When are you going fully electric?

I think what you're missing here is that there's a difference between using the charger when the store is closed and using it as your own personal charger :confused:

Case in point: Someone travels from Scotland to Cornwall and comes across the Tesco charger in the middle of the night versus someone clearly abusing the system because they can.

I'd love to see the email Pod Point...

"Hi, I've been leaving my car at Tesco overnight twice a week, every week.. Is this ok?"
 
EVH said:
I think what you're missing here is that there's a difference between using the charger when the store is closed and using it as your own personal charger :confused:

Case in point: Someone travels from Scotland to Cornwall and comes across the Tesco charger in the middle of the night versus someone clearly abusing the system because they can.

I'd love to see the email Pod Point...

"Hi, I've been leaving my car at Tesco overnight twice a week, every week.. Is this ok?"
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The thing is, he's not doing anything wrong. Pod Point would have nothing to say about it - they even mention people leaving their EV on a supermarket charger overnight as a use/business case!

How to Charge Your EV When You Can't Have a Home Charger | Pod Point (pod-point.com)
Offering car parking for long stay charging is a big commercial opportunity. Businesses can generate a return by selling the parking and ability to charge, but also by making their location a port of call at the start and end of each charge event.

For example, imagine a driver who’s been charging their EV overnight in a supermarket car park. When they return to collect it on the way to work in the morning, they may well buy their breakfast from the supermarket’s bakery.
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FWIW, I think it's both a d*** and a cheapskate move, but it's not technically doing anything wrong. It's the same as the 80% warriors at rapid chargers. If a person wishes to charge to, or close to, 100% on a rapid charger then it's their choice. The chargers are on a first-come, first-served basis. The issue comes from where people draw the line on decency towards others.
 
chanjy said:
Why bother mate, if they don't turn them off after a certain point then it's fine.
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Because when I made the original post I obviously did it thinking, knowing, I was doing nothing wrong. I then get told that I am stealing, I am a dick, I am a cheapskate (but nobody has used personal insults, so it's okay), it starts to put doubts in your mind. I still don't see that I am doing anything wrong, but I want to be certain I am not before I use it again. As much as I can see that I am doing 'wrong' is that I am getting free electric to use - which is free to anyone that wants to use it. But, we will see.
 
squerble said:
The thing is, he's not doing anything wrong. Pod Point would have nothing to say about it - they even mention people leaving their EV on a supermarket charger overnight as a use/business case!

How to Charge Your EV When You Can't Have a Home Charger | Pod Point (pod-point.com)


FWIW, I think it's both a d*** and a cheapskate move, but it's not technically doing anything wrong. It's the same as the 80% warriors at rapid chargers. If a person wishes to charge to, or close to, 100% on a rapid charger then it's their choice. The chargers are on a first-come, first-served basis. The issue comes from where people draw the line on decency towards others.
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So, I have asked a few times as various people have called me a dick - why? I need to know why it is a dick move. I understand what I means I don't understand why. I am not blocking the space that others want to use, I am not leaving the car idle down there for hours. Why is it a dick move?

And the part in bold you highlighted regarding buying breakfast at the supermarket - and this is the God's honest truth:

We shop at Tesco on a Saturday morning, the wife and I. I do not charge the car there on a Saturday morning as it doesn't need it. We spend around 2.5 hours there Saturday morning, we have breakfast and a couple of cups of coffee and then do the weekly shop.

On a Thursday when I go to collect the car after charging overnight I will pop into Tesco. By that point in the week we are usually running out of something, usually milk, bread or fruit. There are 5 of us in the house and 2 parrotts so we can never buy enough on a Saturday due to the fridge space. This week I needed to pick up my Prescription from the Pharmacy and some Milk and fruit. Pharmacy wasn't open at 7.30 - it didn't open until 8am, so I had a coffee while I waited. I then proceeded to spend £60.30 in store as we had my sister, brother in law and my niece and nephew coming round on Friday night for a takeaway, and I thought I would get some whisky and rum for the BIL and I and sweets for the kids. I obviously and honestly don't always spend that kind of money in there, usually if I pop in on a Thursday I end up spending about £20 or so. I think only once or twice have I gone in on a Tuesday morning - usually if we have forgot something from the Saturday shop.

The point is, had I not of charged the car up overnight, I would not have gone into the store. The prescription would have been collected Saturday morning, the milk would have been got with my wife on the school run at the local corner shop as it used to.

Anyway, have finally got an email address for Pod Point, have clearly explained I am charging twice a week outside store opening hours - I will wait for their reply.
 
davejh666 said:
So, I have asked a few times as various people have called me a dick - why? I need to know why it is a dick move. I understand what I means I don't understand why. I am not blocking the space that others want to use, I am not leaving the car idle down there for hours. Why is it a dick move?
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My bold emphasis - you don't know this; what if someone comes along overnight and genuinely needs the charger, only to find it (or all of them) blocked by freeloaders who have left their car overnight to save money? It's the same as people just parking in the bays and not charging. Just because it's empty when you put the car there doesn't mean people don't need to use it. It's refusing to see outside of your own needs. And it's a cheapskate move because you aren't willing to pay for your own electricity use or you'd charge at home (unless you've already stated a reason further back in the topic for not being able to charge at home).


davejh666 said:
And the part in bold you highlighted regarding buying breakfast at the supermarket - and this is the God's honest truth...
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As I pointed out in the post, you're not doing anything wrong, and I didn't say you were. I just consider what you're doing to be outside consideration for others. You don't need to justify as much as you did in your post. PodPoint will say you're doing nothing wrong, because you aren't.
 
squerble said:
My bold emphasis - you don't know this; what if someone comes along overnight and genuinely needs the charger, only to find it (or all of them) blocked by freeloaders who have left their car overnight to save money? It's the same as people just parking in the bays and not charging. Just because it's empty when you put the car there doesn't mean people don't need to use it. It's refusing to see outside of your own needs. And it's a cheapskate move because you aren't willing to pay for your own electricity use or you'd charge at home (unless you've already stated a reason further back in the topic for not being able to charge at home).




As I pointed out in the post, you're not doing anything wrong, and I didn't say you were. I just consider what you're doing to be outside consideration for others. You don't need to justify as much as you did in your post. PodPoint will say you're doing nothing wrong, because you aren't.
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There are 4 Pod point charging points at Tesco, so it is logical then that between 12.30am and 7.30am that 5 people have turned up to charge their cars. Along with another, I believe, 6 Pod points within about 2 miles of the supermarket. I am a freeloader because I am using something that is offered for free. Again by that logic, because we are on a generally PC forum, anyone who gets a game for free from the Epic game giveaway when they do them are freeloaders as other people will have paid for them.
 
davejh666 said:
There are 4 Pod point charging points at Tesco, so it is logical then that between 12.30am and 7.30am that 5 people have turned up to charge their cars. Along with another, I believe, 6 Pod points within about 2 miles of the supermarket. I am a freeloader because I am using something that is offered for free. Again by that logic, because we are on a generally PC forum, anyone who gets a game for free from the Epic game giveaway when they do them are freeloaders as other people will have paid for them.
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Not really a fair comparison because someone getting a game for free on Epic doesn't stop it being free for others...

Are you unable to charge at home?
 
squerble said:
Not really a fair comparison because someone getting a game for free on Epic doesn't stop it being free for others...

Are you unable to charge at home?
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Sorry, when I replied the last part wasn't there.

I am perfectly able to charge at home. Why do I charge there - absolutley because it is free. Why would I pay for something that you can get for free? That's not being a dick, thats called being sensible, like when you hsop for a loan or mortgage or car insurance, you, generally, don't go 'Oh let me pay more, I feel I should'.

If it was there for an entire day, fully charged and taking up a space someone else needed, as you have said - yep fair enough thats a dick. Me using it when nobody else is, just don't see what is wrong.
 
davejh666 said:
It is a completley fair comparison, I am not stopping anyone else from using a charger. There are 4. Plus another 8 within 1.5 miles of the store. It just does not make any sense.
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You don't know that. That's the whole point of people calling you. It doesn't matter that there are more nearby, it's the fact you're taking up a charger and leaving the car there all night. Unless you sit in the car, you don't know that you're preventing other people from using the chargers. The fact you can't even see this is why this argument will forever go in a circle.
 
davejh666 said:
No it's not, see above that squerble posted directly from Pod Point, that I hadn't even seen before I started doing this.
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Well yes it is. Without mentioning it, supermarkets with charge points, whether its Tesco, Aldi, Asda, Lidl or Morrisons. They are there for the use of customer while they dhop. NOT for folk to free load all night.
 
squerble said:
You don't know that. That's the whole point of people calling you. It doesn't matter that there are more nearby, it's the fact you're taking up a charger and leaving the car there all night. Unless you sit in the car, you don't know that you're preventing other people from using the chargers. The fact you can't even see this is why this argument will forever go in a circle.
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Yep, thats fine. I have to accept that I shouldn't park there as there might be 12 other people all of a sudden need to charge their cars in the fairly sleepy market town of St Neots, that isn't particularly close to a motorway or major city. It seems highly likely to me.

And, it never started with that either - it started with stealing, not being allowed to do it, leaving the car idle etc - none of which I have done (You never said any of that BTW, but plenty of others have)
 
steve5424 said:
Well yes it is. Without mentioning it, supermarkets with charge points, whether its Tesco, Aldi, Asda, Lidl or Morrisons. They are there for the use of customer while they dhop. NOT for folk to free load all night.
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So, I am the one making assumptions that nobody else needs to use them, yet you can assume, without it being mentioned, that they are for customers while they shop - despite direct evidence from Pod point, who own and run the facilites, to the contrary.
 
Ok, lets move this back on topic now. It's clear neither side will agree and will go around in circles forever.
 
To be fair, Pod Point have presented it as being a commercial opportunity - not that the supermarket Pod Points are there for that reason. And they have nothing else on their website to the contrary to suggest you can't do it either.

My opinion (and I've always stated that it's my opinion/I feel this way...) is that usage like you're doing is actually going to end the free charging opportunities. EVs are growing at a huge rate, so even in sleepy market towns those chargers have fast-growing demand. With fast growing energy prices, and even with the charger costs likely being a drop in the ocean of their other running costs, they will look to cut costs as much as they can. I think free EV charging will be one of the first things to go.

EDIT: Posted just after you @EVH . If you think it needs deleting, please do, but I think my post seeks to bring discussion back to the wider issue of free parking :)
 
I am not assuming anything. Its the supermarket that pay for the electricity to the charge points. So their expected use will be for shoppers who spend money in store which offsets the cost of the electricity, they shouldn't have to explicitly state this. It's not rocket science.
 
We've got a new scheme kicking in soon which looks decent on salary sacrifice. I'd love a larger van style option but they are not ideal, I use my Vito Tourer all the time and although the V Class is there as an option, Im not sure it warrants the high cost.

Other option is the Peugeot/Citroen LWB van things, range not great but very cheap. Otherwise its the EQB, which reminds me of the old Subaru Forester for some reason, but again, expensive for what it us.

Now, if i let go of the size requirement, at the cheaper end what stood out is:

Skoda Enyaq
Volvo C40/XC40 (top of the range spec)
Polestar

I have pretty much choice for anything electric on the list, but the Volvo looks good for its power at around 400odd

Any experiences?
 
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