Picture this: you’re out to eat with your family and thought that it was also the perfect chance to charge your EV. There are some public charge points in the vicinity, so you find one near the restaurant and head that way. The charge point status says ‘available’.
Perfect, right? Well, not so much, because once you arrive, you find a fully charged car parked in your spot. You have no way to contact the owner of the car to let them know their car is ready and you don’t know when they’ll be back. You’re stuck.
How would you feel? Frustrated. Annoyed. Irritated. At least, that is what our latest survey found.
Read more: How long does it take to charge an electric car?
The 3 best ways to make your public charging experience better
So, knowing that bad charging behaviors can definitely ruin someone’s night, you’ll probably want to avoid attracting bad charging karma your way.
That is why we bring you these helpful tips and best practices for when you’re out using public charge points – courtesy of 75% of other EV drivers.
Rule #1 – Repeat after me: An EV charging spot IS NOT an EV parking spot
It doesn’t matter if you have an EV or not, you never know when someone needs it for charging. At the moment, there is limited charging infrastructure for the amount of EV’s out there (We at Monta are working to improve this!), so please be a nice person and try picking another spot.
Rule #2 – Try your best to move your car as soon as it’s done charging
We know this may be challenging but since you will know exactly when your car is finished charging, try to schedule around it. Just imagine how life would be if everyone did that!
Rule #3 – If you know you’ll be away from your car when it’s scheduled to finish charging, leave a note
EV drivers recommend leaving a note in the windshield, either saying when you will return or leaving your phone number. This way another person is not left waiting without an idea of when you’ll be back or can even give you a call if they need the charger after you’re done. This is a courteous gesture, and you know you won’t find an angry person when you get back. So, we prepared a form for you.
In the meantime, take advantage of Monta’s free features – Smart Queue is there to help. Simply enter the queue for one or multiple charging sites through the app and be notified when a charge point becomes available for you!
Please note that Monta has no control over charging site administrators enabling Smart Queue. It is a decision made by the charge point owner or operator. So, unfortunately we cannot do anything if you don’t find this feature available at all charging sites.
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