Dodgy looks from Leaf drivers

[jazzenator]

Hi
Used a public charge station for the first time yesterday.
I came back to the car to move away after about 20mins on the rapid charge.
There was a Leaf driver waiting to use the charge bay, I got a really nasty look from him as I drove away.
It could be just this specimen in particular but anybody else experiences that?
Thanks

 

[jayfdee]

Leaf driver was probably envious of your beautiful PHEV.
But seriously, not sure we have the etiquette of public chargers worked out yet. I think it unreasonable for us PHEV drivers to occupy a bay for more than 30 mins. Pure ev cars sometime have no choice other than to stop and wait for a charge, whereas we can proceed on petrol, but overall I think first come, first served.If I were a Leaf driver,I would not rely on a public charge point being available, and only use it as a free top up.
My experience of public chargers is only with Ecotricity units at service areas, too often the units are not working, but at least you can still have a decent parking spot.Cannot be bothered with units where you have to pay,just not worth the effort.

 

[jazzenator]

Leaf driver was probably envious of your beautiful PHEV.
But seriously, not sure we have the etiquette of public chargers worked out yet. I think it unreasonable for us PHEV drivers to occupy a bay for more than 30 mins. Pure ev cars sometime have no choice other than to stop and wait for a charge, whereas we can proceed on petrol, but overall I think first come, first served.If I were a Leaf driver,I would not rely on a public charge point being available, and only use it as a free top up.
My experience of public chargers is only with Ecotricity units at service areas, too often the units are not working, but at least you can still have a decent parking spot.Cannot be bothered with units where you have to pay,just not worth the effort.

Haha. Jealous I am sure. I would hate for leaf drivers to think we don't merit the use of charging points just because we can drive on using petrol. I would not have bothered charging had it not been for free as some of the pay for use ones charge up to £5, not worth it.

 

[jayfdee]

Yes, as I say, I think it is first come first served. I would never buy a pure EV, just because of range anxiety, but I can imagine a LEAF driver with extreme range anxiety finally making it to a charging point, on his/her last few joules/amps/volts, and some b*****d in a 4X4 occupying the charger.
Whatever it is only a car and life is too short to get wound up over trivia.

 

[aitchjaybee]

i had a LEAF driver (ecotricity M4 westbound by Reading) give me grief two weeks ago "why did I even need to stop" was the quote. I had waited 20 mins for a Zoe to finish, and was just plugging in when LEAf arrived. He seemed most pi55ed that i didnt instantly handover the CHAdeMO. I just smiled,plugged in and charged. All done in under 20 mins. He mentioned the petrol engine half a dozen times, i simply said it was nice not to suffer from range anxiety as that tends to make pure EV drivers grumpy selfish sods but he didnt pick up on my humour. Didnt get a wave back when i left either
HJB

 

[hdasmith]

Cannot be bothered with units where you have to pay,just not worth the effort.

I'm off to Oxford at the weekend, and definitely won't be there as they are incredibly expensive, but in York, definitely worth charging. They charge 15p/kWh which is only marginally more than my home charge (11.37p/kWh), but you get free parking as long as you're plugged in. Parking is normally about £2.30 an hour I think. Using the standard 13A socket in York, it costs about 30p per hour charging!

It can pay to check before you travel to see what the cost will be. Sometimes it could be cheaper.

 

[luzman]

My first experience of a public charging point was to find a LEAF driver parked across both of the charging parking spots at an Ecotricity site on an M4 services and give my wife grief when she asked if how long he would be.......

 

[MHS]

i had a LEAF driver (ecotricity M4 westbound by Reading) give me grief two weeks ago "why did I even need to stop" was the quote. I had waited 20 mins for a Zoe to finish, and was just plugging in when LEAf arrived. He seemed most pi55ed that i didnt instantly handover the CHAdeMO. I just smiled,plugged in and charged. All done in under 20 mins. He mentioned the petrol engine half a dozen times, i simply said it was nice not to suffer from range anxiety as that tends to make pure EV drivers grumpy selfish sods but he didnt pick up on my humour. Didnt get a wave back when i left either
HJB

A SIMPLE SOLUTION

If they're being snotty, tell them that you've left your wallet at home. Your petrol tank is empty and you're running on fumes. Sorry mate, but I've no choice except charging up.

 

[mocara]

A SIMPLE SOLUTION

If they're being snotty, tell them that you've left your wallet at home. Your petrol tank is empty and you're running on fumes. Sorry mate, but I've no choice except charging up.

Although grumpiness from our "pure play" EV compatriots is not great, I'm not sure that telling porkies is really any better?

 

[MHS]

A SIMPLE SOLUTION

If they're being snotty, tell them that you've left your wallet at home. Your petrol tank is empty and you're running on fumes. Sorry mate, but I've no choice except charging up.

Although grumpiness from our "pure play" EV compatriots is not great, I'm not sure that telling porkies is really any better?

But at least you could do it with a smile on your face.

 

[tun]

Please ask them not to stare at all the space we have

 

[mocara]

A SIMPLE SOLUTION

If they're being snotty, tell them that you've left your wallet at home. Your petrol tank is empty and you're running on fumes. Sorry mate, but I've no choice except charging up.

Although grumpiness from our "pure play" EV compatriots is not great, I'm not sure that telling porkies is really any better?

But at least you could do it with a smile on your face.

True.

 

[LondonLass]

A SIMPLE SOLUTION

If they're being snotty, tell them that you've left your wallet at home. Your petrol tank is empty and you're running on fumes. Sorry mate, but I've no choice except charging up.

Although grumpiness from our "pure play" EV compatriots is not great, I'm not sure that telling porkies is really any better?

But at least you could do it with a smile on your face.

I might be missing something, but surely these charge points should never be considered a necessity for PHEV or Leaf alike? I certainly wouldn't bank on access to a charger for any of the simple reasons that seem to make owning a pure electric car a gamble.

Broken charger, someone else using it, queue to use it, someone parked in the way ...

<rant>
So for someone to swan in and presume that they are a 1st class citizen compared to a PHeV owner being 2nd class sounds like the kind of person who is looking for a tale to tell "I gave that PHeV owner a piece of my mind ...".

I'll be done in 30 minutes. If you don't like it, show me your remaining range and explain to me why your time is more important than mine. Perhaps I'll move. Probably I won't.
</rant>

 

[Titan]

and explain to me why your time is more important than mine.

Nail, on the head, hit.