Electric car owners could be slapped with ‘idle fees’ if they leave their cars plugged into charging bays for too long, as some charging stations are now charging up to £1 per minute
Motorists could be hit with charges of up to £1 per minute due to an obscure road rule, putting over a million drivers at risk of hefty fines.
Owners of electric vehicles who linger too long at public charging stations might face “idle fees”, warn industry specialists. Select Car Leasing has highlighted that many drivers are mistakenly using charging spots as if they were free long-term parking spaces, oblivious to the potential penalties.
These “idle fees” can cost users from 50p to £1 per minute if they exceed the allotted time for charging their cars. With approximately 1.1 million electric car owners in the UK, certain vehicle owners may be more susceptible to these charges, reports the Express.
Tesla has confirmed that it imposes a 50p per minute fee on drivers who occupy a SuperCharger bay longer than necessary when the station is half full. The fee jumps to £1 per minute when the SuperCharger station is completely occupied by other vehicles.
Graham Conway, managing director at Select Car Leasing, suggests that drivers could adapt their charging practices to avoid these fees. He advised: “When a charging station is busy, drivers may want to consider charging their EV to just 80 percent instead of all the way. Charging is typically fastest for the first 80 percent and slows down considerably for the last 20 percent to preserve the vehicle’s long-term battery health.
“Stopping at 80 percent means a quicker charge time which is much more considerate to other motorists as it frees up the station much faster. It is also similarly productive to a full charge because the lithium-ion batteries that power most electric cars actually run most efficiently between 20 per cent to 80 per cent capacity.
“Not only is it quick and efficient, charging to 80 percent would also make for a cheaper payment. So unless that final 20 percent would make the difference between getting home or not, it’s best to save fuelling up to 100 percent for at-home chargers.” Other providers also apply strict idle fee charges on motorists who continue to take up bays when vehicles are no longer being topped up.
EV charging provider Believ charges a day-time idle fee of 8p per minute on sessions longer than four hours. Meanwhile, Osprey Charging will issue a £5 charge for every 15 minutes that motorists are idle at EV bays.
