Hey Everyone, I’m about to buy my first EV (2020 chevy bolt) and there is a hotel next to my apartment with a lvl 2 charger. I called and asked if Its open for the public and their response was “Technically its only for guests but as long as you don’t hog the charger I don’t see any problem with using it”. They seemed busy so I didn’t ask anything else, but for a slow charger like this, what is considered too long to charge? My plan was to just leave it there for like 4 hours once a week, but would you count that as “hogging” it? If it matters, they do have 2 charging slots, but only one is functional and they don’t know if/when the other will be fixed
So I’m going against the grain here but I don’t think it’s appropriate for you to charge at the hotel on a regular basis, even if it is only once a week. Before you buy an EV, your job as a responsible owner is to figure out a proper charging situation. What if a guest at the hotel needs it while you’re there? They likely picked the hotel because there is a charger but didn’t know that a local resident would be using it that day.
If you don’t have a reliable charging plan then I would highly advise that you reconsider buying an EV. Or plan to use actual public chargers until you have a more permanent solution figured out.
The hotel would probably tell op if a guest needs to charge and he’s in the way.
Op should probably turn his charge unplug alarm off too.
Disclaimer: I’ve only had my EV for about a month and usually charge at work or home so haven’t got that much experience with public charger etiquette.
I wouldn’t think 4 hours a week is “hogging it” but I would think the etiquette somewhat depends what 4 hours you are there. If your 4 hours coincidence with the peak usage of the charger (maybe when people are checking in for example) that is different to 4 hours when nobody is there anyway.
Op, if you work something out with the next door hotel then that’s totally fine.
Etiquette is to not hog a charger and leave your car plugged in after has finished the charging session. Also note that many EVs will, after completing a charge, spend hours balancing the cells by trickle charging them. You don’t need to do this very often, maybe a few times a year at the most.
I would think most of the hotel guests will be plugging in the afternoon and charging overnight.
Also, you could get one of these: https://www.autoblog.com/2015/04/28/take-charge-go-placards-polite-charge-ev/
