What can I do if all charging spots are busy?

If every charging spot is in use, do not worry, you have options. Sometimes you arrive somewhere — like work, a shopping center or the supermarket — and all the charging spots are being used by other EV drivers. Instead of circling the parking lot waiting for a spot to open up, use Notify Me or Waitlist in the ChargePoint app to find out when a charging station near you becomes available. Please note that these features are only available when charging on ChargePoint stations, not when using your ChargePoint account on a different charging station. Waitlist is not enabled on all stations; a host must enable it for you to access this feature.

Enabling the Notify Me feature alerts the driver when an EV in a selected spot finishes charging. It does ensure spot reservation; it is first come, first served. To enable notifications, follow the instructions below:

Using Notify Me

With the Notify When Available button on the Station Details tab in the app, we will let you know when the EV in the selected spot has finished charging. When you get an alert, you can move your car and charge or decide not to charge — it is up to you.

Here's how to use Notify Me:

• Open the ChargePoint app and the map will show your location so you can easily find charging spots near you. 
  
  Tip: If charging spots are busy, they appear as blue pins in the app. Available spots are green.
• Click on the blue (busy) station pin and access station details by clicking the info bar at the bottom of the screen.
• Hit Notify Me to confirm you want to receive a notification for that station. If there are other busy stations nearby, you can choose to be notified when any of them become available by selecting Any Station at This Location.
  
  Tip: If Notify When Available does not appear, it means that at least one spot at the station is available for charging.
• Move your car to charge as soon as you receive a notification that a spot is open. A spot will not be reserved if someone else gets there first.
• If you don’t need to charge anymore you don’t have to do anything, but you can hit Stop Notification in the station details.

Using Waitlist

To help more drivers like you charge their vehicles, some station owners have enabled the Waitlist feature, which lets you get in a virtual line to charge. The station owner decides how long a driver can stay at a station to ensure all drivers get an opportunity to charge. If you are already charging, you will be notified when it is time to move your vehicle so that someone else can charge.

Here's how to get in line with Waitlist:

• When all stations are in use, click Join Waitlist from the map view in the ChargePoint app or tap your phone or card at a specific station to add it to your Waitlist. You will remain in line until you either begin charging or leave the Waitlist. 
  
  Tip: If Join Waitlist does not show up in the app it means stations are available or the Waitlist feature is not turned on.
• Hit the black Join Waitlist button.
• You’ll automatically be added to the Waitlist for all stations in the immediate area. The gray bar near the top of your screen will show how many stations you’re in line for.
  
  Tip: You will be directed to a screen where you can see one or more stations depending on whether you added Join Waitlist for a single or multiple station in the map. Select and deselect the stations on the map and tap Join the Waitlist. You are then added to the queue for all the selected stations; a black bar appears on the bottom left corner that displays your number in the queue.
• When you get an alert that You are Up!, accept the spot and it will be reserved for you. Only accept the spot if you are ready to move your car immediately, because the spot will only be reserved for a short amount of time. Do not accept if you cannot move your car right away.
• If you are busy, hit Snooze to let the next person have the spot and keep your place in line. You can choose how long you want to snooze. You will not know about open spots until that time is up. 
  
  Tip: Some stations only let you hit Snooze a certain number of times before you are taken off the Waitlist. Do not worry, the app will let you know when it is your last chance to snooze.
• If you no longer need to charge, select Leave Waitlist. Move your EV as soon as you have enough range, so that others can get a turn to charge.

• You can also save a Waitlist if you want to join specific stations only.

  Tip: Make sure that you have turned on notifications in the app (click the main menu and select Account, then choose Notifications) so we can send updates about your place in line. Make sure that the app is refreshed and ensure that push notifications are enabled at the device level.