Conflict at the Supercharger

[DevSecOps]

Why would he move if he’s still charging? He has just as much right to charge as a Tesla.

I clearly said that's what I would have done, not what he should have done. While I have just as much the right to charge as anyone else, I personally don't feel that I have the right to block 2 spots and prevent someone else from charging. That's my personal belief.

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[iansriv]

You are a nice guy. The other guy would have been an arse regardless of what car he drove. I try to avoid confrontation but will gladly entertain it if it comes looking for me. I know a lot of ordinary looking guys without muscle shirts that know how to handle themselves. The world just seems to be looking for an excuse to be angry.

 

[SANZC02]

I clearly said that's what I would have done, not what he should have done. While I have just as much the right to charge as anyone else, I personally don't feel that I have the right to block 2 spots and prevent someone else from charging. That's my personal belief.

Technically it was only blocked for a Tesla, it was usable if another Rivian or Ford pulled in.

Since they opened SC to Ford and Rivian I try to leave the end spots open when charging my Tesla and try to take up as little space as possible when charging the Rivian but sometimes just no option but to block.

 

[monzarottie]

I’m sorry this happened.

Although it does make me want to start charging at SC locations exclusively with the hopes of pissing off charming people like Mr. Muscles. ?

“Mr. Muscles” ???

 

[DevSecOps]

Technically it was only blocked for a Tesla

And the OP stated that he blocked 3 Tesla's. Especially given that the OP also said he had 10 minutes left and the hotel had a charger, I would have given up the TWO spots out of courtesy. I would hope that others would be considerate as well, but I don't expect anything.

If the OP was at 5% SOC I would hope that other EV drivers would be sympathetic to that. The situation matters. In this case, given the circumstances, I would have just given up the two spots.

 

[SANZC02]

And the OP stated that he blocked 3 Tesla's. Especially given that the OP also said he had 10 minutes left and the hotel had a charger, I would have given up the TWO spots out of courtesy. I would hope that others would be considerate as well, but I don't expect anything.

You misread his post, there were 3 spots open when he plugged in, a Tesla took one of them he took one and the third was blocked.

 

[s4wrxttcs]

Just so you know there are Rivians owners who have this very exact conflict on their bucket list.

I'm certainly one of them.

Let the entitlement wars begin. Haha

 

[DevSecOps]

You misread his post, there were 3 spots open when he plugged in, a Tesla took one of them he took one and the third was blocked.

No I didn't. He said that 2 people pulled up prior to the screaming idiot that had to either move/wait. One got a vacant station. 2+1=3.

Obviously if there's another vacant, any reasonable person would move and understand. Tesla #2 had to wait, so did the idiot.

 

[Yossarian]

To the OP: You handled the situation gracefully and deserve kudos for your approach and patience.

On a slightly related issue, a photo posted in this string shows a charging cost of $0.53 per kWh. Is this typical for non-Tesla's at a Supercharger? I posted months ago that it would not be surprise to see $1.00 per kWh from Tesla, and though that post was in jest, may soon turn out to be ironically on the mark.

Even if your Rivian is quite efficient and gets, say say 2.5 miles per kWh, your cost per mile at $0.212 is roughly the same as an ICE vehicle at 17 mpg, using the $3.70/gal national avg for gasoline. Put another way, the markup to $0.53 for each kWh gives Tesla (and any other EV charger operators at the same level) a huge profit. Makes the recent Elon decision relative to his SC team even more of a head-scratcher.

 

[s4wrxttcs]

I clearly said that's what I would have done, not what he should have done. While I have just as much the right to charge as anyone else, I personally don't feel that I have the right to block 2 spots and prevent someone else from charging. That's my personal belief.

The problem with that is you effectively can't use a Tesla Supercharger anytime when a station is approaching capacity. The layout requires that you'll block a stall in addition to the stall you're using.

As I interpreted it the OP reduced the capacity of the Supercharger location from 8 vehicles charging to 7.

Its essentially the ideal test case to see how Tesla owners react.

I think its pretty predictable that most were okay with it, and a few (if given more examples) were not.

If my interpretation is incorrect and the OP reduced the capacity to 6 then yeah its not something I would have done either. But, I certainly would have been okay with a single stall reduction as the overall benefits of opening outweigh the operational reduction capacity of a single session.

 

[Robin]

I am on a long road trip from PHX to Blaine WA. Great RAN charging for much of the way. Kingman Az, Barstow CA, Buttonwillow CA, Santa Nella CA.
I stopped in Davis CA to visit family. Surprisingly, although Davis is a very envoronmentally conscious city, it is a void for EV charging. Lots of level 2 destination chargers, a Tesla supercharger that is not open to Rivian, 4 EA's of which only 3 work, 2 EvGo's one functional. So needing something a bit faster than what my hotel trickle charger could give me, I ventured 9 miles to Woodland to a Tesla Supercharger that was open to Rivians. It is an 8 station location across the street from a Costco. I went on a Saturday. When I got there there were 3 stations open. The layout required that I block 2 to use one. This is going to cause a lot of problems as the adapters reach the market. BTW, I bought an A2Z just for this trip and it has functioned flawlessly the 3 times I used.

Back to the Supercharger. After I plugged in there was only one station left. A Tesla pulled up next to me and I apologized and explained that the layout required me to use the cable from his charger. He said no problem and moved to the vacant station. Next guy pulls in a few minutes later. I apologize, tell him I will only be 10-15 more minutes and he says no problem and pulls out to wait for the next station. Right away a Model S with lots of flashy trim add ons pulls in. I apologize and explain the situation to the young man in the muscle shirt with his girl friend beside him. He immediately goes into a testosterone fueled rant about me having no right to be there, it's for Teslas, it's worng for me to take two chargers. I say I am sorry, can't be helped and I will be done in 10 minutes. He tells me it can be helped by getting my non Tesla POS out of there. He continues to rant at me and my non Tesla and that I have no right to do this. I politely explain that I do have a right. That Elon sold the right for me to be here charging knowing that it would take 2 stations. I say you need to complain to Elon because he's the one who sold out your exclusive use. He continues on then moves his car in a sulk. A few minutes later my 10 minutes is done and I unhook and leave, although by this time I was considering passive aggressively continue to charge way past 70%! Anyway as I pull away He continues to yell while impressing his GF.

I can certainly see how if these stations are not retrofitted with longer cables or dual side access a situation like this could escalate. A little more testosterone in the Model S and a lot more in the Rivian (I am 77) and it could well have gotten out of hand.

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[mung]

Oh it's real, the amount of tension and anger simmering away when a supercharger is full. Also if there's no designated spot to 'queue' for the charger and every car is on their own trying to stake out a waiting spot for a stall to become vacant. I already had one incident where a guy threatened to hit me. I can only imagine all hell will break loose if I tried to bring my Rivian to an already full Supercharger where everyone hates each other already. I will only try on long roadtrips in remote Supercharger locations with plenty of stalls available.

 

[Robin]

I bet Elon is the Model S guy’s unconditional hero

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[Duckman]

3 stations open means there's a very high probability that you'll arrive to find 2-4 vehicles waiting their turn (that's the way it goes pretty much every time I've ever tried to use an EA or EVgo station in SoCal) which can mean waiting 30+ minutes before you get to plug in, assuming everyone is only charging to 80% and moving along quickly. There's also a very high probability that several of the people charging there are charging for free and going to spend an hour or more going to 100%, or driving cars that max out at 50kW, or they left their vehicle to go shopping or eating and won't be back to unhook as quickly as they should be because EA's idle fees aren't that bad.

EA stations are slllloooowwwww. Not in terms of the current, just in terms of the process. You can get a charge, but you'd better be prepared to waste a lot of time hanging around in a parking lot just waiting for your turn. 8+ plugs (and no free charging for anyone) means you're likely to get in and out having spent no more time than what's needed for the actual charge.

Exactly right. 3 available means they are working but there is a line up with a potential 1 hour wait.

 

[Duckman]

No I didn't. He said that 2 people pulled up prior to the screaming idiot that had to either move/wait. One got a vacant station. 2+1=3.

Obviously if there's another vacant, any reasonable person would move and understand. Tesla #2 had to wait, so did the idiot.

The other open station was open only for a Tesla. A Rivian could not have charged there as the port is on the wrong side. I would have had to leave my R1T at the hotel charger for 13 hours.

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