Lodger wants a hybrid car - am I being unreasonable?

Schwarzwald

will only work if there is a way to track the additional spending on charging the car, e.g. separate meter. he needs to pay for the installation. sounds as if you need to set v clear rules around this.

if you want to put up with the lodger in the long term is really down to you. I once had a lodger with similar profile: 30s, M, developer, introvert, really stuck to his room, bit messy, but super quiet, when we had conversations, usually around space, future of bitcoin, and other rather interesting topics. i personally enjoyed this over having someone in the common areas at all time and forcing conversations around trivial matters on me. 

subjecttocontract

We don't know the layout of your house & drive......is it possible to have an external 13amp socket installed that your lodger will be able to use without causing you access problems to your garage, parking area etc ?

You could view his request as an opportunity. Tell him he would need to pay for the socket installation and an additional monthly rent of £40 or £50 to cover electric costs.

RHemmings

Don't PHEVs charge their own battery? Clearly not as environmentally friendly, but there is no real need to charge at home. Over and above public charging such as mentioned before. 

SallyDucati

RHemmings said:

Don't PHEVs charge their own battery? Clearly not as environmentally friendly, but there is no real need to charge at home. Over and above public charging such as mentioned before. 

PHEV - Plug In Hybrid Electric Vehicle.  

rather than a self charging hybrid, which do charge their own battery.

tripled

Use a smart plug to track consumption, if you believe you can trust him to stick to it (and not plug in directly or use another socket to bypass the monitoring). Smart plugs can tell you when the electricity was used, and the clever ones may even work out the cost for you if you input the tariff. If you can't trust him, or if he breaches that trust, then don't allow him to charge.

subjecttocontract

RHemmings said:

Don't PHEVs charge their own battery? Clearly not as environmentally friendly, but there is no real need to charge at home. Over and above public charging such as mentioned before. 

No..... PHEV = plug in hybrid electric vehicle. They don't self charge.
A ......MHEV = mild hybrid electric vehicle. This usually self charge to improve the ICE fuel consumption.

RHemmings

SallyDucati said:

RHemmings said:

Don't PHEVs charge their own battery? Clearly not as environmentally friendly, but there is no real need to charge at home. Over and above public charging such as mentioned before. 

PHEV - Plug In Hybrid Electric Vehicle.  

rather than a self charging hybrid, which do charge their own battery.

I did a quick google before posting, though still not confident, and what I read suggested that (some?) PHEVs also charge their own battery. 

https://www.cinch.co.uk/guides/choosing-a-car/plug-in-hybrid-electric-vehicles-everything-you-need-to-know

subjecttocontract

Badly written article that will (perhaps already has) have readers reach the wrong conclusion.

FreeBear

Keep_pedalling said:

Unless he is also willing to pay for the installation of a dedicated EV charging port then I would not allow him to charge at home. A charging point is not only safer, it can be used to log the the amount energy that has gone into the car. 

Had an EV charging point installed a couple of weeks back for the benefit of the lodger. Yes, the "app" will allow you to keep track of electricity and charging slots, but you need to pair with the charger before the lodger gets to it....

I fitted an energy monitor on the cable going to the charger (integrated with my home automation system) - This allows me to keep an accurate log of consumption and charge accordingly. You can get other energy monitors that sit inside a consumer unit and have an integral display. The alternative is a MID type electricity meter, but these are much bulkier.

RHemmings

subjecttocontract said:

Badly written article that will (perhaps already has) have readers reach the wrong conclusion.

Do you mean the article I quoted? I looked a bit further, and see many references to PHEVs self-charging.

https://www.renault.co.uk/engines-innovation/plugin-hybrid-technology.html

https://afdc.energy.gov/vehicles/how-do-plug-in-hybrid-electric-cars-work

and more. It seems that some, but not all, PHEVs self-charge as well as being able to be plugged in to charge.