Will 'Charge Rage' Join 'Range Anxiety' As Electric-Car Owner Emotion?

"Range anxiety" is the term attributed to the fear of running out of charge in an electric vehicle before you've reached your destination.

In reality, the feeling fades once you've got used to your vehicle and daily usage patterns--in as little as a few weeks, in many cases.

Now, there's a new electric car owner emotion waiting in the wings: "Charge rage".

If you've ever looked for a charging spot to find a fully charged, but plugged-in electric car sitting there occupying it, you've probably experienced it. Likewise if someone has unplugged your car before it's finished, in order to charge their own.

It's becoming a real problem at some workplaces, where employers haven't provided enough chargers for plug-in car-owning employees to top up their cars.

As the San Jose Mercury News reports, it's a problem afflicting several businesses in electric car-heavy areas--including German software company SAP in Palo Alto.

In 2010, it installed 16 charging points in the company parking lot, more than enough for the small band of electric car users at the time. But now, there are over sixty employees with plug-in cars--and competition over the chargers is causing "charge rage".

Some cars are being unplugged while they're still charging, while SAP's chief sustainability officer Peter Graf says employees are having to call and message each other to get them to move their cars once charged.

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