Since you were left with a cliffhanger on the previous post – would he finally find a way to charge his car during the storm?! – I wanted to provide you with the conclusion to this exciting and epic EV adventure.

After the disappointing “three strikes, you’re out” day, and with no other choice, we ventured out in the middle of the snowstorm to accomplish what we couldn’t do on Saturday. We checked the Dorchester and Braintree stations to see how it looked. Despite the snow, they were still busy. At the Electrify America Dorchester location, one charger was out of order and all of the others were in use.

With a sense of mission and adventure, we drove out into the storm anyway, figuring that there should not be much of a wait. Alas, we were right. Despite the fact that all three working chargers were in use, we were the only ones waiting and we celebrated our good fortune that one of the vehicles was at 72%. It would only be a matter of moments (or so we thought) so we decided to wait. Five minutes later, another EV operator joined us in the queue giving rise to another level of anxiety that often plagues us EV users – would he attempt to cut the line and take the next available charger? (spoiler alert, he didn’t).

As the snow continued, we observed the vehicle that was at 72% do nothing once the charge got to 80%. He seemed that he would not be satisfied with anything under 100%. Generally, it is most efficient to only charge the vehicle to 80% at a DC Fast Charging station. There are three reasons: charging performance, battery longevity, and common courtesy. Most of the time you should only charge an EV to 80% because charging rates slow down dramatically past the 80% mark (in the case of this station, it went from 85kW to 25kW once the vehicle is at 80%). And two, the long-term health of your vehicle’s battery pack is improved when kept below 100%. And finally, for those who may be waiting behind you, it’s plain rude.

Why? Our friends at WiTricity in Watertown tell us that charging is not linear. Instead of batteries taking in energy at a constant, predictable rate, the rate actually changes based on a myriad of variables, though most importantly, the battery’s state of charge. It is analogous to theater seating. When you’re one of the first people to enter, it’s quick and easy to find a chair – you can sit anywhere – but as the theater fills up, it takes a lot longer to snag a spot and sit down.

The gentleman in Dorchester would clearly have none of it. In fact, at 92%, he finally stepped out from his vehicle which led to our short-lived celebration as we watched him in disbelief slowly and methodically conduct snow removal operations from the windshield, back window, side windows, roof, headlights, bumper, license plate, etc. You get the picture. It was painful to watch. On completion of these tasks, he watched the meter go from 96% to 99% before finally deciding it was time to move on and exit the space.

We thought the wait might be 10 minutes at most, but this guy dragged it out to 25 minutes, despite clearly seeing that two other desperate EV souls were patiently waiting for a charge, and in a snowstorm no less.

The lad in the vehicle to our left (a car bearing New Jersey plates) got to 80% about 5 minutes after we landed our spot. We wondered whether he would make a graceful exit to accommodate the other vehicle in the queue. another spoiler alert, he didn’t). It actually didn’t even look like he was in his car, although it turned out this fine gentleman had reclined his seat to take a rest while being blissfully, yet annoying, unaware of who was waiting for a charge just feet behind him. (And his charging speed dropped to 25 kW while we were powering up at 85kW.

Our charging session got us to 80% in 40 minutes, and our neighbor from New Jersey was only at 94% when we jetted out of there. Yes, there was someone in the queue, and we accommodated his need for energy by quickly wrapping up our session and leaving.

This experience seems to highlight the fact that charging etiquette is the next item to attack in the range anxiety world. Like many other things in society, we rely on awareness of our surroundings and common courtesy to ensure that we can all co-exist and help each other move forward as a society. However, there have been many instances that I have witnessed and experienced, and I’m sure the same goes for many of you, when people stayed longer in chargers than necessary, even abandoning their vehicles well past the point of a full charge, or cutting a queue when clearly there are others waiting.

Should dealers offer classes to EV owners? Do we need a pledge for EV owners to use common sense and courtesy? Do we need the chargers to simply stop at 80% or increase the price for usage? I’m throwing these all out there. Share your thoughts and let us know what you think the solution is.