What to DO when somebody UNPLUG you at a Public station

[portishead]

Maybe he is sliding a padlock through the hole in the release trigger of the J1772 plug....My Leviton charger has hole there...but I don't know if all chargers are supposed to have one.

http://www.amazon.com/Master-Lock-131Q-Covered-Aluminum/dp/B00004Y8D4#productDetails

That looks exactly like the lock I have. Works perfect for the home charger.
As for unplugging, I have noticed sometimes, if someone uses the same outlet as me, It will cause the power to dip, and I get an unplug notification. Also, sometimes I will get unplugged and moved up a spot because their power adapter cable runs downward, so you can't fit 2 at the same time. A bit annoying, but I'm used to it.
I haven't had any problems otherwise. We have 4 spots, and 2 outlets on each, so we can cram like 5 cars in there and we can all charge. The parking spots are extremely tight which is annoying, but it's free even though it's only 110v. Thank goodness for a short commute!

 

[branstone]

On the Leaf you can lock the plug in , but on the Rav4ev you can't right ? I wonder why they didn't do something like that.

before i started using entune i was always afraid someone would just walk by and unplug me, like some loser idiot, not another EV person.

 

[mark_rivers19]

Just to give everyone an update.
So far, locking the cable ( as suggested by Tony) works for ALL chargepoint stations.
It's the Blink and Clipper creeks that are hard/impossible to lock.
The holes near the trigger are too small.

I might buy a separate padlock for those charging stations.

 

[DerekRiehl]

Will something like this work at Blink/Clipper stations?

https://www.google.com/shopping/product/3180512800773930367?channel=sb&q=travel+padlock+tsa&rls=org.mozilla:en-USfficial&bav=on.2,or.r_cp.r_qf.&bvm=pv.xjs.s.en_US.1ipquFBLRi8.O&tch=1&ech=1&psi=3YxBU9bNNsK82gXInYDoCw.1396804829880.3&ei=3oxBU4qEMIKE2wWI7oHgDg&ved=0CN4BEKYrMAY

I have this for our Prius Plug-in and it fits the small hole in the handle well - not horribly strong, but it doesn't need to be for this purpose, and the combo makes it easy to use since the Prius key stays in my pocket most of the time anyway.

Derek "where in the world is Rav4 EV VIN #....1654 today? waiting for delivery" Riehl

 

[michael]

I park at the airport in a private lot with chargers. If the car plugged in is done charging, I will yank the cable for my car. Almost always that is the case. 4-6 spots share one charger.

Tonight, I did just that on a Volt. The owner had set the alarm in the car with motion detection and the car proceeded to honk for a couple minutes. Do you think it was uncool to arm the alarm?

This is "normal" for a Volt when the doors are locked while the car is left plugged in, even when the charge has completed. I do not know if there is a way to disable this security feature since in the situation you described, that would be when a Volt owner may not want the car's security alarm to engage. I think this feature was intended to prevent theft of the 120V charging cable that comes with the car, so GM should have provided a way to disable the alarm when doing a public charge.

It's very easy to disable alarm upon unplug with a Volt...it's right in the setup menu. This was the first thing I did when I got mine since I have a "shared charging" situation both at work and at home.

I think it's improper to lock the plug into your car at a public charger. When you're done charging, it is expected and proper for the next person to unplug you. I carry a J1772 extension cord so that I can do this when necessary, even if the charger seems to serve only a single parking space (not for the Volt since this isn't necessary, but for a Focus) and it would be a real problem to be unable to charge because someone was fully charged, off shopping, and locked up.

Obviously if you want to lock up your own portable EVSE as a theft preventative measure, that's a different matter.

I understand the worry about some loser idiot unplugging you, but by locking you jeopardize another EV person.