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Absolutely Bizarre Charging Experience in Norfolk

planetcase

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First of all, I want to say, that nothing I write here is critical of any person or group of people. I am just stating the facts, and I can't tell there story without stating the facts .... which are well.... bizarre.

Last week we went down to the outer banks.... Corolla, NC.....from Maryland. On the way down I planned out the trip. Rivian GPS directed me to stop north of Richmond, and then again in Newport News/Norfolk area . The first stop north of Richmond went great. The 2nd stop directed me to a Tesla station at a Wawa, where there was also an EVGO.

All 11 Tesla chargers were open. My adapter didn't work. Ugh. Shame on me, for never testing it. I also didn't realize that anywhere south of Norfolk, there are only 11kw chargers at best. I had to reach our beach rental , where I would charge off the dryer outlet.

Traffic was building, and instead of 2 more hours, the traffic would be closer to 4 hours. I needed a little bit of charge and no choice to stop at the EVGO, or I would not make it to Corolla. With Tesla not working, I went over to the other side of the Wawa to the EVGO.

At the EVGO, there were cars already charging. I asked politely how long each car would be charging, and I was told "why don't you take your fancy car somewhere else?" (Note that I am being kind here). I was then told that this was the place local drivers charge for free, and that one lady was saving the spot for her Mom who was arriving in 20 minutes. It was not the cleanest or safest neighborhood. But I had put myself in a bad spot. I needed charge. If I didn't charge I would be risking running out of battery.

Both women were having a problem getting their cars to charge, and the chargers would work for 5 minutes and then click off. I asked if I could help and I was asked why don't sexually experiment with myself. After an hour waiting, I offered 20 dollars for 5 minutes of charging (not to the person whose Mom had arrived). The person I offered $20 bucks to was transvestite prostitute from DC. The latter she told me several times, and the former was obvious (think of the famous 1970 song by the Kinks). I will call her Lola. Lola said, "Baby, you want 5 minutes of my time for 20 minutes? You insult me!" But then she said yes and I handed over an Andrew Jackson. This was so weird it was funny, especially with my wife and teenagers watching. Kind of funny anyway. I made it clear that all I wanted to pay for was the charge .... and that's it.

The situation quickly went south . Lola agreed to let me have 5 minutes "but not a second more" for $20, "and I am going to time you." That was fine with me. Time away!. Lola move the car, and as I pulled mine up, a man parked at the Wawa drove up way too fast nearly rammed me, got out, and told me he was next. I tried to tell him that Lola and I had a verbal contract. But he wasn't listening. He ripped the charger out of my hand and threatened to fight, and called me a name that suggested that I was sexually active with my mom. At this point I am wondering if I was on some type of crazy TV show. Candid Camera, What Would You Do? Just bizarre. No I was not going to fight. Apparently I wasn't going to get my $20 bucks back either. I drove south.

Long story short I made it to our beach house with 5 miles of charge left.

I have learned a bit more about EVGo and will pass on these stations unless absolutely necessary and in better locations. I love my Rivian. This does not discourage me from doing trips. I have several more planned. But I am going to plan my trips to stop at RAN or Tesla (yup got the correct adapter now). And I will not put myself in a situation like that again.

All true. In fact, I held back. :)
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ndmiller

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You really need to do a bit of research and also check reviews on plug share before heading out as reviews can tell you how bad a charging location is in reality.

I have every conceivable adapter and every charging app on my phone but still always rely on the simplest solution. Also should be conservative at the charge before the sketchy part of the drive rolls around. At that point charging at Truckstops/Bucees, car manufacture plants, car dealerships, and subsidized charging at Walmart regardless of brand are my go to's. While I have both Tesla Adapters, I have yet to find a convenient SC better than the above when the distance between charging increases.

Dryer plug outside of a hotel is a game changer for 16mi/hr, so glad you found the same before you left.
 

Killer95Stang

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I will say one of the only two times I used an EVgo, it was in a sketchy part of town and connected to a liquer store. No issues with people there, but I also wasn't "lacking" if you know what I mean.
 

Egen

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First of all, I want to say, that nothing I write here is critical of any person or group of people. I am just stating the facts, and I can't tell there story without stating the facts .... which are well.... bizarre.

Last week we went down to the outer banks.... Corolla, NC.....from Maryland. On the way down I planned out the trip. Rivian GPS directed me to stop north of Richmond, and then again in Newport News/Norfolk area . The first stop north of Richmond went great. The 2nd stop directed me to a Tesla station at a Wawa, where there was also an EVGO.

All 11 Tesla chargers were open. My adapter didn't work. Ugh. Shame on me, for never testing it. I also didn't realize that anywhere south of Norfolk, there are only 11kw chargers at best. I had to reach our beach rental , where I would charge off the dryer outlet.

Traffic was building, and instead of 2 more hours, the traffic would be closer to 4 hours. I needed a little bit of charge and no choice to stop at the EVGO, or I would not make it to Corolla. With Tesla not working, I went over to the other side of the Wawa to the EVGO.

At the EVGO, there were cars already charging. I asked politely how long each car would be charging, and I was told "why don't you take your fancy car somewhere else?" (Note that I am being kind here). I was then told that this was the place local drivers charge for free, and that one lady was saving the spot for her Mom who was arriving in 20 minutes. It was not the cleanest or safest neighborhood. But I had put myself in a bad spot. I needed charge. If I didn't charge I would be risking running out of battery.

Both women were having a problem getting their cars to charge, and the chargers would work for 5 minutes and then click off. I asked if I could help and I was asked why don't sexually experiment with myself. After an hour waiting, I offered 20 dollars for 5 minutes of charging (not to the person whose Mom had arrived). The person I offered $20 bucks to was transvestite prostitute from DC. The latter she told me several times, and the former was obvious (think of the famous 1970 song by the Kinks). I will call her Lola. Lola said, "Baby, you want 5 minutes of my time for 20 minutes? You insult me!" But then she said yes and I handed over an Andrew Jackson. This was so weird it was funny, especially with my wife and teenagers watching. Kind of funny anyway. I made it clear that all I wanted to pay for was the charge .... and that's it.

The situation quickly went south . Lola agreed to let me have 5 minutes "but not a second more" for $20, "and I am going to time you." That was fine with me. Time away!. Lola move the car, and as I pulled mine up, a man parked at the Wawa drove up way too fast nearly rammed me, got out, and told me he was next. I tried to tell him that Lola and I had a verbal contract. But he wasn't listening. He ripped the charger out of my hand and threatened to fight, and called me a name that suggested that I was sexually active with my mom. At this point I am wondering if I was on some type of crazy TV show. Candid Camera, What Would You Do? Just bizarre. No I was not going to fight. Apparently I wasn't going to get my $20 bucks back either. I drove south.

Long story short I made it to our beach house with 5 miles of charge left.

I have learned a bit more about EVGo and will pass on these stations unless absolutely necessary and in better locations. I love my Rivian. This does not discourage me from doing trips. I have several more planned. But I am going to plan my trips to stop at RAN or Tesla (yup got the correct adapter now). And I will not put myself in a situation like that again.

All true. In fact, I held back. :)
Which adapter do you have?
 

COdogman

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Sounds like my kind of crowd :cool:
 

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Laserboy1054

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But just think: for twenty bucks you got an _awesome_ story that you can tell (one hopes with ever-growing embellishments) for _years_ to come. You also got several suggestions from experts on all sorts of new activities! ? Call it a win and chalk it all up to experience. (And now, dammit, the Kinks song is stuck in my head!)

I'm glad that it seems you didn't let the event sour your vacation! Cheers!
 

COdogman

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Pics (or video) or it didn't happen.

How could your family NOT click the Incident button on the dash?!
That’s a great point. His family watched him nearly get assaulted and they didn’t even attempt to collect evidence. At minimum recording all of this would provide blackmail material for decades.
 

jjswan33

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I mean sounds sketchy but for the worst part of this you tried to pay someone $20 to cut the line? I can fully understand why the next in line would not be happy.
 

jeeden

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I would be really interested in exactly where this was. Looking at plugshare I only see one location in the area at a Wawa with both Tesla and evgo and the superchargers are Tesla only. Did the Rivian nav lead you there? Also there are quite a few other brands very close by like ea etc. I would prefer Tesla but I would also prefer to not hang out in a bad area with my family.

It looks like the Tesla chargers on 158 in Chesapeake are open to non Tesla's, you could have stopped there.

Finally, just for anyone reading, it was reported that the Tesla superchargers at the outer Banks Mall now work for non teslas, people were having problems, but you need to initiate from the Tesla app
 

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planetcase

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But just think: for twenty bucks you got an _awesome_ story that you can tell (one hopes with ever-growing embellishments) for _years_ to come. You also got several suggestions from experts on all sorts of new activities! ? Call it a win and chalk it all up to experience. (And now, dammit, the Kinks song is stuck in my head!)

I'm glad that it seems you didn't let the event sour your vacation! Cheers!
So funny! I love your outlook. Same here. It soured my mood for a few minutes. But then I was good!
 
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planetcase

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I would be really interested in exactly where this was. Looking at plugshare I only see one location in the area at a Wawa with both Tesla and evgo and the superchargers are Tesla only. Did the Rivian nav lead you there? Also there are quite a few other brands very close by like ea etc. I would prefer Tesla but I would also prefer to not hang out in a bad area with my family.

It looks like the Tesla chargers on 158 in Chesapeake are open to non Tesla's, you could have stopped there.

Finally, just for anyone reading, it was reported that the Tesla superchargers at the outer Banks Mall now work for non teslas, people were having problems, but you need to initiate from the Tesla app
Yes, the Rivian app led me there. The other location - very good point, but by the time I would have driven to Chesapeake - if it wasn't available (which it wasn't) would have guaranteed I would have run out of charge by the time I reached OBX.
 
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planetcase

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I mean sounds sketchy but for the worst part of this you tried to pay someone $20 to cut the line? I can fully understand why the next in line would not be happy.
No no no... my reading challenged friend. I had waited for well over an hour. I was the only person in line. Lady in line 1... her Momma came, cut me, and started charging. Lola had another hour to go at minimum. I offered the $20 to get my family out of there. She could have said no. The guy who threatened to fight me was high or drunk, and insane and had just pulled in.
 

iansriv

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Glad you're ok. You should post your story on the EVGO location. I try to research and avoid these types of places when with my family. When I'm alone-I don't care because I've seen more "interesting" things in other parts of the world and people usually leave me alone.
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