To think if I’m paying for charging my EV, I shouldn’t pay to park?

[IronicallyNC]

First world problems…

But why in certain car parks that have EV facilities, you still have to pay for parking? I’m already paying to charge. I understand the electricity is provided by someone else and not the car park owners, but most EV chargers have a clause to say you can’t over stay the charging time, so it’s not like people actually use it as a parking space, it’s to use a service.

AIBU to think this should be an exception? Or at least worked in to the charging price.

Getting your car filled up with electricity is no different to me pulling into a petrol station... But I still then have to pay to park.

You are getting 2 things, leccy and parking. 2 charges seems reasonable.

Unless it's a brand new car park then the parking space has always been there. If the parking company doesn't charge now it's an EV space then they have lost any revenue that space generated in the past. It may only be a few spaces now but what happens when more and more EV charging points are added but the spaces are free to park? Where will that lost revenue come from?

The EV charger owners pay the car parks to host their chargers

Normally, the charger and the car park may not be owned by the same person. If you fell in the carpark it would be the carpark's insurance that you would claim from. The owner also has to pay for lights etc so therefore is incurring costs that has to be recouped and hence why you have to pay for parking.

I have an electric car and this has never bothered me. There are plenty of lamp post chargers around me with free parking, if I park in a car park to charge I just combine it with running other errands (for which I would have needed to park anyway). Why should we get free parking in town centres because we can plug our car in?

Hmm yes, I see what you mean. I try to charge at home mostly anyway, much cheaper!!

How would you charge your car without parking it? Is it one of those floating ones that haven't been invented yet?

Yes it's like saying you shouldn't pay to park because you are shopping or using the local facilities.

Not all charging points are in pay for car parks, and you can get one put in at home if it's possible to charge there. I wouldn't buy an electric car without figuring out where and how I would charge it first!

How would you do anything by car without parking it at some point? Shopping, holiday, visiting, commuting all require parking, even at home you have to park and often you have to pay.

Don’t most supermarkets have charging points now?

I see all your points about parking to charge and running errands - that’s completely reasonable and actually if the car park only provides slow chargers (between 7-22kwh) then by default you’ll be there for hours. That makes sense.

Rapid chargers however, where you’re there just to fuel up quickly, I don’t think is reasonable. If they can enforce a PCN for staying longer than the complete charge time, they can just as easily distinguish between the ANPR data as you enter / exit + validate your license plate when charging. Or ask the driver to enter LP number when charging only.

I get the point about having a variety of different chargers to choose from, but the infrastructure isn’t quite there yet. Most supermarkets have slow chargers, rapid are mostly found in SOME BP and Shell garages, a few supermarkets if you’re lucky. So when you’re in need, it’s not as easy to detour and look around. Also, IME a lot of the rapid chargers are taken up when you most need them - Sod’s Law!

We have a home charger but sometimes you just get caught out. The weather, having air con / heating / plugged in phone for sat nav all affect how quickly the miles run down. It’s not an every day problem by the way, just a sometimes problem. Hence why I prefaced the OP by saying ‘first world problems’ to lighten the mood!

It makes no difference how your car is powered.

It's the car that's the problem.

As in.. the car exists?

Oh god yeah, haunted by my one and only experience of the price of a rapid charge out and about 😅

If you can only stay there while charging, and you’d get a fine if you were still parked there when your car had reached 100% then YANBU, as those spaces can only be used for charging and not parking.

At that point it is comparable to a petrol station when the pay at pump system is down and there’s a long queue to pay at the till.

That’s my point exactly. There are usually great big signs that say £120 fine for overstaying charge time at rapid chargers. And the charger literally says ‘charging complete’ so you can’t be a CF about it.

Many people go to a pump, then go inside and look for snacks for the drive, pick their dinner from the mini supermarket inside, browse magazines or pick up a card and flowers for someone alongside paying for fuel. And they don’t pay for parking.

It's two different products, one the ability to charge, the other to park.

Yes it would be convenient if the parking was charged in with the charging, if you have to organise payment 2x then it is a pain.

Im an EV driver and disagree with you. If people got the parking free it would encourage people to block chargers when they didn’t need much charge in order to avoid parking fees. This would make it difficult for people who really needed to charge. This would only get more difficult as the number of EVs on the market increased. Although one way round this is to charge extra on charging over 80% or after a certain amount of time which I think since if the Tesla chargers do. That would encourage people to move on once the car was charged.

But the deterrent is the fine for overstaying your charge time. You get a great big PCN.

'I understand the electricity is provided by someone else and not the car park owners'

I think you have answered your own question.
The car park owners would ask why should they provide free parking spaces for electricity suppliers, who make a profit from charging electric vehicles?

It's 2 separate services in the same area.

You pay for your parking space. It doesn't matter that you're using it to charge. Your car is physically using a space.

You pay for your "fuel" (charging).

No, you don't get a free parking space because you're charging.

Many people go to a pump, then go inside and look for snacks for the drive, pick their dinner from the mini supermarket inside, browse magazines or pick up a card and flowers for someone alongside paying for fuel. And they don’t pay for parking.

Leaving your car parked at the pump while they do something more than pay for petrol is not generally considered acceptable behaviour though.

Because the charging company pay the car park to host their charging spaces. So the landowner gets paid for those spaces being unavailable to their customers, while also profiting from the charger customers.