EA idle fee?

[borski]

And don’t let people with free charging for 30 minutes unplug and replug.

This has already been fixed. There is a waiting period between charges now.

 

[DBV]

That might be legal in some states but illegal in others. While I don't like the idea of people parking in charging spots, especially when the car isn't even an EV, the idea that a person should have to pay in the hundreds of dollars to get a car back for overstaying, by trying to find out where a car was towed to, seems excessive. Charging per minute makes sense, providing that it's in the agreement. Even though my app says that there are no idle fees, I'd still want to avoid hogging a space even for a few minutes if there's any chance that somebody would be waiting. I don't understand why anybody who has ever waited to charge would think that it's a good idea to tie up a charging space while not charging.

Definitely want someone that is parked after charging in charging spot to be towed or someone that parks in a charging spot that is not an EV. Could care less if it costs them $100’s of dollars. Post a sign saying that and if they don’t have common sense on moving their car, then no one to blame about themselves.

Funny, but feel the same way for people that drive into an EZ Pass exit lane and make everyone wait. They should have a surcharge added to their toll. No excuses for this stuff.

 

[Electrified]

That might be legal in some states but illegal in others. While I don't like the idea of people parking in charging spots, especially when the car isn't even an EV, the idea that a person should have to pay in the hundreds of dollars to get a car back for overstaying, by trying to find out where a car was towed to, seems excessive. Charging per minute makes sense, providing that it's in the agreement. Even though my app says that there are no idle fees, I'd still want to avoid hogging a space even for a few minutes if there's any chance that somebody would be waiting. I don't understand why anybody who has ever waited to charge would think that it's a good idea to tie up a charging space while not charging.

Would you park in a tow zone?
Consider an EV charging station a tow zone for an ICE vehicle, and a tow zone for EV's that exceed 15 minutes of idle time.

I say turn the Lincoln Park Pirates loose on em all, way hay tow them away!!!

 

[Haggy]

1: The way Tesla does it, if you don’t have a credit card on file, they’ll block you from charging at your next supercharging visit until you do.

2: EA’s cents per minute Idle Fee is just silly. Set any grace period you want, but for God’s sake, charge at least $1.00 PER minute. Make it hurt. Make it really hurt!

For as much as I lbash Tesla and Elon Musk, I have to grant that there are many things in the Tesla ecosystem that Tesla does very, very well. Sensible, seamless, generally glitch-free, and generally very user-friendly.

I see lots of problems with the way Tesla does it. I've never been hit with an idle fee, but I had unnecessary angst because of the possibility.

Tesla goes by whether the station is 50% or more occupied but gives no way for a person to know. You could plug in when there are three other cars at a 12 charger station, two more could come along when you are eating, one could leave right before you get back and you'd see a practically empty station, yet Tesla would say that you are eligible for charges even though you weren't stopping anybody from charging and you saw a low use station all along.

Since the time the policy went into effect, stations have gotten bigger. If there are 100 chargers and 45 are free, chances of them filling up if it's not a holiday weekend are almost non existent. Yet the same 50% rule applies.

Remaining time estimates aren't accurate. If Tesla tells me that my charging will be done in 45 minutes, I decide that it gives me enough time to get lunch, I walk to one of the amenities that Tesla listed for that area, it turns out to be a 10 minute walk, and when I get there the app shows that I have 20 minutes left, I would have 10 minutes to eat, with the amount subject to change. If the station looked relatively empty, I might be rushing to return to the car for no reason. If Tesla said that you had a grace period of 10 minutes, as calculated based on your arrival time (i.e. if it said that charging will take 42 minutes, they charge idle fees after 52 minutes or 10 minutes after charging actually ends, whichever is later) then I'd consider it reasonable. But given the A|B configuration of some stations, meaning that your charging might speed up if another car leaves, it could make things a wild guess.

I want to be able to take trips without delay. For me, that means being able to charge while I'd be stopped anyway to eat. In almost a decade, I've never failed to make it back in time. But I've had to live with Tesla's app warning me that charging is almost done when it really had a half hour left, with Tesla dropping the level to 80% from 100% so that I have to manually use the app to push it back up to 100% or I'd not only get hit with idle fees, I wouldn't have enough charge, etc. And now they are implementing limits for high use stations where you can get hit with fees for charging above a certain percentage even if you need it.

I'm glad that I now have a Lucid and will probably be able to rely on charging at home and L2 charging at hotels with rare exceptions, since I should have enough range that I'm not likely to use it up in a single day. And for now, it's a moot point if EA says that they won't hit me with idle fees, not that I plan to overstay, but I can plan based on how much time it estimates and not have to worry about a server taking too long to give me the check.

 

[Haggy]

Would you park in a tow zone?
Consider an EV charging station a tow zone for an ICE vehicle, and a tow zone for EV's that exceed 15 minutes of idle time.

I wouldn't park in a tow zone on purpose, but if I did by mistake or if I got delayed due to circumstances beyond my control getting back to my car, I'd rather be hit with a hundred dollar fine than having my car hauled away for being 15 minutes late. I think that a fine is enough of an incentive not to overstay that people aren't going to do it on purpose.

In the long term, not everybody will have expensive EVs or a lot of money. If a person pulls up to a charger, plugs in, a glitch stops the charging three minutes later, the car gets towed, the tow yard is closed for the night when the person gets back, the shop refuses to return the car the next day because the registration is in dad's name and doesn't match the license, and by the time the paperwork is done, it's $500 that the person doesn't have so he loses the car, that's quite a penalty for something inadvertent. Even a $100 fine might mean not being able to pay a bill, or might make a person think twice about keeping an EV since the risk isn't there with an ICEV. I don't think that self entitled rich Lucid owners should get to decide unilaterally what constitutes fairness.

 

[momo3605]

This has already been fixed. There is a waiting period between charges now.

unfortunately not true, they do SAY there is a waiting period, but it’s not enforced. I see people doing it all the time even this week.

But I've had to live with Tesla's app warning me that charging is almost done when it really had a half hour left, with Tesla dropping the level to 80% from 100% so that I have to manually use the app to push it back up to 100% or I'd not only get hit with idle fees

I actually don’t have a problem with this, but just like EA’s fake 30 minute limit, people are quick to catch on and learn how to bypass the restrictions.

I understand your concern with wanting to get your meal in while supercharging, but it goes both ways, if the stalls are backed up and people are waiting, you shouldn’t get a free pass. Perhaps Tesla can be more lenient with classifying their high usage charging station metrics. EA locations have very few stalls in comparison and need to clamp down better on time wasters.

 

[Haggy]

unfortunately not true, they do SAY there is a waiting period, but it’s not enforced. I see people doing it all the time even this week.



I actually don’t have a problem with this, but just like EA’s fake 30 minute limit, people are quick to catch on and learn how to bypass the restrictions.

I understand your concern with wanting to get your meal in while supercharging, but it goes both ways, if the stalls are backed up and people are waiting, you shouldn’t get a free pass. Perhaps Tesla can be more lenient with classifying their high usage charging station metrics. EA locations have very few stalls in comparison and need to clamp down better on time wasters.

It's not a matter of getting a free pass but of being told by the app that I have enough time for a meal, then later being told that I don't, being in a position where it won't impact anybody, being threatened with a fine, and then as I rush back to the car, I see the remaining time estimate increase and increase since when it gets close to 100% things slow down. I can't recall actually making it to 100% in at least 6-7 years if not longer, so it's a moot point, even though the app threatens me. But I don't like to be threatened by a bad system, or having a set of rules that no longer makes sense.

It's also largely a moot point with Tesla since the places where I'd want to stop for a meal are "on the road" instead of in cities where things could fill up, and it's been a long time since those places were a problem. Back around 2016, Tesla had a problem, and in those cases, charging would also be slower as a result of being paired up. So I'd tend to charge enough to be able to make it to the next charger where there wouldn't be a crowd rather than waiting around to stop for a meal or anything like it. In situations where there was a line, I always wanted to leave as quickly as possible.

I did have a wait for a Supercharger recently in Los Angeles but it was perhaps three cars and maybe 3-4 minutes. It was at the end of a trip and I wanted to have enough range for local driving. In cases like that, I'd wait around and get enough for my needs and leave. At larger stations, if the average person charges for 20 minutes, a line of 10 cars would take about 3.5 minutes, and it's not likely that there would be a wait. So I think that it will be more like comparing a parking lot to on street parking. For the latter, time limits make sense but in a large parking lot, you might have to circle around on a crowded day but there won't be time limits per space. I think the same should hold true when there are 100 chargers.

Again, this is all Tesla. and as of now, I will have to get used to EA. And future Lucid owners will be looking at their choice of CCS stations in the short term and eventually, CCS or NACS. If Tesla actually deploys V4 with 1000V and magic docks, I don't see them starting off with stations with just a few chargers.

 

[borski]

unfortunately not true, they do SAY there is a waiting period, but it’s not enforced. I see people doing it all the time even this week.

I could be wrong, but my understanding is that it’s a workaround - if you unplug during the 30 minutes, even at minute 29, it will let you start a new session immediately. If you hit the 30, it forces you to wait.

I never use EA in the Ioniq 5 though, so native I should test that theory.

 

[momo3605]

I could be wrong, but my understanding is that it’s a workaround - if you unplug during the 30 minutes, even at minute 29, it will let you start a new session immediately. If you hit the 30, it forces you to wait.

I never use EA in the Ioniq 5 though, so native I should test that theory.

Ah I don’t know about that. I think most people unplug at 29mins to avoid charges