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‘My father-in-law drove from Stoke-on-Trent to Hitchin to see the grandchildren for Sunday lunch and when he arrived his electric vehicle (Audi e-Tron) was at 20 per cent.
It plugged into our home charger (we have an Ioniq 5, so we have a wall charger) and charged up to 80.
I don’t want to be cheap, but he does this all the time and comes at least once a month.
Should I start asking him to pay for his charges?
I wouldn’t mind too much if it was a night charge with off-peak rates and cost less than a tenner, but he charges in the middle of the day, so it’s around £20.
He didn’t ask me to pay for the gas… I don’t want to start a family, what should I do? Is there a precedent? Dan C.
Should you ask a friend or family member to pay to use your EV charger? We asked the experts for their opinion and give you an etiquette guide so you don’t tiptoe around the issue like an awkward Brit.
Here’s the response from Money’s electric vehicle expert Freda Lewis-Stempel: Dan, you’re asking a question that a lot of people are probably thinking about. And if they aren’t already, the rise of electric vehicles means they soon will be.
Do you offer to let visiting friends and family charge on your home charger? And you ask them to pay when they increase your electricity bill?
Or if you are the visitor, do you ask for payment? Do you offer to pay? And how do you calculate how much it costs?
And as you pointed out, no one would ask you to pay for gas, so if you compare it like that, it seems a little crazy to pay someone’s charge. But it’s usually much less expensive, and depending on where you live, there may not be public chargers nearby.
This is uncharted territory for people and there is no official line. So what is the correct etiquette?
As many EV owners are mulling over the issue in typical British fashion, we asked some EV experts what the fairest and most polite way to handle the situation is.
AA president Edmund King says that “most people tell AA that they wouldn’t accuse family and close friends if they weren’t taken advantage of.”
AA President Edmund King He expects this question to “become more common”: “Most people tell AA that they wouldn’t charge their family and close friends if they weren’t taken advantage of, meaning they came every week for free.”
King also points out that you can rent a charger through platforms like Co Charger or Just park or that charging brands like Evois’ allow you to assign a PIN number to a neighbor so they can come charge at their leisure and have a record. of what happens’. cost” and are a good solution for “a neighbor waiting to reach a charging point or a builder.”
Evois shows you how much autonomy has been added to the car, how long the session lasted and how much it cost.
Quentin Wilson, Faircharge UK says: ‘The etiquette for friends who charge at home is not to ask them to pay. EV owners tend to have a helpful community spirit.
“But if it’s a stranger who maybe needs a charge in an emergency or you share your home charging point, you usually ask them to pay, or at least contribute.”
Michelle Breffitt, co-founder of Women Drive Electric says: ‘There’s no way I would ask a friend or family member to pay to charge their car if they visit us at home, especially if it’s overnight with my cheap EV electricity tariff.
“The simplicity and convenience of charging when stationary is hugely attractive to drivers and means we can also spend more time with our loved ones.”
If you use a friend or family member’s home charger and they don’t ask you to pay, then it’s a good gift to give them a small thank you: a box of chocolates or a bottle, for example.
What to do if a visitor wants to use the home charger for their electric vehicle? A rough guide to etiquette
A bit like when electric vehicle charging became common in dedicated services or centres, a charging label had to be established.
There is no set rule, but rather a code of conduct that reasonable members of the EV community follow.
Taking stock of the different points of view, we have decided on some tips to help approach these conversations.
Always allow a guest to use your home charger
Whether you ask your guest to pay or not, always let them use your home charger. It’s just good manners, and every EV driver knows what a difference it makes to have an easy, reliable charging option on hand.
As a host, it’s up to you to make your guests feel welcome and have a comfortable stay, and these days this includes electric vehicle charging.
Plus, it will also be cheaper for them even if you decide to ask them to pay or offer you.
If a visitor comes to spend the night
If a friend or family member needs charging and is staying overnight, offer to let them charge, but schedule it during off-peak hours so it costs much less. Especially if they are just recharging, it will probably only cost you less than a tenner, so it seems good character not to ask the guest to pay.
If they drop several times a month, you can re-evaluate them.
If the visitor is only coming for the day
If you are willing to cover the costs then it is a very nice gesture to offer to cover them, but as it will probably cost around £20 it seems fair to at least ask for a contribution.
Again, this depends on how often they visit us and we recommend checking what percentage they are at because if they only need a 10 percent top-up, it’s a bit stingy to ask for it.
How long will the visitor stay?
Of course, if your visitor is staying for several nights, a week or even longer and is driving, draining the battery and needing to charge it multiple times, then it’s totally fair to ask them to pay for charging.
Various charges add up and you certainly wouldn’t pay for multiple tanks of fuel, so don’t feel bad about this.
Mileage drivers like John and Rosa, who charge most of the time at home, will only pay 7p/mile, while Kris, who charges in public, pays 18p/mile.
If you’re the visitor, should you offer to pay to use your host’s home EV charger? A rough guide to etiquette
It is absolutely fine to ask your host to use your charger.
While we may have told the host not to ask for payment, as a guest you should always offer it.
Again it is a matter of manners. Your host will most likely decline your offer, but if you’re going to plug in your car for some juice (especially during rush hour), then you need to take the initiative on the payment front.
A middle ground: offer a contribution other than payment
If you use a friend or family member’s home charger and they don’t ask you to pay, it’s a good gift to give them a small thank you: a box of chocolates or a bottle, for example.
What happens if my neighbor asks me to use my electric vehicle charger? Or can I ask my neighbor to use his charger?
Generally, this situation will only occur if someone’s charger is down, or if all local public chargers are busy and it’s a time crunch situation, or if someone’s guest is already using their charger.
In these cases it is okay to ask your neighbor to use their charger and the right thing to do to let your neighbor charge.
After all, that’s what neighbors are for: to help each other.
But definitely pay your neighbor. And if it’s more than just a cheap little overnight charge, it’s totally fair to ask them to pay!
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