AIBU to be annoyed my caravan site has banned electric car charging with no warning?

[LowFlyingBacon]

Just after some advice because I’m honestly not sure if I’m being unreasonable or not here

last year I inherited some money and purchased a static caravan on a site. It’s perfect to take my ASD kids on holiday because it’s ours and has our stuff, but gives me a break away too! Except I’ve just had an email from the site saying that they’re no longer allowing owners to charge their cars on site. The email was really rude and literally said they’d remove any owners who were caught ignoring the rule. The owner has clearly had an argument with one of the other owners and is kicking off.
But I’ve got an electric car, I checked when I bought the caravan and was told I could charge there as otherwise I’ll have to pay to charge at a petrol station (can’t make it there and back otherwise). I pay for the electricity so it’s not costing the owner anything for me to charge.
is he allowed to just change the rules like this? I own the van, I pay for the electricity, how can he just decide like this? I’m furious, right at the beginning of summer too! It’s not a huge issue, but waiting around at a charging station isn’t easy with my kids, and it will cost so much more than charging it overnight where we are staying.

I am wondering if there has been a fire at another caravan park and as a result their insurance has gone up a lot. I expect this means their trade association or such like are advising sites to bring in such rules.

If it’s a properly installed car charger then they are being unreasonable.
If they don’t want you using a granny charger from your caravan then they are being reasonable in my mind.

Probably would overload the electricity if everyone done it, they need to put public chargers on site for people to use

It’s a safety thing as any idiot knows plugging a car into a caravan electrics is mental!

If you check your contract you might probably find that they can change the rules at any time. If your solicitor did not point that out to you then you might have a case against the solicitor. If you did not have a solicitor to check the contract then I suggest you read your contract carefully and see if there is anything else that you did not know beforehand.

I suspect that a lot more people are charging their electric cars next to the caravans and they need to uprate the supply.

Their site, their rules

They don’t have to supply a charging point! The likely scenario is that there is potential for a fire if charging from a standard socket. If EV’s could be charged using standard sockets then people wouldn’t be paying large sums to have charging points installed. Park owners are entitled to change terms and conditions at any time if there is a health and safety risk. The park has no doubt had its annual safety check by the fire brigade and they’ve picked up on this and the park won’t get the safety certification for its insurance unless this is rectified.

Really? I highly doubt OP has a properly installed charging point otherwise she would have said I went to the expense of installing an EV charger and now I can’t use it! Like the other idiots she was probably plugging it in to a standard socket!

Or they’ve had their annual safety check by the fire brigade who saw some idiot charging their car that on a standard sockets. They probably been told that unless this practice is stopped they won’t get their safety certificate and won’t be insured!

I very much doubt the op had had one installed either but that would be the only circumstances that it would be unreasonable.

I second joining Holiday Park Action Group on FB.

There doesn’t have to be a reason why - although in this case, if people have been charging their cars from others caravans (how?) then it does make sense. As a previous caravan owner, I also wouldn’t appreciate guests tripling my electric bills by charging their cars. I wouldn’t pay for their petrol would I?

Ask him for more information….it might be that someone was using substandard equipment that could likely have caused a fire…….and no one wants that on a caravan park do they?

there's some dodgy info on here - of course you can charge a car from a normal power socket! It's called a trickle or granny charge when you use the AC from your house. We just use a regular power point at home, with equipment that came with the car, provided by the car company.
Regarding the caravan park, it could be their insurance doesn't cover it, or the power grid is not set up for it, or as other PP have said it could be other users stealing electricity from other people's sites.
You may have to use a charging station if they hold fast to their policy, but it could be worth an email to ask them the reasons around the change.

My parents own a static & I believe that many sites are beginning to have issues due to the number of EV's that now want to charge on site. Their grid, essentially isn't set up for the continuous pull of electric & can cause outages. Insurance companies are also putting more restriction due to the fire risk. Aside from this, the fire services are probably not happy with the risk involved as fire spreads so rapidly through caravans. Many sites are also in areas served by reserve fire services so harder to respond quickly.

One of my parents caravan neighbours had their van go up when they were home & it was destroyed in minutes. Luckily there were enough people on-site to help prevent spread & they were in an area with a full fire service and a station a couple of miles away.

I think it depends on the site. My mum has a static caravan and we can't have the kettle and toaster on at the same time otherwise the electric trips. We do have a fridge freezer and all the other items on 24/7 fine. I'm not sure how much the car charging would use but electric in caravan sites quite frequently trip. We go camping loads and some site have as low as 6amp for electric hook up. I think it's best to just ask the owner to explain why.

Probably had an updated Fire Risk Assessment (FRA) which has said "granny charging" from a standard socket is a fire risk, and that means the owner's hands are tied. They would not be covered by insurance, and would be legally liable, if they continue to allow it after it has been flagged as a fire risk. I'd ask the owner if they would consider installing dedicated EV chargers. There are companies which specialise in doing this for holiday lets etc, take care of all the paperwork, users pay via an app and the owner can earn a bit on top to make it worthwhile. I've seen Voltshare and Square Up Charging mentioned but no personal experience.

As pp have said there are good reasons why they wouldn’t want people charging from their vans. But given that it’s becoming an issue for them due to an increase in EVs on site, I’d go back and ask if they are planning to install chargers on site. They need a solution to a problem which won’t go away and is likely to adversely affect their business going forward if not addressed.

It’ll be a combination if safety , insurance and network capacity

In what way was the email rude as opposed to factual?

There is a lot of mis-information on here. Plug in (or granny) chargers draw a maximum of 10amps. All ring main circuits (any normal plug in your house) sit on a 32a breaker. This means by law they have to be installed with cabling, etc. to handle a 32amp load.

Same applies to static caravans, outbuildings, etc.

The maximum current an appliance can pull through a domestic plug in the UK is 13amps.

An EV charger pulling 10amps even in perpetuity will not cause a fire on a correctly installed ring main. It is less than one third of the rated load.

You can pretty much guarantee the site owner needs to upgrade his main supply, as a high number of 10a chargers running at once could overload it. Note, this won't cause a fire, but will trip the main site breaker.

Or... Like a lot of PPs on here, he's read too many Daily Fail 'EVs are a fire trap!!!' headlines and is just being a twat.

Yep this

charging a car from a 3 pin socket is absolutely fine in most places, like at home. It’s slow, but no more risky than any other appliance. Actually a slow charge is better for the battery than constant fast charges.

however, it’s likely that the electrics on site are not set up for many cars being charged for a long period of time

This is correct. Also - if a plug is warm after use then either the plug or socket has loose or corroded wiring and should be checked and rewired or replaced. If the outside is warm the the inside will be extremely hot, and heat generates more corrosion making the problem worse. Consider a warm socket as a warning of a future fire ignition point and get it fixed.

But how do you pay for electric? Flat fee? Meter?

Is there a supermarket nearby?

Any suggestion that charging an EV from a 13A domestic socket with the proper cable is "unsafe" or "dangerous" and that EVs shouldn't be charged in this way is utter bullshit.

He's likely had a fire inspection and is trying to stop you cooking alive in your van.2