Parking

[PaperPanama]

Our street is all residents permit parking. All the houses have drives, and each household gets one parking permit and can pay annually for more. Between my neighbour’s drive and my drive there is on-street parking for 3-4 cars.

I park on my drive. When I have a visitor or a workman I park on the street so that they can have the drive.

At some point some of the lampposts were fitted with car chargers. One of these charging posts is right outside my neighbour’s house. They have started commenting that I shouldn’t be taking up a ‘charging spot’ as my car doesn’t need one, but their cars do.

AIBU to park a non-electric car near a charging point when I don’t need to? There’s nothing on the road or the lamppost to give any indication.

Those charging spots are a pain in the arse! They take up parking for everyone else! I can see the neighbours would be miffed if they needed to charge their car and you were parked in it though.

I’d probably try to park not blocking a charging point if they’re popular and used often, and if there are other similarly nearby on road parking spaces.
So if it’s easy for me to park in a non-charging space I’d do that. But if it’s the only space I’d take it if I needed it.

Why would you park on the road to let a visitor park on the drive? Wouldn’t someone spend less time in the space on the road if it was just the visitor?
In my last on-street-parking house the EV charging spaces were boxed like a disabled space to save them for charging.
It does seem unnecessary for you to park in it when you really don’t have to and could just use your own drive.

Where would the visitor park? If the available space is by the charging post, what difference is it whether it's my car or my visitor's car there? And why should the visitor risk a parking ticket? Why should I buy visitor passes when I already have a parking permit for my car?

As far as I have noticed (TBH I don't pay much attention as I don't have a car that needs charging) it's only ever my neighbour's cars charging at that particular post. When they're not there, there's generally a gap or two.

You pay/ or get for free for the storage of your car through the parking permit, so you can park on the road - if there isn't anything on the permit to disclose you from parking in particular areas - then park where you wish

You should try to avoid it, though if your neighbour has a driveway I can’t understand why they haven’t put in a charging point, as charging at home is considerably cheaper.

I think if there is an alternative place to park - even if a little bit further away - then it’s polite to leave it free.

I wouldn't park there if there were free spots elsewhere but if it's the only place free then it's fair enough to park there.

I wouldn’t park where the electrical charging point was unless there was absolutely no other space available around the block.

Why are people with driveways charging at lampposts, are they free.

No, you pay.

Why would you install an EV charger when there’s one right outside your house?

Because it's way cheaper overall to install it in your house.

If they have electric cars they need a charger at their house rather than relying on the public ones. Unless there is a sign that states electric vehicles only then carry on parking there.

What did these neighbours do before the charging point got installed? Seems weird to buy an electric car and not get the house kitted out when you have a driveway. Were they charging up in the supermarket overnight or something?

I think that one of the cars was bought after the lamppost was converted. I had a little peak as I walked past this evening, and there is a car charging on their drive as well as one charging on the road. I don't actually know how many cars they've got, just that they regularly use the cars on the road.