Last night I drove my BMW i3 to a charging station in Pasadena, where I witnessed some of the most selfish, pathetic behavior I’ve seen in a while. (Editor’s Note: And he works on the internet all day, people! —PG). A Tesla driver saw that his fellow man was in a vulnerable position, but decided not to help in order to save some money. The Lightning owner was unhappy, and a yelling match ensued. The whole situation was absurd.
I’d just driven from Santa Monica to Pasadena to have a birthday dinner (my friend’s parents took me out to a nice Mexican spot) and to volunteer with my friend at a kitten-rescue organization. My BMW i3, equipped with a rather small 22 kWh battery that really only offers about 75 miles of range before it fires up the two-cylinder gasoline “range extender” under the rear floor, was at 3 percent. As I’m not a huge fan of spending money on gas when I don’t have to, I headed to a charging station near the pet store where my friend and I were volunteering.
It’s called the Arroyo EV Charging Depot, and it is absolutely massive, featuring 20 Tesla Superchargers and six “Power Up” chargers featuring CCS and CHAdeMO plugs.
The Arroyo EV Charging Depot at 64 E. Glenarm St. is NOW OPEN! Enjoy these new Level-3 EV fast chargers for FREE 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦! pic.twitter.com/Mt6jpcGJF4
— City of Pasadena (@PasadenaGov) November 3, 2021
Here’s the setup: You can see lots of Tesla charging stations on the left; on the right side of the image are the non-Tesla chargers:
Here’s a look at the charging depot from the front; you can see the six CCS/CHAdeMO spots right here in the front. A Nissan Leaf, a Chevy Bolt, and a BMW i3 can be seen using them:
Anyway, here’s how the scene looked last night:
I pulled in, got ready to fire up a CCS charger, and a Ford F-150 Lightning pulled into a spot next to me. I had a 175 kW charger, and the Lightning driver was parked in front of a slower 50 kW charger. We chatted a bit, and I decided to trade spots with him given how small my battery pack is (and how huge his is). He’d need the extra power more than I. (Plus, my i3 can only charge at speeds up to 50 kW anyway).
The only problem was, the higher-output charger that I’d just traded was broken. Just after I offered the Lightning driver his old spot back, another high-output charger became available, so the Lightning owner put his truck into reverse and backed up:
But, before he could park at the charger (it might have been before the Lightning owner started backing or maybe slightly after — I don’t recall), a white Tesla backed in. The Lightning owner talked with the owner, saying he had no other options besides that spot; I was in the 50kW charger, and the other two 175kW chargers were broken. The Lightning owner pleaded with the owner (I cannot say how polite he was; it all happened a bit fast), saying there were many Tesla Superchargers wide open, but the Tesla owner refused to move.
The exchange between the Lightning owner and the Tesla owner escalated to shouting and cursing before the Tesla owner walked away from his now-charging car, leaving the Lightning owner with no place to juice up. I intercepted the Tesla owner just to ask him what was going on; “These chargers are only 20 cents; the Tesla chargers cost [about 50]” is roughly what I recall the Tesla driver saying before he left.
It was a pretty poor display of EV charging etiquette. And given how many Tesla owners over the years — since they’ve often been early adopters — have been coal-rolled or had charging stalls blocked by gas cars, you’d think he’d be more sympathetic.
But I wanted to know why this ended the way it did; why there’s a rate difference in charging, and what the city thinks of Tesla drivers using non-Tesla spots. Are there any rules about this?
I reached out to the city of Pasadena, and wound up on the phone with EV Program Manager Evan Johnson. He talked about how, in large part due to the many payment forms they have to facilitate, and also the fact that they aren’t maintained by Tesla (which has dialed EV charging in better than anyone), non-Tesla chargers tend to have more “fault points” and thus down-time than Tesla chargers do.
Pasadena and Tesla build joint sites. “They operate their chargers, and we operate our chargers separately,” he told me, mentioning that the Arroyo EV Charging Depot is one of the busiest in the country, with about 30,000 charging sessions each month.
When I talked with him about the situation I’d witnessed, he gave what I found was an appropriate answer for someone in his position. “Any EV is an EV,” he said. “Tesla has that CCS adapter, so for us they’re just electric vehicles…We don’t dictate what type of EV can charge at that network.”
To be sure, Pasadena banning Teslas—the most popular EV in the city—from a charging network partially paid for by city taxes would not go well, so his statement is a smart one. “We’re a utility, but we’re also part of the city. We’re trying to encourage charging,” he told me. “As a utility, we receive state funds for putting in charging programs.”
The situation between the Tesla owner and the Lightning owner in the Ford F-150 Lightning is one that Johnson said he took responsibility for. “The onus is on us,” he said. “We’re actually in design for an additional 12 [chargers]; we already put in conduit for an additional 12 chargers.” In total, that will make 18 CCS chargers—comparable to the 20 Tesla Superchargers.
“Tesla can build faster than we can. We do have plans to… be comparable in numbers,” he said, noting that the 175 kW chargers cost $85,000 apiece to install. Pasadena apparently has 35 EV charging projects, with plans to have 1,000 chargers before long.
Johnson also noted this about the situation last night: “Our stance is that an electric vehicle is an electric vehicle. I can’t dictate [who charges where]…[the driver] may be an Uber driver; they may be trying to conserve cost.”
I do agree with him. We don’t know the economic situation that the Tesla owner is dealing with. Maybe times are tight for him, and if so, I wish him all the best in resolving that. The Tesla chargers cost 47 cents per kWh during the day, while the non-Tesla chargers cost between 15 cents off-peak and 20 cents peak. So he’s saving around 27 cents per kWh. If his Tesla Model Y Long Range Dual Motor has a 75 kWh battery, and he has to charge 90 percent of it, he’s saving $18 by foregoing the Tesla Supercharger. That’s not nothing.
Sure, the Lightning owner probably only has to wait 20-30 minutes or so for the Tesla to charge (but who knows if the Tesla driver will return on time) [Edit: Per the Lightning owner, who reached out to me via email, the Tesla owner did not return for about 45 minutes. That’s approximately when the Lightning owner left. -DT] , and the Tesla owner did get to the spot first and may not have realized the Ford was on its way there, but I still wish the Tesla owner had had some sympathy for another EV driver who had no other options. I still find that unacceptable; this whole situation could have been so much better resolved. For these two grown men to resort to yelling and cursing—all over what, in LA, barely buys you a damn kale salad at Erewhon.
Figure it out, and stop being so selfish! We’re all in this together, dealing with an imperfect EV infrastructure; let’s be cool to one another.
For my part, I drove off and let the Lightning owner take my spot. My beloved i3 has a gasoline range-extender in the back, after all.
[Update (Aug 24, 2023 17:16 ET): After reading a number of comments, my view on the situation has changed a bit. Whereas my initial stance was that the Tesla driver screwed the Lightning driver over, since the Tesla driver had a bunch of open chargers and the Lightning guy didn’t, the reality is that the cost-delta between the Superchargers and CCS chargers could have been as high as $20 for the Tesla driver, and that’s not nothing. The fact that the Lightning guy was at the chargers first and happened to park at a broken one isn’t necessarily something that the Tesla driver has to concern himself with. I think it would have been nice had he shown a little more understanding given that we’re all in this EV-transition together, and infrastructure is a problem that we all struggle with. I personally would have just charged at the Supercharger with the understanding that taking that cheaper spot puts the other gentleman in a bind, but if I were in a tight financial bind myself, I’d have probably just talked it over with the Lightning driver. Though maybe he was intimidated, as the situation was indeed tense. So I’ve updated the headline and lede; I understand both people’s perspectives, here. -DT]
I really wanted to see those two electro-dorks fight. Oh well.
https://youtu.be/j_ekugPKqFw?si=zIgIfEDXCG8AUOsN
I’ve seen similar complaints from diesel vehicle owners who hate when gas stations only have one diesel pump (which also dispenses gasoline) and it’s blocked by a gasoline vehicle. Difference is, in those cases I’m willing to bet the gas car driver wasn’t even aware that the pump they’re parked next to is the only one dispensing diesel.
In this case, I’m considering it willful douchebaggery by the Tesla owner since he knew damn well what he was doing and he’s totally fine blocking someone else when he doesn’t have to. I do appreciate that David is playing devil’s advocate and considering all the factors whereas my mind immediately went to the “typical smug self entitled Tesla driver” stereotype, especially with that sticker.
Yeah, that was me once. I was the blocker. But of course, (a) I realized it and I try not to do that again unless it’s the only pump available and (b) the wait at a gas pump is a minute to a few minutes, not like a half hour to an hour. And also, I don’t walk away.
Were you behind us at Murphy USA last night, lol? Seriously though as a prior diesel owner I scolded my wife for pulling into one of four diesel pump spots. Her response was “then why’d they put a gas pump here?”. I mean….she ain’t wrong…
I currently DESPISE all Tesla’s so I’m quite biased here, but this situation is just a tough call. I too would refuse to pay an extra $18 just so another driver could charge faster unless that driver were one exceptionally attractive person who was actively flirting with me. Of course, I’m kind of a horrible person, so no one should be surprised to hear that might be my criteria. 😀
I partially agree, I don’t think that I would feel the need to spend extra money, but from David’s description, the Lightning owner was clearly there before him and just took a minute to figure out that there is only one charger that will work for him,
To me, this is the same energy of people at the grocery store who were clearly behind you, see you moving to the now open line, and decide to hustle to the new checkout and box you out.
I don’t think someone should pay more, but we do have to abide by dibs, and the Lightning owner clearly had dibs on that spot.
Yeah, we can’t afford to throw dibs out the window, especially at a time like this when everything seems to be spiraling out of control. We must protect dibs.
Ah, modern version of gas, grass etc.
Suppose the Tesla is in the right…the could’ve just been nice about it and said… it’s a lot cheaper…I’ll charge as quick as I can and get out of your way -vs- hey let’s argue and I’ll walk away for way longer than necessary.
Tesla Owners – Dont open our charging networks to non-Teslas!
Tesla Owners – We’ll use any charging network as we please!
When the Tesla arrived on scene, where was the F150? Was it still in the stall or was it in the isle and in progress of backing up?
I’ve been in this situation, I arrived, saw an open charger, there was also a car that had pulled out in the isle, I pulled behind in and into a charger. What I didnt know was he had just pulled out of a spot with a broken charger and was about to back into the charger I had pulled into. I can quickly pull into a spot, faster than he can back up into it. He told me the situation, why he was in the isle, I gave him the charger, we chatted about our cars, we went on our way.
But what if the car or F150 was still parked in the stall with the bad charger, the Tesla shows up and pulls into the charger stall before the F150 made an attempt to move to the new stall.
I can’t exactly remember. It MIGHT have still been in the stall? Or JUST backing up. Hard to know but I do recall the driver telling the Tesla guy that the other ones were broken.
I’ve had my Lightning for almost a year now, and I have yet to successfully destination charge anywhere. I have fast charged, and charged at home… but most destination chargers at hotels and other places where I might actually need one have been a miss.
They’re also mostly Tesla branded.
And I have witnessed Tesla drivers be some of the worst human beings ever at these stations.
The worst instance was a Model Y driver at a ski resort who went around a whole row of parking lot into the median, ripping up the grass and making a muddy mess of everything in order to park on the other side of a Tesla charging station that was in-use by a Kia. They then unplugged the Kia and plugged their ugly lump in instead.
He was apparently so smug in his right-ness in that situation that he proceeded to leave his car there while he went to ski for the day. Somehow both the grounds crew at the resort and the Kia owner both resisted the urge to retaliate.
Wait, he unplugged a car that was charging to plug his in? I mean, beyond any sort of charging etiquette, we’re talking rule #1: don’t fuck with someone else’s ride.
Yeah, IMO, towing that car away would’ve been totally justified. I will say though that a ski resort makes an interesting scenario. If the Kia owner went off to the slopes, then they have an obligation to check back in a reasonable time (like an hour) and move their car. Also, they would have discovered the Tesla and if it were me I would have moved the plug back after I had complained to the resort management and showed them the damage to their parking lot/grass.
Approximately zero percent of people come back to their vehicles to do this.
If there’s a Jeep 4xe and a PHEV Mitsubishi taking up the only two charging spots at a hotel at 4PM, those same two vehicles are practically guaranteed to be in those spots at 7AM.
The only way people ever move is if there is a fee.
I’m curious, do not all EVs lock the plug in place? My PHEV Volvo locks the plug and you have to unlock it with the key.
I’ve never charged a KIA. My Lightning does not lock the plug. I wouldn’t be surprised to find that the behavior was different L2 vs L3 on some models.
Yep. That’s why this one took the cake.
Without seeing it all go down it’s hard to say, but it seems that if Mr. Tesla was able to back into the spot and start charging before Mr. F150 even got there then he might not be the a-hole here. From his perspective, there’s just some truck backing up a few spaces away and he wouldn’t know why or where he was headed.
I can see why Mr. F150 would be frustrated but expecting someone else to fork over a fair bit more money by going to the Tesla station or delay their own evening seems a bit entitled. I certainly wouldn’t leave a gas pump and pay $18 more elsewhere so some rando can fill up their truck sooner.
I think there are different ways to look at this; I get both sides, in a way, but I think the Tesla owner should have gone to the Tesla spots, knowing that the Lightning was there first and happened to have pulled up to a broken spot.
But people don’t show compassion in the same way/at the same times, so I can see how there are different views, here.
“But people don’t show compassion in the same way/at the same times, so I can see how there are different views, here.”
This is one of the primary reason why I charge at home even though I get 2yrs free at Electrify America. Dealing with other EV owners has been draining. Sure there are crappy people whether it is EV or Gas vehicles, but with gas, there are more gas stations and the amount of time you spend there is minutes, not 30-45mins for an EV.
a key insight… it’s not about being just or fair, it’s about being nice. I’m not saying the Tesla had to move or even should’ve moved, but cooler heads really should’ve prevailed. I think I would’ve insisted that I charge until I understood that the other charger was broken, then I may have changed my mind unless I had some other overriding reason…even so, I would’ve stayed with my car to hurry up and get out of there in the interest of fairness.
It’s not about “compassion”. An open stall is a open stall, no sense getting upset because you bought into a charging architecture that is not well supported. That’s part of what the Ford owner knew he was doing when purchasing a non-NACS vehicle.
It’s pretty much like jumping ahead of a guy in a wheelchair to take the handicapped stall in the bathroom.
Electricity is electricity, no? So why are the charging price rates so vastly different between the Tesla chargers and the city chargers? Is it the Elon tax?
The site host sets pricing in most cases. It’s like the price of a bag of chips at the corner store or popcorn at the movies (versus buying at the grocery store).
I assume the city gets a better rate on electricity and isn’t trying to turn a profit.
Also sounds like Tesla puts more money into maintenance of the chargers.
Quite possibly, though they are also likely less abused. The cable is always going to easily reach the charging port without being dragged across the car or whatnot. There are more of them. Sounds like Tesla owners choose the more affordable city option when it’s available.
And we don’t know how long that charging station had been broken. Maybe it broke just before the Lightning owner got there. Or maybe it had been broken for weeks and the city is neglecting them. Hard to say.
Charging $0.3 less is why they have broken chargers.
it’s a new market, new tech, stuff hasn’t settled down yet and there’s tons of reliability issues. Few chargers work at their advertised rates, Tesla chargers have a reputation for working better than most.
So even on an average day, charging an EV can be as frustrating as trying to buy gas during the fuel crisis? I don’t have any good solutions (beyond building more chargers), but this seems problematic, especially in a country made up mostly of anti-social people.
Buying gas during the fuel crisis is frustrating, how about at any Costco at practically any time.
People saving money is a thing.
While they pee away their time and their gas with the AC blowing. I wonder what the net savings actually are.
Frustrating and perhaps aggravating, but is it really something to get all charged up about?
Honestly, I was shocked by the entire episode.
It’s just the current state of our infrastructure.
Damn, stole my pun while I was typing it.
He’s just like that Tesla guy in the article. Tsk Tsk.
I was going to point that out, but I resisted.
Didn’t want to spark another debate?
Ohm my god, please knock off the puns or you’re all grounded!
They’ll soon be discharged then.
So much negativity!
Well, you know what they say “Electrons have consequences” ヽ(͡◕ ͜ʖ ͡◕)ﾉ
That’s why it is important to get out and Volt. ＼(´ ε｀ )／
No doubt we’ll see this on cable news.
not me: I cut the cord years ago
Sounds like those 2 were really wired.
It’s not hard to understand why they got all amped up.
Sad commentary on the current state of the world, isn’t it?
We can all try and be a conduit for change.
If only they had turned this negative situation into something more positive.
If they knew how to conduct themselves.
IF THIS ENTIRE THREAD DOES NOT END UP AS COTD, I WILL BLOW A FUSE AND IT WILL BE A DARK TIME, INDEED.
Feels like a pile on piece.
Ford driver wants to save 20-30 minutes. Tesla drive wants to save $18 or so.
People have a general idea of how much their time is worth (or how much time it takes them to make $18…) and some make rational decisions accordingly. And here we have a piece shaming the Tesla guy for deciding that his money (that generally requires time to earn) is worth more than the Ford driver’s time. I don’t think we have enough information. Reminds me of the ball joint piece, David.
Shouting at people is pretty antisocial for sure.
If there was a gas pump that was 30 cents cheaper than the rest, there’s no way I’d give it away.
I think the telling thing here is not that the Tesla driver was not justified in wanting to save money or use whatever charger he wanted. It was the fact that the Lightning driver was actively in the process of backing into that spot when the Tesla commandeered it. If that is how it really went down, then that was a dick move by the Tesla driver, plain & simple.
Was it worth getting into a shouting match over? That also depends. Bad behavior should be called out to the bad actor. But just calling the bad actor a name does not help anyone.
Yes, but looking at the picture. The Tesla is already hooked up to the charger as the truck is backing out of the space. So it could just look like the truck was leaving to the Tesla.
Again, I think the guy in the truck should have offered some cash if he needed a charge that bad.
That was my thought too: whip out a Jackson and offer it up if your time is that valuable. I can’t judge, though, cause I wasn’t there to see the timing, but that seems like the way to de-escalate once the price difference was pointed out
Just goes to show, Tesla drivers are the new BMW driv… oh, wait a minite.
Beat me to it by mere seconds
Fault #1, Pasadena for having broken chargers.
Fault #2, Tesla guy for refusing a reasonable request
Fault #3, Lightning driver for not simply taking no for an answer
Fault #4, David for not simply driving off and giving up his charger
I DID drive off and give up my charger.
Then you, sir, are a mensch.
This is like:
Single diesel pump at a gas station, but it also dispenses gasoline so the person in the diesel Super duty gets screwed when a gas car owner insists on using that single pump (when other gas pumps are avail)… leads to altercations
Public parking (anywhere) when someone is trying to back in to a perpendicular spot or (correctly) trying to back in to a parallel spot… but the person behind you sneaks in nose-first…. leads to altercations
As a society it would be nice, for like ~2 seconds, to just understand another person’s situation at that moment in time.
We’re all imperfect, and selfishness/anger is like an addiction that all of us actively have to work against. It’s life-long battle (controlling anger, for me particularly) and recognizing that it’s a life-long battle is part of seeing even the slightest improvements.
It would be nice if the Tesla driver thought a little harder, and hopefully after some time passes they might ask themselves one of the most underrated questions you can ask: “Wait… was I the asshole?”
…more often than anyone (including me) wants to admit, the answer is yes.
Here’s how you can tell:
You run into an asshole in the morning, you ran into an asshole. You run into assholes all day, you’re the asshole.
Thanks, Raylan 🙂
^ I love this, gonna have to remember that!
Tesla driver thought as hard as they’re ever going to: “I wanna and I can.”
If you think Tesla owners are aggravating now just wait until another year or so of depreciation does its thing. They’re going to be on buy here pay here lots in the teens before you know it…
I was thinking more along the lines of, “just wait a year or two when all the cars can use Tesla chargers to see how upset the Tesla owners are going to be over their clogged super charging stations.”
Though I wouldn’t put it past them to come up with some sort of exclusive option.”
I’ll be that guy around 2030, surfing Marketplace or CL or whatever the online classifieds du jour will be for a broken Tesla for a few grand (or less) that can be fixed for small money.
Yep, while he did nothing illegal, that Tesla driver was a humungous DICK. It’s not the first time I’ve seen Teslas monopolizing non-Tesla chargers, either. When I was in Estes Park recently, I needed to charge my Fiat 500e, which can only use Level 2 chargers (it has no fast charging capability). There are only two level 2 chargers in Estes Park but there are a whole bank of Tesla chargers. There were two Model 3s using the Level 2 chargers, while there were openings at the Tesla station. What’s worse is that cars are allowed to sit at a Level 2 station for up to FOUR HOURS, and those two dickwads did exactly that. I was able to find another Level 2 charger just outside of town. I didn’t damage their cars and wouldn’t have yelled at them if they had been present, but the sheer inconsideration of their actions really incensed me. Most EV drivers I’ve had the pleasure to meet and talk with are wonderful and polite folks. Many, (like me) put a little sign on their car while charging letting people know they can unplug them if they’re up to at least 80% (charging status is clearly visible from outside my car).
Let’s be better than this, Tesla folks.
What if it wasn’t a Tesla EV but another brand taking up the stations. It’s not their fault that there is not enough stations.
There is 4 Volta stations near me that give two hours charging free. I see non EV’s parking there, EV’s parking there and not charging (Why??) EV’s parking and camping well beyond the 2 hours free. And Tesla owners doing some or all of that too.
All people suck, however it makes no difference as you and I can’t charge where we can’t charge. We either wait, or move on.
Then it wouldn’t have been an issue, IMHO. But the fact that the Teslas could have juiced up in 30 minutes or so at the Tesla station instead of blocking the non-Tesla station for four hours was an enormous dick move.
All I’m getting from this is that electro car owners have a lot of time on their hands.
Yep, we go park, plug in and hike for a few hours or have a nice meal somewhere. Lots of other people do that too, so what’s your point?
A petty Lightening driver would just park right in front of the Tesla while waiting for their turn and walk away to return at their convenience.
This is exactly why I would love to see the EV industry come to an agreement on a standard universal charging platform. I think this would go a long ways towards some people buying EVs sooner.
The problem is as more chargers are being built daily (and more money spent to build them) it becomes less likely. With each charger that is built the company building it is less likely to be willing to compromise and agree to a different platform that will mean their existing ones are obsolete.
I am sure someone will point out exceptions, but I can’t think of any industry that self-selected common standards for this sort of thing without any kind of government intervention.
Maybe the 3.5mm audio jack is the closest I can think of, but that took decades to become ubiquitous. I don’t want the frunk of my EV to be full of 6 different charging cables – they take up even more space than the obsolete adapters I have for my cellphones.
Even with the 3.5mm jack the standard isn’t fully resolved. For mono and stereo audio they are, but for plugs and sockets with a mic connection there is no standard. Every host device has to be able to handle all the possible configurations.
The EV industry has almost reached a common standard in the US.
In fact, if the government didn’t intervene and force charging stations to use the CCS plug in order to get federal funding, the WHOLE industry might have gone to the Tesla plug.
Now, despite most EVs moving to Tesla plugs, it looks like we’re going to keep installing CCS plugs, too, because the government is willing to pay for any charger that has one.
There are really only two standards left: Tesla and CCS. Teslas can already use CCS with an adapter (as in this story), and many non-Teslas will be getting adapters the other direction next year (like the Lightning) and then switching to Tesla ports soon for new vehicles.
Also, most future charging stations will have both plugs.
So, not only will most EVs be able to use either plug, but both plugs will be available.
This is a problem that will be all but solved within a couple years.
The situation seems reasonable from both drivers’ perspectives. The behavior of either one does not.
Based
Under those circumstances I expect most people would lean toward vengeful, unfortunately.
(To be clear, I don’t think that’s what happened here. The Lightning driver obviously wasn’t rolling coal at anyone.)
I liken this to a person driving along the highway, in the right-hand lane with no other vehicles around, who doesn’t move over one lane to allow a car coming down the on-ramp to merge on to the highway. Is that person obligated to move over? No, because the person on the on-ramp has a yield sign. Is that person kind of a jerk for not moving over? Yes.
How long until we see price signs, like gas stations?
You’ll start seeing them as NEVI funded charging stations are built. Clear pricing signage is one of the requirements for those sweet, sweet federal funds.
GOOD!
There’s a gas station with EV charging in Colorado that’s been showing current $/kWh pricing right next to their current gas prices. It’s been around for a couple years at least.
https://goo.gl/maps/Fgnfn46ccqZQuDq2A
That’s actually really cool.
As is 97% uptime requirements! Some good things (hopefully) happening on those fronts.
Now as awful as the bumper sticker and aftermarket taillights are on that model 3, as well as the owners attitude, I do slightly agree that he should have move. Realistically, if I were the lightning driver, I’d have just offered the guy cash for the difference in charging costs if charging immediately was THAT MUCH of a priority. Also, whenever I end up with my first EV, the first thing I’m doing is sucking it up, and spending the $400 on a full set of adapters so I never have to deal with this nonsense
Side note, I saw a white Model Y driving around town with the writing “We’re Road tripping, buy us a coffee! Venmo: XYZ Paypal:XYZ” all over it. I think Tesla drivers are quickly outpacing BMW and Mercedes drivers for the most tasteless
I agree, I would have offered the Tesla driver the cash different, IF I knew that was the purpose of him not wanting to move. However it does sound like that never came up or was lost during the exchange
It’s my understanding that the Tesla Superchargers, except those explicitly enabled with the “Magic Dock,” only work with Tesla cars, regardless of adapters. Unfortunately.
Unless something has changed and I am not aware of the latest, in which case I’d love to find out I am wrong.
“Also, whenever I end up with my first EV, the first thing I’m doing is sucking it up, and spending the $400 on a full set of adapters so I never have to deal with this nonsense”
You’ll spend way more than $400 if you want a full set of adapters.
And it’s not worth it. This is really a non issue. You should save your money and only buy adapters you know you will need.
In this situation there is no adapter that could have helped the Lightning. There is no Tesla level 3 to CCS1 adapter that is generally available.
The rest of the time you should never find yourself in a situation where you absolutely need to charge, and didn’t know where you were planning to charge in advance. If you know you’re going to arrive somewhere low on charge you should know what the options are going to be when you get there, what adapter you’ll need to use them, and have obtained permission to charge (if not a public outlet specifically designated for EV charging). Otherwise you’re going to get there and find out that the charger is taken, or broken, or uses the one adapter you haven’t bought yet.
Yeah, one of the reasons adaptation of EV is going to be a slog. I’ve got enough to worry about without “right adapter” entering the picture.
If you spend more $175 on adapters you have spent too much. The CCS to Tesla is $175 from Tesla and you can get no-name ones for less. I’m sure the Tesla to CCS will be a similar price. At this point there are only Tesla and CCS fast chargers. The J1772 adapter for low speed charging has come with every EV I’ve owned (3 different brands)
That only covers the adapter at one end of the cord.
“Comes with the vehicle” is quickly ceasing to be the norm as well. For example if you want the J1772 charger from Ford it’s a $500 option now. (Which you would be crazy to buy because there are better, cheaper options.)
You met the parents?
She met his too. At least I would assume when they were in Germany
And he’s volunteering at the cat shelter!
https://youtu.be/OVswTfCtwYI?si=PUth0SprR9v6Ddgy
How come the expectation is any different than a gas station?
My truck can take E85 but I choose petrol cause its cheaper. If it’s the last petrol pump am I expected to settle for E85 so someone else can have the petrol? That’s not even a thought that would cross my mind. First come first served, end of story.
Honestly asking, cause I’m pretty sure we’re about to get an EV and I honestly don’t want to have to deal with someone harassing me when I’m charging about stuff like this.
While on the face of it, that is true. However, it only takes me 5 minutes or so (slightly more if I’m buying snacks) to fill up. EVs take far longer, so the Lightning owner would be waiting a very long time to fill the battery.
I added that to the piece. I think it’s possible the Tesla would take 20-30 minutes to charge most of the way.
But 20-30 minutes isn’t nothing!
I think 20 minutes is within the amount of time I would expect to waste looking for charging anyway. At least right now with the current state of the infrastructure. It’s like lining up for gas as Costco.
Agreed that it’s not nothing, but really not interested in it progressing to shouting and cussing.
The whole situation was idiotic.
5 minutes to fill, but when you’re waiting for a car to leave the pump, you have to factor in the time it takes the owner to walk inside, hit the ATM, get an iced pumpkin spice coffee, buy a bunch of lottery tickets, stand at the counter and scratch them all off, have the cashier scan them all, buy some more, and repeat, then buy some Maverick menthol 100s and get in an argument over why the coupon in their ITG app isn’t working, then remember their car is still at the gas pump and their kid is in the back seat
Those are a lot of obstacles! Is it weird that I want it to be a sport?
Obstacles? This is my everyday life trying to live and work during beach season
What are these “beaches” you speak of? (Living in ND. 1000 miles from any coast.)
They’re big sandy plains next to the ocean that people from New York and New Jersey like to sit in crawling traffic to get to so they can sit on blankets, yell at their kids, then bury some apple cores and cigarette butts and crawl back home at 15mph
I feel for you-it’s why I head north toward the mountains when I have free time rather than SE towards Myrtle Beach. Best time I ever had at MB was in late October when majority of people there were Canadian golfers. Whole week I only saw one puking teenager.
It’s only 250 miles from Fargo to Duluth!
COTD
If you leave your vehicle at the pump while buying snacks, and there’s a line for the pump, I’m sorry to say that you’re the asshole.
Also, don’t leave the pump unattended while it’s pumping.
You missed the point. I was pointing out that even getting snack, using the bathroom, etc takes far less time than charging an EV for anyone. Where I live there is rarely a line. Either my wife or I man the pump while the other goes inside. Please don’t jump to attacks. Especially on a fairly light harted thread.
You pull up to a gas station. You have the misfortune of pulling up to the front pump that is out of order. The one behind you is working. So you start to back up to get to the working pump. While you’re visibly and obviously doing so, a couple of other drivers pull up at the working pump & motion for you to get in line behind them. There’s no rule that they have to let you into the line. Unfortunately there isn’t anything you can do. They’re just horrible people without a shred of common decency and they’re totally lacking in any consideration for anyone but themselves. People are awful.
It’s not against the rules, it’s just a little heartless.
Although I’d probably come to a more reasonable solution than shouting in a parking lot, you can’t call dibs on a charger, gas pump or parking spot (except in the northeast during winter). I’d have no problem walking away from my charging vehicle if the other guy was escalating.
That’s why this world is fucked up