Found a free charging spot using a library app trick

So I live in Austin and usually charge at home, but last month my home charger broke and I had to wait 10 days for a replacement part. I was looking for cheap L2 options and stumbled on this idea. Most libraries around here have free EV spots but they are hidden in the back and nobody knows about them. I just searched my city's library map on their website and found 3 locations with free charging within 15 minutes of my house. One of them even has a 6.6 kW station so it's not painfully slow. I spent $0 on charging that whole week just parking there while reading. Has anyone else used library chargers or found other public buildings with free plugs?

2 comments

2 Comments

seth_carr22d ago

wait 10 days for a replacement part" - that's brutal, but honestly sounds like a lucky break since you found those library chargers. My question is: did you have to sit there the whole time or could you park and walk away? I'm thinking about how that would work in my city (Denver) where the library parking is usually time limited to 2-3 hours. The 6.6 kW station sounds promising but if you have to move your car every 90 minutes it kind of defeats the purpose of a free charge. Were those spots just in regular library parking lots with no posted limits?

ward.piper21d ago

Seth, that's rough - 10 days is a painful wait for any part, especially something critical like that. Glad the library setup worked out in the meantime, but sitting around for hours just to top off a charge sounds like its own kind of headache. Hope the replacement comes fast and you can get back to normal charging.