Suppose you park at a public station near where you’re about to do errands. You’re expecting to, and you want to, charge your EV, but when you get out of your EV, and try to tap your card, you see that the charging equipment is broken. What do you do?

Do you leave your car there to make your errands, or do you move out and start looking for another place to park?

I’m not asking about what to do about the broken charging system, who to call, or what app to use to be a good citizen. I’m asking what you would do with the car in the moment.

  • sorghum@sh.itjust.works
    25·
    3 days ago

    Report the broken station to its operator so it can be taken out of searches and repairs scheduled. Then get on plug share and find the next station. I don’t public charge often, so I’ve only come across a broken charger that wasn’t listed as broken in plug share once and it was because it was not networked.

    • betanumerus@lemmy.caOPEnglish
      1·
      3 days ago

      Even if some vehicles secretly did have priority, the logic breaks down if two or more stations in the same area are out of order.

  • zabadoh@ani.social
    6·
    3 days ago

    If you can, tape a “Broken” sign to the station, preferable where someone can see it before they pull up their vehicle, or to obstruct access to the charging handle.

    • betanumerus@lemmy.caOPEnglish
      7·
      3 days ago

      I don’t carry that with me, and I don’t think it’s our job to that. It’s an owner’s job to maintain their stuff, not customers like us. Electrification doesn’t change that.

      • sorghum@sh.itjust.works
        5·
        3 days ago

        That’s literally how plug share works, but on your phone. If you used apps like gas buddy for finding gas lowest prices, this isn’t much different for finding a working charge station and rating it with info like effective charge rate/speed, price, etc. It’s more about looking out for your fellow driver so they can get what they need and someone else can look out for you.

        Besides if I’m gonna be there for a bit, letting people know how long I’m charging and posting other info helps pass the time. I also see it as good manners for other people planning their trips. Do things like that and other things such as hanging up the charge cable in a tidy manner and not leaving it strown in a parking space where someone would run over it or park on it.

        Essentially I just try to treat other people’s equipment as I’d want them to treat my home charger.

        • betanumerus@lemmy.caOPEnglish
          1·
          2 days ago

          I’ve been using plugshare for years. I was wondering if other people would leave there car there or take off again to look for another parking space. Not really asking about the broken station, just what to do with the car.