Interest only, electric car charging points 7 kW or 22 kW?
- Thread starter ericmark
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I wonder if it's larger than the number of ICE drivers being slapped with ULEZ charges...?
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The pair I know about, the power is supplied by the building owner, then the building owner gets a cut of the takings, the charging station is programmed to give first so many minutes without charge, the idea is it gives the user time to sort out the app, however the system is being abused, and EV owners would plug in get the free bit, unplug and plug back in again, this left the building owner with a large bill, and no income, requests to alter the system were not complied with, so the building owner turns the supply off over night, and on days they are not open to the public.
If they are open they will turn on the supply when requested, but it means no overnight charging. This is Podpoint also Powis council one of the larger welsh local authorities now boasts 17 charging stations for residents charging, but I note still not commissioned, and the problem is these will likely be used as parking for the EV as well as charging, so will end up as some ones parking spot and not available for others to use. Local residents have been told they can use the parking bays for any car, I would assume that was until commissioned, but once people start to park ICE cars there, it will continue.
The whole idea of the car park was to get residents to park there instead of on the street, but it is not large enough, so turning 9 parking bays into 6 EV parking bays is making things worse not better.
I wonder if it's larger than the number of ICE drivers being slapped with ULEZ charges...?
Just goes to show how things haven't been thought through with the mad, headlong rush for EVs.
And I've never been slapped by a lezzer in my life.
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Yes, you've mentioned this before. The operators are making this far more complicated than it needs to be. However, that's their choice! You don't need to provide any free charging period at all. That's a free choice by the operator. Likewise, you don't need to use an app - that's also a free choice by the operator. What power are the chargers?
That's also poor. People will just turn up, find the chargers "not working", and go off elsewhere, grumbling about pathetic charging infrastructure. They won't think to go and ask for them to be switched on, unless there's clear signage to that effect, and even then, many just won't be bothered. This plays into the hands of the opponents of electrification, AND creates a situation where the charging points are under-utilised, leading to animosity because people see empty parking spaces with EV chargers and then moan that they're pointless because there's no demand - when in fact there is demand,but the chargers are switched off most of the time!
Again, that's a problem the operators need to work on. Nobody would think of turning up at a petrol station, parking next to a pump, and wandering off to do some shopping! People understand that petrol stations aren't car parks. They need to understand that EV charging stations aren't car parks either. In certain circumstances, the site owner might choose to install low powered "destination chargers",in which case, charging will take a long time, and the spaces will be occupied for a long time, but that's not the same as "parking".
I've used plenty of public EV chargers where the space available was no different to the size of any other parking space. Again, this has been someone's choice. It's not a problem inherent with electrification of transport.
Just goes to show how things haven't been thought through with the mad, headlong rush for EVs.
Only in your own, embittered mind...
And I've never been slapped by a lezzer in my life.
I've never been slapped with a PCN for charging my car...
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The problem is, the whole system is run by two different firms, and a charity is not permitted to give away money without a meeting to get all involved in running the charity to agree, so they can't allow another firm to give away their money. There is a notice on the charge points, but it seems Pod Point has a general policy for all the charge points it manages, so can't change it for just one charge point.
I have been fined for parking with an ICE car, where I returned to a car park before the non return time. I had simply not read the information board, and had not considered Aldi and McDonald's were considered as the same car park when using their drive through.
I have not shopped in Aldi for years as a result, as you say nothing to do with being an EV or ICE same rules apply for both. It is something I must raise, as normally where I volunteer we do not charge or restrict parking, only with special events is there any parking restriction or charge, and we use a trust system, so if some one does not pay, we do not pursue it. The one person who during the last special even used the EV charging point, was a fellow volunteer, so he was not charged for parking, however we were not given any guidance about what to do with anyone wanting to use the EV charging.
I have been fined for parking with an ICE car, where I returned to a car park before the non return time. I had simply not read the information board, and had not considered Aldi and McDonald's were considered as the same car park when using their drive through.
I have not shopped in Aldi for years as a result, as you say nothing to do with being an EV or ICE same rules apply for both. It is something I must raise, as normally where I volunteer we do not charge or restrict parking, only with special events is there any parking restriction or charge, and we use a trust system, so if some one does not pay, we do not pursue it. The one person who during the last special even used the EV charging point, was a fellow volunteer, so he was not charged for parking, however we were not given any guidance about what to do with anyone wanting to use the EV charging.
Just goes to show how things haven't been thought through with the mad, headlong rush for EVs.
Yes, you can't move for EVs nowadays.....................
First of all, what power are the chargers? We now have national regulations covering some of the public chargers, so they might be subject to those.
How long were they doing this for? Because that sounds like the slowest possible grand theft option ever. Were they wandering back to their car every 15 minutes to unplug and start again?
Each of these "thefts" would be stealing almost 2kWh, which is 50p so how often are they doing it?
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Enough that they got a huge electric bill over the winter months but no payment for the power used, they must have been sitting in the car for ages unplugging and plugging back in, and it was not just once. It was being done overnight, so no one realised what was going on, so 22 kW for 15 minutes = 5.5 kWh each time it was done, I can't find business electric rates they are higher than domestic, but even domestic it is £1.70 per hit, so around £7+ per hour, since the supply only feeds the EV charge point, it is easy to see how much is being used. Had other items been on the same supply, it may have been missed.
When EV charging points were first fitted the cost of electric was a lot lower, in fact low enough for some shops to offer free charging, this is no longer the case, at 7 kW it would be hardly worth sitting there plugging in and out all night, but at 22 kW it is a different story.
Whilst realising your post is tongue-in-cheek ..
According to my neighbour, who is a salesperson for a large dealer network in E. Anglia, EV sales to businesses are doing well, probably due to the generous incentives offered by the government, but private buyers are conspicuous by their absence.
As an example there are around 160 homes where I live, out of which 70 have their own drives & could charge at home. Residents are a mix of working age residents of 50 years + & those retired. The latter group most likely to buy EV's/hybrids due to a predominance of short trips & the need to save on running costs. The rural location makes car ownership virtually a necessity.
So what's the tally of those forsaking ICE's for battery power ?
EV's none
Hybrids 2
Some people would pay good money for that.And I've never been slapped by a lezzer in my life.
But when they are placed in what are car parks, then people entering the car park just to charge their car are treated as if they are car park users, not charging point users.
Same as ericmarks problem with using a McDonalds drive-through, and this sort of thing will continue for as long as we have companies whose only business is "managing" the car parks and which only becomes a profitable enough one when they penalise users for infractions.
The Supreme Court has a lot to answer for.
Pity, a 22kW public charger installed after 24th of November would have had to accept contactless payments by law. If that had been the case, you could have just left them live 24/7 and forgotten about them. They'd have made the railway a bit of pocket money on the side.
The regulations do also apply to:
- Existing private charge points above 8kW that become available to the public
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