Any indicator to other drivers that you're still charging?

I had a major issue with another ev driver. I went into the supermarket for 20-30 min, saw they had new charging stations, lvl2, thought I'd plug in see the charge rate, etc. both spots were empty. I came back outside to find an ev parked next to me, and the driver tugging on the charge cord plugged into my i3. As I got closer I could see him REALLY pulling on it. yeah he was lightly rocking the car basically. Got pissed, yelled at him, asked wth he's doing? His reply....:
"I think something is wrong and the cord is stuck in your i3? You're done right? no? I'm sorry, I didn't see any indicator lights on, and thought you were done charging."

Apparently the other stall wasn't working, and he decided to try and remove my plug. I didn't realize he'd caused damage, but I feel looseness in the J plug's top part. I'll be dcFCing tonight, so It'll be interesting to see if it works or there's any charger faults thrown.

Short of leaving notes on your car how do we indicate to other EV drivers that we're actively charging. Some charging stations have no display or indicator either.

Why does that blue pulsing light turn off after a while? I thought it stayed on for the duration of the charge? I'd never stood by to check it out, but logically I'd assumed its a tiny 1 watt LED, of course its on letting everyone know that there is live electricity flowing between evse and car.

how can we address this? I know this guy would have ripped the cord and my plug out if I had been a few minutes later.
Plus other EVs have indicator lights to let an outside observer know there's a charge session taking place.

Can anything be coded into the vehicle to give some indication to an outside person that you're plugged and pulling power?

I mean if we are charging in public, there should be some way to indicate to the public that we're charging.

Why did they even put the blue pulsing light there? to give you a 20 second light show and then turn off?

You can't fix stupid.

I agree, you make valid points, but even if the indicator light stayed active, who is to say that Handles McTughard wouldn't have misinterpreted the blue light?

Seriously, sounds like he was hellbent on getting a charge, and the indicator was a convenient excuse. He obviously didn't have a clue that a locked handle also indicates "in use."

electronchaser said:

Why does that blue pulsing light turn off after a while? I thought it stayed on for the duration of the charge?

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Apparently, the charging status light remains on only if the doors are unlocked but turns off after a short time if the doors are locked. Makes no sense to me. I'm not going to leave our i3 unlocked while charging at a public charging station.

electronchaser said:

Why did they even put the blue pulsing light there?

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The color of the pulsing light indicates the charging status. If there were no indication of the charging status, one would have to look at the instrument panel to determine whether charging is active, has failed due to a fault, has completed, etc.

Locking the port while charging isn't a good idea. I think it's a feature that really isn't a safe idea overall.

Arm said:

Locking the port while charging isn't a good idea. I think it's a feature that really isn't a safe idea overall.

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In much of the world, a charging cable is owned by the EV driver. This cable plugs into the public charging station and to the charge port. If the charge port isn't locked while charging or even after charging has completed, the charging cable could be stolen.

The same is true when charging in North America with the Occasional Use Cable (OUC). If the charge port weren't locked during charging, the OUC could be stolen. Of course, it could also be stolen when the port unlocks after charging has completed. Some i3 drivers lock the OUC in the frunk while charging to prevent its theft although doing so requires an extension cord which adds to the plug or receptacle overheating risk.

I feel that the charge port locking behavior should be settable in iDrive.

alohart said:

Arm said:

Locking the port while charging isn't a good idea. I think it's a feature that really isn't a safe idea overall.

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In much of the world, a charging cable is owned by the EV driver. This cable plugs into the public charging station and to the charge port. If the charge port isn't locked while charging or even after charging has completed, the charging cable could be stolen.

The same is true when charging in North America with the Occasional Use Cable (OUC). If the charge port weren't locked during charging, the OUC could be stolen. Of course, it could also be stolen when the port unlocks after charging has completed. Some i3 drivers lock the OUC in the frunk while charging to prevent its theft although doing so requires an extension cord which adds to the plug or receptacle overheating risk.

I feel that the charge port locking behavior should be settable in iDrive.

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That's true. Unfortunately the i3's charging indicator goes away and shows no indication of charging status after a certain period of time.

I dislike the fact that my i3's charging port flashes while charging and am glad that it shuts off at some point. Wish it would shut off sooner. Flash a dozen or so times to let me know that I'm plugged in and charging and then shut off. I don't like having it draw attention to my car when it is plugged in and charging in my driveway at night.

And I like the fact that my TurboCord is locked to the vehicle while I'm charging. Wouldn't be happy if that puppy walked away.

As for charging at a public station, I think that it's just plain rude for someone to try to unplug your car at a public charging station just so that he/she can get a charge. They have no way to know whether you have finished charging or have just started. I'd be really pissed to come back and find my car without a charge and the plug stuck into someone else's car...

Just my personal opinions, of course.

Fisher99 said:

I dislike the fact that my i3's charging port flashes while charging and am glad that it shuts off at some point. Wish it would shut off sooner. Flash a dozen or so times to let me know that I'm plugged in and charging and then shut off. I don't like having it draw attention to my car when it is plugged in and charging in my driveway at night.

And I like the fact that my TurboCord is locked to the vehicle while I'm charging. Wouldn't be happy if that puppy walked away.

As for charging at a public station, I think that it's just plain rude for someone to try to unplug your car at a public charging station just so that he/she can get a charge. They have no way to know whether you have finished charging or have just started. I'd be really pissed to come back and find my car without a charge and the plug stuck into someone else's car...

Just my personal opinions, of course.

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They would know if the charging light indicator was always showing what your car is doing. I'd rather have it show it's charging than it be off and still charging....only to have someone who can't tell come and rip off your cord. It happens. Many people finish charging and don't return to their vehicles, hog spots, etc...that's equally as rude particularly when others may need a charge. I would much rather be left with less charge than a damaged charging port because someone forced the plug out of my vehicle.

It really does highlight the shortcomings of public charging versus what Tesla's charging infrastructure is like.

I do agree that if you are using your own cord, then yes, a locked port is obviously a safeguard against someone who can come and lift it.

If this helps anyone:

I tried disabling lock by removing the locking pin mechanism yesterday and could not DC fast charge as the DC charger stated "could not lock to vehicle".
The mechanism was still connected to the vehicle, i just tied it behind the charge port. I validated it was working by connecting a charger and locking the car.

Level 1 or 2 charging does not care if the handle is locked to the vehicle.

glim1000 said:

If this helps anyone:

I tried disabling lock by removing the locking pin mechanism yesterday and could not DC fast charge as the DC charger stated "could not lock to vehicle".
The mechanism was still connected to the vehicle, i just tied it behind the charge port. I validated it was working by connecting a charger and locking the car.

Level 1 or 2 charging does not care if the handle is locked to the vehicle.

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Yeah, I try and almost exclusively only DCFC so removing locking pin wouldn't work as a solution.


But it really goes to show the car needs more settings for different folks in different situations. It doesn't even have to be something flashing, just a small indicator light is enough for the general public to know somethings happening. (Is a small pulsing light too much to ask for?)

When I first saw the charge port, I thought the blue light would show SOC, or the filling process, lighting up in increments to show how much juice its received in it.
(.....On the Ford plugin hybrids, in the menu you can adjust the charge light indicator to be always on, off, or limited. A Ford. :|
And it lights up in increments according to SOC. )

I've now started to leave the right side blinker/parking light on when charging just to give a heads up that the car is live, somethings taking place, owner probably nearby. Since the charge port is on the right of the car, perhaps even stupid people might be able to deduce that there's a cord, there's taillight on, maybe I should leave it be.

We should all begin to do it. Make it a trend, if you see an i3 plugged in with its right taillight on, that's me.

I feel okay now, as it isn't a dark dead looking car parked there with a plug in it. Anything illuminated gets the point across in my opinion. I'll snap a pic at next 'fill up'

electronchaser said:

I've now started to leave the right side blinker/parking light on when charging just to give a heads up that the car is live, somethings taking place, owner probably nearby. Since the charge port is on the right of the car, perhaps even stupid people might be able to deduce that there's a cord, there's taillight on, maybe I should leave it be.

We should all begin to do it.

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Huh! That's an interesting idea. I like it! Actually, much better than my idea of attaching fake doggy poop to the charging handle. :/

electronchaser said:

I've now started to leave the right side blinker/parking light on when charging just to give a heads up that the car is live, somethings taking place, owner probably nearby.

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I do not recall seeing this feature in my USA-spec manual. How do you turn it on?????

vreihen said:

electronchaser said:

I've now started to leave the right side blinker/parking light on when charging just to give a heads up that the car is live, somethings taking place, owner probably nearby.

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I do not recall seeing this feature in my USA-spec manual. How do you turn it on?????

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It's been a feature for as long back as I can remember on BMW and Mercedes vehicles. I suppose its to leave an indicator of your vehicles width on their narrow residential streets.

But anyway, I assumed the i3 would have it and sure enough it does. Just press the turn signal stalk to indicate right hand turn, and hold it there for a few seconds. You'll get a prompt on the dash letting you know you've enabled the feature. Walk outside, front/rear lights should be on.
process works the same for left side, indicate and hold left.

eNate said:

Huh! That's an interesting idea. I like it! Actually, much better than my idea of attaching fake doggy poop to the charging handle. :/

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hehehe, I can see your idea being handy in those free charging spots where everyone is literally sharking for a stall.

take a look at needtocharge app, maybe it'll help. Not related to app, just saw a YT video on it and thought it could be helpful in certain situations as I agree that the lack of indication of whats going on is not helpful and tbh i don't know what the charging colors for other EVs, and try not to look sketchy by peering into peoples cars.

www.needtocharge.com/

The person contacting you doesn't need the app to contact you and it doesn't share your information. You print out a small window sticker that has a QR or code for them to reach you via the app.

electronchaser said:

...

Why does that blue pulsing light turn off after a while? I thought it stayed on for the duration of the charge? I'd never stood by to check it out, but logically I'd assumed its a tiny 1 watt LED, of course its on letting everyone know that there is live electricity flowing between evse and car.

how can we address this? ...

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The light should flash blue when the car is charging, turn green when it's done.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHKpT6hkxxQ

That said, regardless of charge state, a person shouldn't take it upon themselves to disconnect another person's car. It should be common electric car etiquette. As it has been expressed, I don't think this person really cares how long you've been plugged it and just wanted to charge their car.

panamamike said:

The light should flash blue when the car is charging, turn green when it's done.

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This light flashing occurs for only a couple of minutes if the car and thus the charging port are locked. If the car is locked, the only way for anyone to determine whether charging is still occurring is by trying to unplug the EVSE. If it's not possible to unplug it, the car is still charging. However, few people know about this.

At least on recent BMWs, those sold in the USA do not enable the side lights on when the car is off and the turn signal lever is turned to one side or the other. Very common in Germany. They usually have a lower wattage lamp specifically for that purpose.

I was picturing just the parking lamps being left on.

i leave a laminated note with my mobile number on the dashboard
'call me if you need this charger'

alohart said:

panamamike said:

The light should flash blue when the car is charging, turn green when it's done.

Click to expand...

This light flashing occurs for only a couple of minutes if the car and thus the charging port are locked. If the car is locked, the only way for anyone to determine whether charging is still occurring is by trying to unplug the EVSE. If it's not possible to unplug it, the car is still charging. However, few people know about this.

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I had no idea that the charging port automatically unlocked when charging is complete, but I just checked and that does seem to be the case. All this time I thought my TurboCord was secure from theft. Now I'm kind of bummed...