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 have an electric car, as does DH. They're brilliant and I love them but I would never do this. For one, it's cheeky. For two, normal plug sockets aren't designed to cope with charging such a huge battery. It's dangerous. DH melted a socket in our garage doing this before we got a proper home charger.

I have an EV and always ask guests if they want charge their car while they're staying. It's not always easy or convenient to charge your car away from home. Do you know where they could charge it quickly near you?
It's not expensive but it's a little cheeky to do it without asking.
Charging via an extension cable is pretty risky though. I wouldn't do that.

I’d stop them on the fire risk. They shouldn’t just be charged in a normal socket. But yes it’s cheeky.

If you owned a petrol station it wouldn’t mean they could just fill up for free so why expect it just because you own plug sockets.

Yes, would much prefer an electric cat over an electric car

You can charge safely with a 3 pin plug. But it's slower.

I've never heard of a 'granny charger'!
In fact i didn't even know we should be re-charging her. Could that be why she sleeps so much?

I'm also not sure I want to rummage around Granny to find the socket....😳

@Smithhy - back to front and round about - that's me!

Sorry for the typo but yes I’d swap my car for a cat.

It would be a few pounds at most per night. They pull half the power of a standard reverse cycle air conditioner. There's no more fire risk than running a freezer, so long as your wiring is up to code.

I ask before charging, but all the stupid stuff that people come out with makes me want to just do it and ask forgiveness.

You could try a smart plug to check the exact cost of each charge. I bought an EVE one which I use with my iPad (switch on the HomeHub option). When you set it up on your iPad you need to enter the unit cost of the electricity off your bill.
It will then tell you in £s how much money they are costing you.

Your partner, their own child, should deal with them.

I can't see the issue of charging the car, and not giving money. It's exactly the same as using hot water at yours.

It's rude not to politely ask first, and any normal person would reply "of course not". If you are REALLY struggling for money, then their child should tell them: we can't afford this. If they can't talk with their own parents, who can.

They can't be charged at home without a proper charger. EVs don't have standard plugs. You have a very expensive temperature monitored lead that plugs the car into a standard socket. Mine lead can take high currents from dedicated plugs, but those are rare. From a standard socket , it pulls the same current as any other appliance.

Ours costs around £3.50 overnight to put 150miles on but thats on a special overnight tariff at 7.5p/kwh (see attached - charger up last night and it cost £3.08).

Charging on the standard tariff would probably be more like £10-12 which would soon add up if they're doing it every day.

@LameBorzoi this is exactly correct. Older hybrids and electric cars only use an adaptor for an ordinary socket and are incapable of drawing more power than a kitchen appliance . I looked into this in detail when we got our old hybrid

A granny charger will pull about 2.3kwh. The OP, if they don't have an EV, probably isn't on a EV tariff so if the inlaws are plugging in for say 5 hours that will be around 10kwh, at probably around 40p a unit? So maybe £4-£5 a night.

The cost isn't the point though. Cheeky as fuck just to plug it in and not ask or offer money and I would absolutely call them on it.

But it would only cost that much if they're going out and driving 200 miles each day so the battery is flat when they return. If they're doing this and it's not to the benefit to the OP, ie driving them all on trips that they want to go to, they're CFs and should offer to pay for the electricity.

But if they're only pottering around locally, the battery won't actually need charging every night, so I don't understand why they're bothering?

But if the in laws are wealthy and the OP is on the breadline, the in laws should contribute for the hospitality so the extra costs are covered - buy food, wine, take them out for a meal etc.

You can use an extension cable, provided:

• It's a proper outdoor one with adequate ratings
• You don't use a multi plug board
• You don't "daisy chain" multiple cords
• You uncoil the cable so it doesn't heat

So just standard cable safety stuff, really.

That takes the piss, I’d never charge my car at someone’s house!

Exactly. If the in laws are expecting to be waited on and are eating OP out of house and home, I could see that this would be the last straw. If they are being generous and buying meals, then they would quickly cover the charging costs.

DH has an EV and he said it can vary but will be about £6 per night if they keep it plugged in all night. They will be using a granny charger which come with EVs for this purpose.

But is really cheeky to ponce like this. He always checks where the nearest charge point is and goes there.

I have an electric car and would never dream of using someone else's leccy without asking and reimbursing them for the cost.

Also, EV owners usually have an EV electric tariff and charge during the cheap leccy hours midnight - 6am . If they're leaving theirs in the whole time they'll be using your most expensive rate of electricity.

That said, depending on how much they're driving it won't be more than about a tenner hopefully.

Nah, I have a real cat and an electric car , I love both !

DH bought an EV and uses it to drive to his parents, where it needs recharging pretty immediately - he stops at the nearest charging point (garage 2m from their house) and does the fast charge. He would NEVER expect as a visitor, even at his parents, to charge there. At home we have a proper charging point, but it still takes an overnight session to fully charge it…

I really think you need to insist for many of the reasons cited already that they pop to a nearby charging point and pay as they would anywhere else.

I wouldn’t dream of turning up at someone’s house and expecting to plug my car in for nothing, I’d always offer. Not that I’ve ever had to, it’s easy to plan with Zapmap

Electric car charging is cheap when you have an electricity tariff with cheap hours (i.e. economy 7, octopus EV tariff etc).. but I would guess you probably don't, and depending on how many units of electricity they're adding back on each day it could and likely would add up.

I always ask if I can charge my car when staying with friends and always give them back roughly what I'd guess I may have used at most to cover the cost (usually end up offering £20). It's pretty cheeky of them not to ask and not to offer money (although as they've not left yet there is still time for them to offer!).

I think in your situation I'd ask in an enquiring way how many "miles" they add back on by charging, how much does it cost them at home, do they have a special tariff etc... then you can raise the question of "Oh, will it have cost me much - I am already very tight on the electricity bill".