Fair play. But I sat patiently and waited regardless. It's not a case of looking down at someone - just a frustration of poor timing and bad luck. If I knew they were going to be taking an hour I'd have gone and done some shopping.
A mate of mine had an LPG Vauxhall when I had my LPG TT. He didn't realise the pump had a catch on it - so he used to fill it by holding the pump on to the nozzle on his rear bumper with one hand, and pressing the fill button on the pump with the other. Must has been a right sight.
Perhaps this is just terminoloty around battery size vs useable capacity. My 24kw had a useable capacity of 22kw (when new) - so did have a buffer zone. I doubt there are many cars other than Tesla that install a battery larger than that being advertised. Instead 100% SOC will be 100% of the useable capacity, rather than 100% of the entire pack.
How are some people so averse to the concept of having any kind of etiquette. It's no different to other areas where people collectively do things towards a common good. Not trying to scan a tolley load of shopping at a quick checkout, or having a long irrelevant discussion at a customer services counter while a load of people are waiting to pay for thier item. In my limited experience, early adopter EV drivers have generally been the kind of folk who would let someone waiting know they need to charge all the way to 100%. It's not nessecarily EV etiquette to do that - it's just someone having any sense of awareness of others and acting on it. Not something that's held in high regard here clearly.
on the 100% issue, if the companies see the charging stations charging capacity is underutilized, they'll adjust charging costs to penalise parties; if you arrive a petrol station you can assess wait time and decide should i stay or go, less so for ev's, rather, if you say how much energy you need, the charger should be able to provide time estimates for subsequent queuers - so smarter, AI branded, chargers required. groundhog day yes ... but, I don't remember the word etiquette before today, so my vocabulary is expanding.
Whether or not this stuff about it being pointless to charge up to 100% or whatever is true or not, your average man on the street with an EV is not going to know this. I've certainly never heard of it before. It's entirely fair to expect someone to want to charge their car up to 100%, certainly if they don't have the facility to do so at home, just like it's fair to expect that someone might want to spend 2 minutes longer in the petrol station shop grabbing a few bits and pieces while they're paying for their fuel. It's not about etiquette or decency, it just seems like sound logic to me? If they sat in their car after it had finished charging and faffed around for 10 minutes before driving away from the only charge station, then you'd have a point. But I don't think it's unreasonable to expect someone to want to make full use of their vehicle's range and capabilities, and the infrastructure offered to them. It's not their fault that it's clearly under-provided.
Don't worry they will know. Either the car suggests 80% on the charging/battery screen or they will find out when it takes 3+ hours to charge from 80-100% This is also something buyers of EV's needs to be aware of. Range is quoted using the maximum battery capacity, from 0-100%, when in reality you're probably using it from (10)20-80%.
Its a shame more manufactures don't do what Hyundai did with the Ioniq, that stops charging at a rapid charger at 94% battery. you can only get to 100% using a 7KW home charger type, as it's a 31kwh battery with 28Kwh usable that makes it shut off at 85% of full battery capacity which means you get good speeds all the way until it's 'full' as far as the end user is concerned. I think the 100% charging thing should ideally be taken out of the customers hands going forward by using the buffers in batteries or just better chemistries so it's not an issue with slowing down so much at the top end.
Once the infrastructure is properly sorted (ie, not relying on a dozen different cards, apps and providers) surely pricing will remove any need for "etiquette"? I mean sometimes I'll buy a bottle of water at a service station for a pound to get me through the journey home, I don't buy six to save me running the tap when I get there... I've been watching some of the recent reviews around what I refer to as "normal" EVs. The sort that are designed to tempt people into an EV in the same way that they may consider whether to go petrol or diesel. To be honest I am getting more excited about the idea but I'm in no rush to replace my wife's car, my employer dictates the schedule at which my car is replaced and my toy is probably going at the end of the year anyway. All being well by the time we do need to make a purchase there will be a nicely stocked and diverse used market to choose from.
Unfortunately, for people wanting to buy used - you're probably buying an ex PCP car where the drivers not given a crap about care for the battery. For all you know it's sat at 100% connected to the charger through most of it's life.
The benefits just keep rolling in. No wonder the only way to stop people buying ICE cars is to make it illegal
So you buy a car with a decent warranty (does anyone non-German have a warranty under 5 years these days?) and the batteries on almost all cars are guaranteed for 8 years. Would I buy one after 8 years without a battery health check? No. But all that will happen is you’ll see cars sold with battery pack warranties and the problem will just be exactly what it is now. A reason for people to put off the inevitable. BEVs are coming. So you may as well get used to the idea.
