Money Moral Dilemma: Should we pay for charging our electric car at other people's homes?

YorkBrucie

Using WIFI - the first time you need the password so that's asking permission.
Charging a mobile phone -  up to 18watts per hour - thats like leaving a bright LED light on.
Charging your car up to 3Kw per hour - thats like leaving the kettle on. I think you would need to ask every time you use it.

SwEEtPea2020

Sandtree said:

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

Well yes, obviously.  At least offer to pay something towards the electricity; the one providing it may well refuse to accept, but it's polite to at least say you'll contribute.  I'm surprised the question had to be asked.

How far do you go with that thought?

Lets assume you're invited over for Sunday lunch, do you routinely offer to contribute to the cost of the food/drink inc cost of preparation?

I would certainly ask if its ok to do it before plugging in... offering to pay maybe... but the Q said that these friends/family have electric cars too and so feels more likely that they do the same when they come to me and so like the food there is no cash exchange but just a taking it in turns type approach

If invited to Sunday lunch i would always offer to bring dessert or drinks but this is not like for like, this would be inviting someone for Sunday lunch and them arriving and asking you to refund their bus ticket or pay for part of their petrol bill, I would be taken aback by this!
Since the current range for electric cars is between 100 and 300 miles, I would expect that anyone outside a 100 mile distance to ask about charging, but to offer to pay (and this be declined by me) but inside this it is just a bit cheeky to top up at my expense. 

CarrieVS

Assuming the cost is more than pennies, it would be polite to ask if they'd like you to chip in. If they refuse then you probably don't need to continue to ask in future.
Of course if they're just as likely to visit you and use your charger then it probably evens out and I imagine you'd agree to just let it slide in both directions.

donnaski

Yes definitely and if they refuse, I would buy them something or pay for a take away.  If they do refuse, it might be because they don't feel comfortable excepting money from you. 

RobM99

TripleH said:

But would you ask before you charge your mobile phone?

What about using their WiFi?

Yes - it's polite - maybe very British!

Ed264

The overall opinion from contributors here is to politely offer to pay, but with good friends and family you shouldn't be surprised if your offer is declined! I agree with that.  

SheepLady_2

If I were to ever have to have an electric car, I would make sure it’s full of electric - the same as I do with petrol. I wouldn’t dream of carrying a syphon and asking each friend visited if I could have a gallon of petrol. 

Petriix

As an EV owner who occasionally plugs in at other people's houses, it works like this:

I always plan my charging options in advance of a long journey; I'm only going to be charging if I need to (or if there's free public charging) so I'll ask in advance of travelling whether charging will be possible and permitted.

As part of that conversation I'll ask about their electricity unit price and figure out the approximate cost and let them know.

Then, when it comes to actually plugging in, I'll always note how much charge goes in (in terms of increase in the battery state of charge percentage) and offer to pay what it cost.

However, on each (of maybe half a dozen) occasion the offer has been refused. The largest amount was £6 and we've typically contributed more in food and drink and we're often driving everyone about the place during our visits anyway.

The upshot is that the kind of friends and family worth driving across the country for tend to be the sort of people who are appreciative of the effort you put in to visit them. Contributing in a small way to the cost of the visit seems to be a nice way of showing that appreciation. 

Sandtree

Oakdeneal said:

Can I come to your house and you fill my car up with diesel? No? Dilemma answered. 

Actually, when living at my folks the answer would have been yes @oakdeneal but with a warning that some of it may be red diesel. My father worked in the oil industry and had tons of samples  in the shed as they always took 1L when doing Q&Q surveys but only needed a ML or two for the actual testing... he was forever giving it away... the local lad with a petrol mower that did the rounds probably never one paid for fuel. Bonfires could probably have been seen from space too. 

Its obviously a totally incomparable question however as the majority of people simply dont have the fuel to offer in the first place. 

Jjah

I wouldn't ask.  I would INSIST.