‘They Lose Their Minds:’ EV Driver Says There Are 2 Types Of People At Chargers. Which Are You?
"There needs to be an electric vehicle charging station etiquette class.”
A new electric vehicle owner says she’s determined there are two types of people who visit EV charging stations. Here’s how to know which one you are.
TikTok user Black Magnolia (@blackmagnolialife) posted a video with her conclusions about the state of EV charging station etiquette earlier this week. “There needs to be an electric vehicle charging station etiquette class,” she says to start the video. “Because I’ve found that there are two types of people that come to these electric charging stations.”
Black Magnolia admits she is less than two months into EV ownership, but says she’s already seen multiple examples of both behaviors in that short period of time.
The First Type: The Overly Friendly
You know the type. The TikToker says, “The overly friendly, I want to be besties, let me know your whole life story. But we’re literally just parked next to each other putting electricity in our cars. It’s like the gas station. I don’t talk to randos at the gas station. What makes you think I am going to chat you up here?”
She believes it must be part of EV car owner culture. “I guess there’s something about the bond of owning an electric vehicle that makes people feel together,” she posits.
The Second Type: The Overtly Rude
The second type of EV charger is the complete opposite of the first type: The drivers who are overtly rude and do not extend any level of courtesy to their fellow drivers.
“They may be the nicest people in the real world, but you get them to a charging station and they lose their minds,” Black Magnolia says of these drivers.
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Bottom Line? She Needs Her Wall Charger
Black Magnolia says she is fed up with both personality types. She offers two examples of the second profile. In one situation, a man approached her vehicle and looked inside to determine if someone was inside and how long she was going to be plugged in, which Black Magnolia found extremely invasive.
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In a second scenario, she was parked in line behind another woman who was charging her vehicle when a man approached and accused her of cutting in front of him. Black Magnolia says she told him that she’d seen him pull into the parking lot and therefore there was no way she could’ve cut him in line. Instead of doubling down, Magnolia says the man turned into the first profile in an instant.
“I don’t know what happened or why,” she says. “I think it has something to do with the electricity at these charging stations. It either makes you crazy or it makes you happy and peaceful. Either way, I need my wall charger, dealership, I need my wall charger for my house so I don’t have to be out on the street and be around all these people anymore.”
On this Reddit thread posted to r/electricvehicles a few years ago, most drivers seem concerned with people not parking in the charging spaces when they’re not actively charging. Others echoed Black Magnolia and said they avoid people who want to start conversations with their fellow drivers. “If my windows are up and I’m not looking at you, chances are I just want to eat my food in peace,” wrote one person.
Viewers React to the EV Charger Profiles
In the comments, viewers weighed in on the question posed in the video. “Electric car driver here,” wrote one person. “Zero desire to talk to anyone who isn’t in my car. I will smile and be kind, but no chatting with strangers.”
A second person wrote, “I wouldn’t feel bad. They can find another charger.”
InsideEVs contacted Black Magnolia via TikTok comment and direct message for comment.
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