Electric car and in laws.

[Cowcheese]

My in laws are here visiting in their new electric car. They’ve plugged their car in every evening for the whole week using an extension cable. Never once offered us money to pay for this, or even asked us - they just plug it in. If it was just one night of charge I wouldn’t mind, but every night for a week? They are wealthy and holiday all the time, we are struggling to hover above the breadline. How much does it actually cost to charge a car and why is it assumed that’s it’s ok to do this? It’s not the same as just charging your phone is it. Am I being cheap by letting this bug me?

I don't have an electric car, but I remember being pleasantly surprised at the cost on other similar threads so it may not be as bad as you fear.

I think it's about the bigger picture. Are they aware you're struggling? Have they been generous guests, for example treating you to dinner and bringing gifts? Or have you been run ragged doing everything and feeling the pinch financially from catering? Are they typically generous hosts to you? Have they been generous in other ways, such as paying for holidays, deposit, wedding etc?

If you have a smart meter can you check how much it is costing? They prob need to charge it everyday because it is less efficient using a.mains plug than a proper charger

A lot of holiday lets state that you can't use the mains to charge cars so it can't be cheap

According to octopus home charging with a 3 pin socket can do about 10-13 miles charge per hour. At around 3pence per mile. The most itcwould be is around 20 pence per mile if charging at a fast charge paid point.
So assuming it's plugged in for 20hrs per night? Charging the whole time that's 130 miles, even if we said 10p permile that's £13 per night.

My guess is its not doing anything like that and is going to be a couple of pounds per night as the recharge the 20 miles they did that day.

I’ve driven an electric car for years and I think that’s cheeky of them. It’s essentially like getting you to pay for their petrol. Are they doing much distance each day. If they are only doing a few miles shouldn’t be much but the charge after the initial drive if they are a few hours a way will be more. You’d certainly be reasonable to ask them for some money but I imagine you are feeling awkward about it.

Unplug it and tell them to go to a proper charging point and pay.

If they had a petrol or diesel car, they'd need to pay, so the same applies with their EV.

Cheeky fuckers.

I don't have an electric car so I don't know but don't they recommend you don't use an extension cable? I believe they get very hot and worst case start a fire. Mines hybrid and has a slow charger so a plug socket is fine but not an extension.

I know loads of people do it but that doesn't make it "right".

When I looked into it, the £13 per night was similar to my figures BUT are they charging from zero miles? I'd imagine not.

It costs hardly anything to charge an electric car. I’m surprised they need to charge each night unless they’re traveling great distances though! Surely the car has a range of at least 200 miles? They’re family, I wouldn’t really count it as much different than charging a phone to be honest.

I think it's cheeky.
I'd ask how much does it cost to charge each night. And make comment, You know we are really struggling with COL etc.
Surely they should offer some money towards the cost

It's probably a lot less than you think, how many miles are they doing a day

What does your smart meter say

Granny chargers charge at a rate of around 2.3 Kw/hr.

So take your rate x 2.3 = how much it is costing per hour plugged in.

I don’t use a granny charger as not comfortable with them in a standard 3 pin socket as they can overheat the socket. Do not leave unattended.

I have an electric cat and would never dream of doing this.
My car £70 per month to charge, I used to spend £400 on petrol.

Say 3kwh per mile, 25p per kWh - 75p a mile

Are they taking you anywhere or just driving large distances themselves?

Do you also charge for showers ?

My concern would be safety, not cost. Using an extension raises the risk of overheating, and when everyone is asleep? No way.

Depends on the car but some charge for like £6. I wouldn’t be happy with the extension lead set up though.

Shouldnt be charged at home without a proper charger as fire risk. Find out the nearest local charger and ask them to charge there due to fire risk.

What EV is using 3kWh per mile? It’s more like 3 miles per kWh so call it 10p per mile.

It wouldn’t bother me. Our car costs around €8 to charge from 0. That’s for 550km. So I doubt that have used more than £10 for the week even if your unit costs are higher and they still need to be driving a lot per day to make a dent. Just topping up each day isn’t going to make it higher than running flat and charging all at once

Showers comment is unnecessary and nasty.

they are cheeky fuckers, I’d unplug and say “we can’t afford this” and when they do goldfish face direct them to their son for explanation.

when you say they are running an extension lead, are they leaving a window open for this?
I’d be fucked off with that.

I'd love an electric cat😹

Of course you're not being cheap. Just talk to them! Say you're struggling to pay your bills and so it would be appreciated if they could please cover the cost of the power usage as it's unaffordable for you.

Is your dp upset as well? Maybe they okayed it with him before the trip. This is obviously what they do at home so probably didn't think anything of it and wouldn't think it would upset you to this degree.

Ask for a contribution?

I have a holiday let with an electric car charger (plugging into a standard 3 pin socket is a fire risk). My guests seem to just charge once in a week and it usually costs about £15 (according to my smart meter). So via a granny charger I imagine it will be less. I imagine your PIL have got used to topping their car up each night, but I do think it’s a bit cheeky and definitely not thoughtful.

Depends on where you live really. The ev charging network is rubbish in the countryside in the uk, they could be driving 20 miles to the nearest quick charger. Ask them to install a charging cable on your house to cut the risk of fire. We have a plug that we charge the car on that came from Halfords, its specifically for ev charging. Takes about 4 hours on cheap.electric overnight to put 40% in the battery. That'll do about 50 miles without heating on! In laws should contribute something though.

It’s more like 3 miles per kWh not 3 kWh per mile, so about 8p per mile.