's overall resource foot print with more total miles before battery pack replacement.

At a work place, the PPI will fill its battery off a standard outlet during the day. No need for it to take up a level 2 charger at all. That is one of the reasons for a smaller pack right, shorter total charge time?

As to public chargers, unless there is a multitude of them, I think it is common courtesy to leave them open for a BEV. Even if that means 37mpg on premium or discharging a Tesla pack deeper. I believe it takes dedication to make a sub 100mile range BEV work in daily use, and I don't want to have to add to such a person's sacrifice in driving such a vehicle.

 

It was on AOL today, with a little EV survey
'Charge Rage' Hits Silicon Valley As Electric Vehicles Outpace Charging Stations

 

LOL! SV has to be THE most-self-entitled spot in the known universe!

 

Two cars with handicapped plates pull into a parking lot with only one handicapped parking space left open. Which one gets the spot?

 

None, they block each other from pulling into the spot.

 

Mathematically that doesn't make sense. Most surveys show that somewhere around 80% of charging or more takes place at home. Therefore, if you have 2x more EVs you only need (roughly) 20% more public chargers I would think.

Mike

 

There are many different charger configs. Some ChargePoint chargers have both L1 and L2. Some have two L2. We have both at work. Others have just one L2.

Mike

 

so, if i'm pumping gas, and an icer pulls up behind me, should i stop and let him fill up so he can make it home?

 

Depends on whether the EVs have round-trip range and/or EV owners experience 'range anxiety' doesn't it?

 

In SV you'd <ignore>...

 

Some don't work, some don't charge, some drive over the charge cable, etc., etc.

 

How about the charging station equipment makers form an industry association and come up with a market solution? Such as free chargers are fine, but after X amount of time or X amount of time not charging you get billed $1 per hour...or $5 per hour for example...and you get a 30 min grace period after the text msg notification.
And a pay station has a max time allocated as well...and after this time expires you get charged extra.

The stations, from all vendors would have a clear marking on them, such as
FR = free
FR 60 = free for an hour, then you pay if you don't depart
PA 120 = you pay for two hours, then you pay more if you don't depart

Mike

 

At my work we have ~22 EVs/PHEVs. About half of those are Leafs. I've talked to most of the Leaf owners and most of them have one way commutes of 10-20 miles or less.

Mike