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AIBU?

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Original poster

Etiquette about electric cars- views??

134 replies

AWanderingMinstrel · 28/12/2023 20:53

First thread, long term user. Just interested in views.
Given that more people are buying electric cars , what do you think will become the correct etiquette for charging when visitors come to your house?
Given that if someone comes to visit me in a petrol car, I don’t pay for their petrol to visit me ( should they need to fill up) what do you think is the right approach if someone arrives in an electric car to your home ( possibly staying overnight) has no more charge , and then charges their car enough to get home using your electricity??
AIBU- to not allow people to charge, you are not responsible for their costs to visit you
AINBU- visitors are coming to see you, their car needs charging, it’s convenient for them to charge during their visit to you, you bear the cost of their travel

OP posts:
jermenui · 29/12/2023 01:52

This wouldn't be an issue for us as there are public chargers on our street, so I'd assume a visitor could use those. And if it wasn't available there are plenty of other public chargers nearby (central London). We don't have an EV and haven't looked into at home charging- not sure if it would be possible as we don't have a drive?

Hypothetically though if we didn't have that then I wouldn't object to overnight guests charging and wouldn't be bothered about payment - I'd only ever host family or very close friends and I'd be happy to be helpful.

Caspianberg · 29/12/2023 06:09

We have a 22kw home charger. So it only take about 3hrs to fully charge most cars. So even if we had to charge and guest, w could just swap plug over at some point.

It’s very rare we ever arrive home lower than 25% charge left and it’s recommended you only charge to 80% on a day to day basis (if you don’t have a long trip planned), so 25%-80% is a quick charge at home.

It’s so cheap to charge at home, that I’m not bothered by the couple of motorway charges per year we might do if we visited someone who had no charge options. Again we would be stopping at motorway and just topping up for convenience not charging fully from 0%.

Tiggles · 29/12/2023 06:52

@anyotherdude
Electricity is cheaper overnight as it needs to be used. That is why there is an incentive to charge cars, do washing etc over night as it evens out the use on the power grid. However as the OP is looking at the future rather than now I also assume more people will have their own means of generating electricity. I know several EV owners who have solar on the roof and charge pretty much for free.

However I have had an electric car for 10 years and only 3 times have I charged at someone else's house. So I'm not too sure that this is really going to be the issue that the OP assumes.

110APiccadilly · 29/12/2023 06:58

I think it'll depend on circumstances.

For instance, if we and my in-laws both had electric cars (neither does at the moment, but if we did) there wouldn't really be much point us paying them and them paying us as we both visit each other about the same number of times. So very easy to call it quits. Unless I suppose one of us had a much bigger car that was more expensive to charge - I don't know how much more bigger cars cost to charge.

But PPs are right that it will certainly be a cause of annoyance for some.

Waitingfordoggo · 29/12/2023 09:00

@TooDyed. I’d probably be surprised as mine costs about a quarter of that to charge fully. If theirs cost £30 to charge so be it. We have visitors quite rarely and I can stretch to an occasional £30. But I can’t think of any of my friends/family that wouldn’t offer to pay towards it.

PinkflowersWhiteBerries · 29/12/2023 09:09

It’s an interesting question .

A friend manages several holiday lets and is encouraging her owners to put in EV chargers, but also has to flag to users that if there is no EV point, they cannot charge off the mains as a) it’s not included in their rental and b) the insurance companies say no.
She has the joy of enforcing that second point.

It does cost money, and for friends or family, it’s polite to offer.

lljkk · 30/12/2023 06:43

DS pays us £10 if he charges his car overnight at ours.

DdraigGoch · 30/12/2023 07:24

HappiestSleeping · 28/12/2023 21:32

That is a way off though. Of all the people I know, only one has an electric car. They are the only one with a cheap tariff as you need an electric car to be on one (as far as I know).

Show quote history

Anyone with a smart meter can sign up to a time-of-use tariff. Never mind that Economy 7 has existed for years

Coolblur · 30/12/2023 07:27

I think the etiquette should be to research where the nearest charging point is before the journey and plan to go there before heading home again, much like you would with petrol or diesel. Assuming you can charge your car at someone else's house is CF behaviour, unless you have the kind of relationship where you know that wouldn't create awkwardness, and would reciprocate, for example, with close family members.

No matter what people say about their environmental motivation, one of the main reasons for getting an EV is cheaper running costs. I know people with EVs who pride themselves on rarely paying to charge their car, even at home.
It's free at work. Though charging is not actually offered to employees, it's permitted. Everyday there are races to get there early to use one of the chargers. Then the car park shuffle goes on throughout the day, so all the tight arses EV owners can charge their cars. It's so bad at times that management have to remind people not to unplug the work vehicles as they're needed. It's one of the tightest things I've seen, particularly as most of the private vehicles are the more expensive variety.
So I do believe some people will plan to charge for free while visiting someone else, purely to avoid paying for it themselves.

LlynTegid · 30/12/2023 07:33

I think there will be an expectation that a request is accepted. And I expect more requests will come from people with cars more expensive than average, and from SUV owners (most of whom cannot drive their vehicle properly and should not have one).

Londonrach1 · 30/12/2023 07:34

I wouldn't due to fire risk. There's local charging stations near by with the correct chargers...

faffadoodledo · 30/12/2023 07:35

This is becoming a live issue for me. We have a holiday let next door to our house. We also have an EV charge point bc we have an electric volvo. We will from this year be flagging that to future guests that we have a charger. The letting company has suggested a £30 extra charge per week per car. We will share the charger with guests.
Our volvo costs up to £30 to charge. It's a big car. Now, if the visitors come in a tiny EV we will likely be ok. We figure a guest will plug in on arrival (we live in west cornwall), and the night before they leave. But if they have a car like ours we'll be out of pocket. I think they are more likely to have a bigger car if they're coming on holiday with a family to W Cornwall. I have mentioned this to the letting company and we're going to keep an eye on things.
But back to the original questions with guests who aren't paying guests - I think the onus is to offer if it's your vehicle. I mean you wouldn't plug in without asking, so the conversaton would be 'would you mind us plugging in? And please let us pay'. I would demur but be happy they'd asked.

Papillon23 · 30/12/2023 07:40

I'd be happy to let someone charge at my house as long as it was under about £15? Even over, I'd probably suck it up as driving a long way for a visit is a total pain.

But I'm comfortably off - I'd also expect people to offer to pay and to be careful who they were asking as you don't want to put others out.

cordeliaflynne · 30/12/2023 08:17

I don't have an EV but I found the OPs original point interesting enough to look at the thread. However, the most interesting part scrolling through has been the vast difference in everyone's estimated of the cost of charging an EV. It does make me wonder how that impacts the calculation of the economics of EV ownership.

HappiestSleeping · 30/12/2023 08:22

DdraigGoch · 30/12/2023 07:24

Anyone with a smart meter can sign up to a time-of-use tariff. Never mind that Economy 7 has existed for years

Show quote history

I know economy 7 existed for years, however, that was years ago. Since the cost of energy has risen recently, exacerbated by Ukraine, it has actually be quite difficult to get to switch to a time of use tariff that is cost effective. My friend had trouble and could only do so once they had their car charger fitted. Also, why would you bother if you don't have an electric car, or some other reason to need such a tariff? Surely most people won't switch on the off-chance of having a visitor who needs to charge their car?

Also, not everyone has a smart meter, and even if you do have one, you may need to switch supplier for the best time of use tariff which may render the smart meter useless. They don't all work with all suppliers.

Ktime · 30/12/2023 08:23

I think it depends on the guest.

If it’s someone who I reciprocate visits with them I wouldn’t charge them as I’d charge my car at their house too.

If it was someone like a boiler company coming to fix my boiler I wouldn’t expect them to ask to ask to charge their car and if they did I would expect them to pay me.

Zanatdy · 30/12/2023 08:27

I’d never charge visitors for charging their car no. I mean if I had an electric car though I’d personally offer to pay, but some people just don’t think. I just couldn’t charge them though so no from me

DdraigGoch · 30/12/2023 08:27

HappiestSleeping · 30/12/2023 08:22

I know economy 7 existed for years, however, that was years ago. Since the cost of energy has risen recently, exacerbated by Ukraine, it has actually be quite difficult to get to switch to a time of use tariff that is cost effective. My friend had trouble and could only do so once they had their car charger fitted. Also, why would you bother if you don't have an electric car, or some other reason to need such a tariff? Surely most people won't switch on the off-chance of having a visitor who needs to charge their car?

Also, not everyone has a smart meter, and even if you do have one, you may need to switch supplier for the best time of use tariff which may render the smart meter useless. They don't all work with all suppliers.

Edited
Show quote history

SMETS2 smart meters can switch between suppliers, that's no longer an issue. Octopus offer a time of use tariff and as a shift worker I find it quite useful. It's not much of an inconvenience to start cooking at 7pm. I pay quite a bit less than my parents do on average. Not everyone has a smart meter but most people could have one, it doesn't cost you anything to fit.

Brumbies · 30/12/2023 08:31

I dont expect someone else to pay my petrol, hence I don't expect to pay to fuel their car!

WonderingWanda · 30/12/2023 08:36

Well I don't have an outdoor plug socket and I won't be leaving a ground floor window open all night so they can charge it up the road in the village car park where there's a fast charging point they can pay for.

OddBoots · 30/12/2023 08:40

Anyotherdude · 29/12/2023 00:03

@Tiggles you are adorably naive if you think that cheaper electricity will still be available once everyone (or even most) are driving EV’s: the Gov’t will be losing billions of revenue on tax from fossil fuels - where do you think they’ll recoup that loss from?

You may be surprised to know how much the government subsidises fossil fuels (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/09/fossil-fuels-more-support-uk-than-renewables-since-2015 so that may not be the issue you would think.

We don't have an electric car yet (although we may get one next year, we are still deciding) but we have installed a charger on the drive for visitors to use as the alternative is a cord out of a window which isn't great for both keeping the house warm and secure. We could have had a 3 pin socket put out the front for cheaper but we thought it better to just bite the bullet.

Fossil fuels received £20bn more UK support than renewables since 2015

Exclusive: One-fifth of money given directly to fossil fuel industry was to support new extraction and mining

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/09/fossil-fuels-more-support-uk-than-renewables-since-2015

faffadoodledo · 30/12/2023 08:41

cordeliaflynne · 30/12/2023 08:17

I don't have an EV but I found the OPs original point interesting enough to look at the thread. However, the most interesting part scrolling through has been the vast difference in everyone's estimated of the cost of charging an EV. It does make me wonder how that impacts the calculation of the economics of EV ownership.

The reality is it does vary hugely. These aren't just estimates. A tiny little EV will cost around £15. My great heavy 4WD volvo will cost double. That's on a home charger. Out in the world of public fast chargers both those figures will rise.

clara778 · 30/12/2023 08:45

I think if someone has driven hundreds of miles to see you and is staying over and you have a fast charger and cheap overnight electric. Fine.

Anything else will be considered rude. The range for electric vehicles will only increase and there should be no need to ask. Someone popping in for a few hours, well they would be taking the piss to ask.

clara778 · 30/12/2023 08:51

I also agree with PP cheap overnight electric will go, I also think that there will be massive costs dealing with all the batteries in the future.
Some sort of disposal tax will arrive, it will be a bit like having to pay to dispose of your fridge.

OddBoots · 30/12/2023 08:59

@clara778 why do you think that when the batteries contain all the valuable minerals they do? It is more like disposing of jewellery than disposing of a fridge. So much science is going into the refreshing and recycling of batteries as doing so is so much cheaper than creating new batteries.