AIBU to think they are avoiding parking charges at EV bays?

Jaimelefromage · 27/08/2026 12:10

mondaytosunday · 27/08/2026 11:20

Gosh I mean who had the time/head space to even think of doing this? I’m sure they’ll get caught one day.

The thing is, car park EV chargers can be pretty unreliable. I’ve plugged mine in and set it to charge before then come back a while
later and it’s just randomly
stopped charging. So how would the wardens even know that you hadn’t intended to charge?

LillyPeaceFlowerSun · 27/08/2026 11:30

BunnyRabbitBella · 26/08/2026 21:26

I park at my local council car park and charge my electric car. There is a Range Rover that parks at the charging point, they are plugged into the charging point but dont charge their car up..... superficially they look like they are using the charger but aren't.

I'm sure they park there so they dont have to pay for parking....

Should I tell the Council?

Most places you have to pay parking too.

I had paid for parking and my charge failed (the app didn’t work so if left it charging and didn’t realise) - I got a ticket. I appealed and it was cancelled. I had spoken to the wardens at the time and they said it would probably be cancelled if I appealed but not if it was a repeat.

Report and keep reporting. This is akin to someone parking at a petrol pump for hours without filling up. You just don’t do it!

mondaytosunday · 27/08/2026 11:20

Gosh I mean who had the time/head space to even think of doing this? I’m sure they’ll get caught one day.

Jaimelefromage · 27/08/2026 11:09

BunnyRabbitBella · 27/08/2026 09:46

I looked at the octopus website.... it says some car parks dont require you to pay for parking if you are charging....

Who would have thought it? Not all car parks are exactly the same....

What about this particular car park?

ToKittyornottoKitty · 27/08/2026 09:59

BunnyRabbitBella · 27/08/2026 09:46

I looked at the octopus website.... it says some car parks dont require you to pay for parking if you are charging....

Who would have thought it? Not all car parks are exactly the same....

Have you checked for the car park you park in yet though? You are very sarcy for someone who hasn’t even looked if they need to pay for parking

Lougle · 27/08/2026 09:57

At all of our local ones, you have to pay the parking charge, plus there is a restriction on how long you can stay in the bay, depending on the speed of the charger. So if you want to stay longer you have to move to a normal bay.

HelpMeGetThrough · 27/08/2026 09:54

eurochick · 27/08/2026 07:47

Not all EVs do this. Ours doesn’t.

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I know not all do it, but most that I’ve been around do. Depends on the manufacturer.

Original poster

BunnyRabbitBella · 27/08/2026 09:46

I looked at the octopus website.... it says some car parks dont require you to pay for parking if you are charging....

Who would have thought it? Not all car parks are exactly the same....

OP posts:

eurochick · 27/08/2026 07:47

HelpMeGetThrough · 27/08/2026 06:28

When you plug in, the car tells you how long it’s going to take to get to whatever max percentage you have set. The length of time depends on car and charger type. Mine is 15 minutes to go from 20% to 80% on the DC rapid chargers. Council chargers where I am are AC chargers which take ages.

The app for my car also tells me when it’s finished charging.

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Not all EVs do this. Ours doesn’t.

bananaobama · 27/08/2026 07:37

BunnyRabbitBella · 26/08/2026 22:50

Maybe it varies in different parts of the country. But where I am, you still get a paper parking ticket...

You enter you car registration and its printed on the ticket...

Are you sure it doesn’t also offer ringo or similar ?

bananaobama · 27/08/2026 07:35

How do you know that they haven’t paid?

Janetspillsthedinner · 27/08/2026 07:06

If it is their destiny to get a parking fine - I’m sure a parking warden will spot them and ticket them.

Personally I wouldn’t get involved. None of my business and I wouldn’t waste time or energy thinking about it.

HelpMeGetThrough · 27/08/2026 06:28

ElectoralControversy · 26/08/2026 21:48

Pretty sure the ones near us have a sign saying you'll be fined if you leave the car in the space after its finished charging?

It struck me as being a bit harsh as i never know when my mobile/laptop etc is going to be done... I guess the car sends you a text message or something when it's good to go

When you plug in, the car tells you how long it’s going to take to get to whatever max percentage you have set. The length of time depends on car and charger type. Mine is 15 minutes to go from 20% to 80% on the DC rapid chargers. Council chargers where I am are AC chargers which take ages.

The app for my car also tells me when it’s finished charging.

2ndHandLou · 27/08/2026 01:02

Franjipanl8r · 26/08/2026 23:09

Do you live in the past? I haven’t seen a paper ticket in years where I live!

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Who knew, not all car parks are the same, loads of them still have paper tickets if you pay at the machine.

I get paper tickets every week somewhere that I park

Whyhaveibeencutoutofmamsnot · 26/08/2026 23:28

I have been to one of two where the charging includes the parking fee.
Then again there are car parks where the rates depend on your co2 emissions like car tax

OhHobnobs · 26/08/2026 23:25

BunnyRabbitBella · 26/08/2026 21:34

There are other spaces. Still feels poor.... its basically cheating the system....

All the ones near me you still have to pay for parking. EV Charging is extra.

Franjipanl8r · 26/08/2026 23:09

BunnyRabbitBella · 26/08/2026 22:50

Maybe it varies in different parts of the country. But where I am, you still get a paper parking ticket...

You enter you car registration and its printed on the ticket...

Do you live in the past? I haven’t seen a paper ticket in years where I live!

PlumPlumb · 26/08/2026 23:04

BunnyRabbitBella · 26/08/2026 22:50

Maybe it varies in different parts of the country. But where I am, you still get a paper parking ticket...

You enter you car registration and its printed on the ticket...

Yes but it's highly likely there is also a sticker somewhere on the machine for a parking app like Ringo or JustPark. I've just had a count up and I've got six different parking apps on my phone. Very handy if an appointment runs over and you need to add more time to your parking virtually and means I can keep track for claiming them on expenses rather than hanging on to sticky scraps of paper.

It just seems so unlikely that a council carpark would offer free parking for EVs

If it's a council car park you can probably Google it and it will tell you if EVs are exempt and what they parking payment options are .

Original poster

BunnyRabbitBella · 26/08/2026 22:50

Maybe it varies in different parts of the country. But where I am, you still get a paper parking ticket...

You enter you car registration and its printed on the ticket...

OP posts:

ToKittyornottoKitty · 26/08/2026 22:47

BunnyRabbitBella · 26/08/2026 22:40

There's enough chargers for maybe 10 cars. Not all the chargers have cars in them.

It's easy enough to see if they have parking tickets...

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Only if you are walking around looking for them, and it’s just not likely that a car park that’s installed electric chargers hasn’t also managed to get a parking app.

DuckyLuck · 26/08/2026 22:47

How do you know they’ve not paid to park? Is it because they can’t use a parking app in that car park and have to pay and display?

FlamingoFloss · 26/08/2026 22:46

Teresa7 · 26/08/2026 21:41

I have an EV and I’ve not yet come across a car park where you don’t have to pay normal parking charges on top of the charging fee

Exactly this

Jaimelefromage · 26/08/2026 22:45

BunnyRabbitBella · 26/08/2026 22:09

I dont pay for the parking.... just the car charging.... if I was just parking I'd pay for a parking ticket.

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Wow, we have 2 electric cars and I’ve never been in a car park where parking is free if you’re charging. Where in the country are you?
Having said that, I have actually plugged my car in but not started the charge before, when the only available space in the car park was a charging space 😳 . My son is severely disabled and has a blue badge but all of the disabled spots were also taken.

PlumPlumb · 26/08/2026 22:44

BunnyRabbitBella · 26/08/2026 22:33

Tbh, if I got a parking fine I'd take it on the chin..,

The other cars using the chargers dont pay for parking either....

But the Range Rover driver doesnt pay for parking or car charging....

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Don't most council car parks these days have mobile options for paying for parking? I never buy physical parking tickets these days it's all done on an app so someone passing by would have no idea if parking has been paid for or not. Only the traffic warden would know using their handheld thingy.

I highly suspect you are supposed to be paying for parking and the range rover is using the ev parking space as they tend to be bigger and more likely to be empty.

ColdTofuSandwich · 26/08/2026 22:44

Okay - I haven’t been to a car park for a while that didn’t have an app for parking rather than actual tickets.

I have never charged my car without also paying for a ticket.

either you live somewhere very different to me or you’re a bit clueless