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So I found a Leaf at 97% which had been plugged in for 45 mins at IKEA. So, thinking the owner would be back shortly (I’m ever the optimisty) I plugged in the AC cable to my Zoe and low and behold the charger stopped on the Leaf after it had done the connection checks on my car. I just swiped in and charged away. Was done and gone before the Leaf owner came back.
Is this the fabled shut off after 40mins or 80%?
the Leaf has a charging setting to stop at 80% when using a rapid charger…
But it was still drawing power at 97% according to the screen, albeit very little.
My advice with this kind of thing is to leave a very polite and courteous note for the Leaf driver, advising etiquette (~30 mins / 80% charge). It’s more likely that he doesn’t know this, than he was intentionally blocking the charge point.
Charging point etiquette isn’t something the dealer teaches you, and many EV owners won’t be on internet forums to learn this type of thing – so I suspect a lot of people simply don’t understand the issue.
You can set Leaf to charge over 80%. I’ve had this issue too, seems Ecotricity will happily charge to about 96-97% before cutting off and deciding that’s enough and ending the session.
Plugging in the AC has nowt to do with it sadly. I was plugged in patiently waiting while the Leaf trickled from 80-96%. All the while with 2 young kids in the car and standing in plain sight of the charger with my doors open. No doubt the Leaf owner was sitting watching while eating his second or third plate of meatballs.
at Ecotricity Pease Pottage & Cobham i’m charging to 100% many times but stay in the car and if someone shows up I’m moving out of the way to let them charge their EV.
the whole story THAT you can ONLY charge to 80% / 30 min is BS IMHO. as long as you stay with your car and let others charge if your over 80% it shouldn’t be a problem to be charging for hours.
^^ this.
Its not a story, its pretty clear on Ecotricity’s web site etiquette guide!
80% is where Leaf stops by default, Ecotricity were pretty much just catering for Leaf when they put in their first chargers, being as it was the first mainstream to the market.
30mins is still more than fair though as you should get around 20kwh in that time, so basically a full charge…. unless you chose to buy a slower charging model (and why should faster charging cars be made to wait for you?).
Its about being fair to all, 30mins is plenty, it gets 80% in a Leaf and 95% in a Zoe. However being sensible, if no one turns up while your charging then feel free to stay longer than 30mins, or if you need that extra few % to get to your next stop chat with anyone waiting, you’ll usually find they won’t mind a few minutes.
Nah. I don’t agree with it. The charger is there to be used. I stay on it as i see fit. First come first served. If i need 90% charge to get me to where i need to be, I won’t unplug it at 80% or 30 minutes just because somebody else wants it. If I did that, I would break down.
Its the same as going to a petrol pump, needing 20 litres of juice but stopping at 14 litres because someone is behind you waiting for that pump at a busy period.
I don’t think it’s rude or inconsiderate.
The only thing inconsiderate is plugging it in and clearing off for hours on end and your car isn’t charging.I’ve got to agree as well, as long as whoever is there is actually charging they’ve got as much right as I have. Don’t get me wrong, I might curse under my breath if someone’s just beaten me to the charger and they’re starting from 1% but that’s life. What isn’t on is people using charge points as parking spaces, I’ll reserve my annoyance for them!
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