Charging from a Wall Plug in a Public Garage

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What are the rules, if any, for charging using a wall plug in a public garage?

 

I pay for monthly parking in the garage in the basement of my building. Access to the garage is by key card for monthly parkers only. There are wall outlets all over the garage.  Are there any ground rules for just plugging in the convenience cable and filling up? Legal? Illegal? Likely to lose the charging cable? Likely to get thrown out of the garage?

[Rhyalus]

I would speak to management... assuming that they did not mind you plugging in, do you want to risk losing the cable ($600 replacement)??

 

R

[47Minutes]

So long as the people paying for the electric bill don't mind, you could park a wheel on top of the cord to keep it from walking away.  Assuming you can get close enough to an outlet to allow for this extra slack.

[Russael]

I personally would not leave my charger unattended in any public place.  I'm overly cautious myself though (I keep my car locked in a locked garage).  I would use it at people's homes, but definitely not in a parking garage.  I'd ask for a public charging station to be installed.  Even if they billed you for it (not to have it installed, but maybe to plug in to it), it'd be worth it.  There's a 110 outlet outside of my building where I work and I have zero intention of plugging in to that.

 

However, if you do still want to take advantage of the fact that they have outlets in the garage, definitely ask management's permission.  Those outlets are for the garage and personnel who run the building and not intended for public use.

Edited May 17, 2013 at 08:30 PM by Russael

[shaggy314]

The other thing to watch out for is the circuit itself. You need a dedicated 15 amp line, if somebody else came along and plugged into the same line somewhere else for whatever reason (not a car, think a tradesman) it'd likely pop the breaker. This was the issue I ran into at work. Yes the garage has 110 plugs every floor, but they are all the same line so anything else going in would pop it so they said nope. I'd have to get something dedicated to my car and that was expensive. No charging for me. :-(

Edited May 17, 2013 at 08:48 PM by shaggy314

[fastdriver]

One thing I don't like about plugshare is that people enter in power outlets when permission hasn't been granted by management or the owner. I don't plug into wall outlets advertised in plugshare unless there are comments suggesting that management is cool with it.

 

Most of the garages are not OK with you using the outlets in the garage as a charging station. The exception may be an employer who is the sole tenant or owner of the garage. But you have to ask for permission first. That is what I did prior to plugging in for the first time.