Lodger wants a hybrid car - am I being unreasonable?

RHemmings

BikingBud said:

Grumpy_chap said:

Bigphil1474 said:

For 3 miles each way, I'd give them a lift and charge them £2.70 a day - they'll save a fortune compared to running a car and it would cover the costs. 

Round our way three miles, walk or cycle, will be quicker than driving, keeps you fitter, and saves a fortune

With you all the way👏👍

Only 3 miles and no other journeys? 

Why then are they buying a car?

And why buy a "premium" hybrid, when there are so many options?

Charge at work?

I don't have a car (this may change, but doesn't seem to be happening). Having cycled to work every day last week in this weather, I can see that this would not be for everyone. The fan in my office has two roles. In the summer it keeps me cool. In the winter it dries me out. 

Ryan_Holden

I appreciate the extra response that are still coming, the situation has been resolved. 

But for those people saying I should give him a lift, I don't really have a response for you. He's not my child or my ward and by the time he wakes up I am at my desk 40 miles away. I'm not sure why it's even been suggested tbh. 

For those saying he should get a bike or walk, perhaps that's true but again, he's my lodger, not my responsibility. It isn't my place to tell him what to spend his money on, which is part of the dilemma here. 

Thank you again, but honestly, the situation is done. He's not getting the car and if he changes his mind he knows he will not be allowed to charge here off a 3 pin plug. 

BobT36

"if he changes his mind he knows he will not be allowed to charge here off a 3 pin plug."

Fine situation tbh. "Get the car if you want, but you're not charging it using the house electric, sorry". Job done. 

NameUnavailable

Ryan_Holden said:

I appreciate the extra response that are still coming, the situation has been resolved. 

But for those people saying I should give him a lift, I don't really have a response for you. He's not my child or my ward and by the time he wakes up I am at my desk 40 miles away. I'm not sure why it's even been suggested tbh. 

For those saying he should get a bike or walk, perhaps that's true but again, he's my lodger, not my responsibility. It isn't my place to tell him what to spend his money on, which is part of the dilemma here. 

Thank you again, but honestly, the situation is done. He's not getting the car and if he changes his mind he knows he will not be allowed to charge here off a 3 pin plug. 

You did say "Today he told me he's going to view a car tonight and see what happens. I explained to him that we still haven't had the conversation about what the costs would be and that he needed to get that information and we could talk first. He seemed very disappointed" which comes over as he couldn't buy the car without your prior consent.

You should maybe have said, buy the car but you will have to charge it elsewhere. Questioning whether he's doing the right thing spending a ton of money to buy an electric car for a very short commute is being helpful IMHO.

markin

If he's willing to pay for a switch, plug in power monitor £15, And an outside socket i don't see the problem here. But for future proofing it should be dedicated 15KWH cable, A good chance the next lodger will have an EV, or him in the next 5 years. 

Probably a good idea for lodger agreement to say no E-bike or scooters charged indoors, they are a fire risk.

RHemmings

NameUnavailable said:

Ryan_Holden said:

I appreciate the extra response that are still coming, the situation has been resolved. 

But for those people saying I should give him a lift, I don't really have a response for you. He's not my child or my ward and by the time he wakes up I am at my desk 40 miles away. I'm not sure why it's even been suggested tbh. 

For those saying he should get a bike or walk, perhaps that's true but again, he's my lodger, not my responsibility. It isn't my place to tell him what to spend his money on, which is part of the dilemma here. 

Thank you again, but honestly, the situation is done. He's not getting the car and if he changes his mind he knows he will not be allowed to charge here off a 3 pin plug. 

You did say "Today he told me he's going to view a car tonight and see what happens. I explained to him that we still haven't had the conversation about what the costs would be and that he needed to get that information and we could talk first. He seemed very disappointed" which comes over as he couldn't buy the car without your prior consent.

You should maybe have said, buy the car but you will have to charge it elsewhere. Questioning whether he's doing the right thing spending a ton of money to buy an electric car for a very short commute is being helpful IMHO.

I don't think this is the case here. It's more that the lodger couldn't assume that he could use the facilities of the house to charge a car without consent. Which is reasonable. 

FreeBear

markin said:

If he's willing to pay for a switch, plug in power monitor £15, And an outside socket i don't see the problem here. But for future proofing it should be dedicated 15KWH cable, A good chance the next lodger will have an EV, or him in the next 5 years. 

Probably a good idea for lodger agreement to say no E-bike or scooters charged indoors, they are a fire risk.

Pretty sure you won't get anything more than a 7KW charger on a standard single phase domestic supply. If you want a 11KW/22KW charger, it will need a three phase supply.

thegreenone

@Ryan_Holden I'm so pleased your lodger has decided not to go ahead.  Not only for plugging the car into your garage, which contains your pride and joy but because Mercedes A Class have to be the most uncomfortable car I have ever been a passenger in.  My husband gets them occasionally as a hire car and he refers to them as "the Go-Carts" which is exactly how it feels.  A potentially expensive mistake.  Apologies to anyone on here who has one.

Hopefully, your lodger can find a better solution.  

Ryan_Holden

NameUnavailable said:

You should maybe have said, buy the car but you will have to charge it elsewhere. Questioning whether he's doing the right thing spending a ton of money to buy an electric car for a very short commute is being helpful IMHO.

Hmmm, I can't say I agree with you. It's not my place to question his life choices, it's not my place to offer advice. Like I said before, he's not my ward, he is my lodger. I deal with his day to day needs and accommodation standard, anything else is none of my business. But I do see your point.

Plus, he wanted to use the car in EV mode almost exclusively so the car would have made sense. 

pgoncalv

FreeBear said:

markin said:

If he's willing to pay for a switch, plug in power monitor £15, And an outside socket i don't see the problem here. But for future proofing it should be dedicated 15KWH cable, A good chance the next lodger will have an EV, or him in the next 5 years. 

Probably a good idea for lodger agreement to say no E-bike or scooters charged indoors, they are a fire risk.

Pretty sure you won't get anything more than a 7KW charger on a standard single phase domestic supply. If you want a 11KW/22KW charger, it will need a three phase supply.

You are probably right, the max single phase in UK is 7.4 KW, 32 amp I think. The width of the cable may be higher, also depending on the length of run.

This is an academic point anyway, as how demanding could a hybrid battery be... Maybe they cannot use more than 13 amps.