AIBU to be annoyed my caravan site has banned electric car charging with no warning?

I understand that, we used to holiday in caravans and you couldn't plug an electric kettle in. But people were being called idiots for using something which came with their car which seems unfair.

I can understand why TBH - fire risk, training cables everywhere plus CF who will try and charge off someone else’s unit

you can’t put fuel in your car on site at a caravan site so the rule should be the same for electric vehicles

They can pretty much just cope. Although lots of caravans now have central heating so that gives some flexibility.

But add a load of ev’s charging that wasn’t expected when the sites were wired up and you’ve got problems.

No but add a lot of electric car charging to that and it will
there if already figured electric heating in when planning the network for the site

I just googled and many static caravans seem to have the same amps as touring caravan hookups which is 16, that's not much. When we are in our touring caravan in the winter I turn down the heater to put the kettle on, just in case it trips. Average house is 100 amps

Im not familiar with the wiring of fixed caravan sites, but if it can’t cope with a reasonable quantity of 13A loads at the same time, it seems somewhat inadequate. Is it really that bad? What if it’s cold out and a lot of people want to plug in an electric heater? Does the site go dark then also?

Often on campsites it will blow a whole area.

A risk big area won’t want with the amount of complaints and publicity

If the wiring is correct a trip will switch off the overloaded circuit or a fuse will blow. There should be no bangs, no fire and nothing dangerous.

As far as I am aware caravan park insurance doesn’t cover using the granny chargers.

You need a proper socket much like when caravans and lodges have hot tubs installed they are not just plugged into the caravans internal socket it’s a special socket.

Not a haven site as I know they allow proper installed private chargers. I’d assume dean or other smaller companies and private sites.

the safety aspect will be the site’s network on the actual 3 pin charger
it’s like at home you can plug a 3 kw fan heater in to a socket no problem

go and plug a 3 kw fan heater into every socket in your house and switch them all in at the same time the whole lot will go bang
the power draw will be too much

a lot of people simultaneously charging at the same time on 3 pin ping the power draw will be too much for the site’s network

Yes but my point being people are charging them without dedicated EV chargers, fast or slow

Yeah it’s a regular post on the Craig Tara Owners Facebook page, to let specifically owners know that their private renters are charging at the caravan. Normally a cable going from the car in through the window it’s crazy!

Probably best to find out why, it's probably because of overloading the electricity if lots of people did it at the same time. Google says about 2.3 kW which is quite high.

Electric cars literally come with a lead for plugging into a 3 pin socket. Why would anyone be an idiot for thinking it was safe to use something that came with the car?

(At least our car did, I assume others do as well.)

My parents had a caravan out in the middle of wales. It used to trip the electrics if you plugged in the kettle, the toaster and another appliance never mind charging an electric vehicle. It would overload the circuit.
Not all locations are equipped to supply the amount of electricity needed to charge these vehicles and maybe now there's too many coming onto the site so they are having to put a stop to it.
Could you charge your car whilst you're out for the day in a local town.

Just drive up, plug in (and pay ofc), drive back to caravan.

Is the charging cable long enough?

The only sites I know of that have banned charging caravan-side have had a few proper ev chargers put on the carpark at reception. Just drive up, plug in (and pay ofc), drive back to caravan.

This used to happen down at the local marina. Very naughty.

Of course EVs can be charged using a 3 pin plug, its just slow.

Renault quite literally sell a 3 pin 'granny ' charger as an optional extra. Its under accessories.

https://www.renault.co.uk/electric-vehicles/r5-e-tech-electric/configurator.html?modelAdminId=renault5-htb-ph1

Oh I haven't seen any going in through windows, that is wild! 🤣

But I have seen them plugged into the electrical points outside the vans.

Home and contents insurance may have legal cover to pay for legal action if an initial solicitor consultation shows that the case has merit. If the park acts out of turn because of any legal action they could be looking at added legal actions of harassment. It would be incredibly stupid of the park to be unpleasant. However, if the park is no longer fit for purpose then OP probably shouldn’t visit to holiday without legal advice, it would look like implied acceptance of the new conditions.

Haven are much the same here in Scotland, they have a few hire caravans with the proper chargers now but the amount of private / haven hires who have wires going in through caravan windows is wild! Caravans already struggle at times with being overloaded I imagine this doesn’t help and as an owner to get your electricity bill at the end of the season must be a nightmare!

@Poppyfie1dsi agree in part and would in normal circumstances. BUT. As I have said look at holiday park action group. These people are horrific.

the other worry for OP is, ok let’s take legal action. Alone. How does she go there happily with that going on?

You're not unreasonable to want notice but it may be an insurance issue.

Most insurance companies will exclude overnight battery for motor vehicles on commercial policies as they are deemed to be a public liability/fire risk.

Edited to add: that doesn't mean they should disallow all charging but maybe they are spooked by the insurance companies exclusion reasons so just want to avoid the risk altogether out of an abundance of caution

I would also be annoyed.

A solicitor will be able to advise. If it was not mentioned at all in T&C and verbal or written reassurances were given- and he had already been charging his car on site - it might still be a significant change.