Charged for parking whilst charging an EV - signage implies charging is not considered parking

John707

Hi,

The EV charger was of the AC type. Using this type of charger a full charge of my vehicle would take about 9 hours if charging at the maximum speed my vehicle allows with this charger type.

The only sign I saw was the one immediately behind the two EV charging bays and is pictured. I read this as "Electric vehicle recharging point only" "No parking at any time".

I interpreted this as "electric vehicle charging" being a distinct activity to "parking".  EV charging was the only reason that I left the car there.  I had driven there about 3 minutes from the location I was staying purely to charge the vehicle.  I was in the area for a family wedding.  Occasionally I have seen notices near EV chargers stating that I must pay for parking or otherwise adhere to other parking requirements.  There were none on this charger, so thought no more about it until I got the PCN through the post this morning.

The PCN (with photos) has a 173 minute stay (Maximum stay 120 minutes).

I have an EV charging invoice I have from the charging provider for the charging session includes the text:

"Charging time [min] 165.00"

"Parking time [min] 1.00"

Again, this seems to indicate that parking is considered to be a separate to charging - with the 1 minute being time in which the vehicle was connected to the charger, but not charging.

I can't easily return to the location to look for other notices unfortunately because it's a 500 mile round-trip from my home.

The charging location is painted out to indicate that it clearly isn't a parking space.

John707

... do I have reasonable grounds for appeal here?  Any thoughts appreciated!

Umkomaas

Who has sent you the PCN?  Can we see a redacted copy of it (back and front) but leave all dates showing please. 

Mark_d

I think most people would consider your car parked when it was left unattended.  From the PCN it suggests you could have parked for 120 minutes.  Clearly this is not enough time for a full charge of your car.  Maybe find a different charger next time you want to do a full charge.

Based on what we can see so far there is no grounds for appeal.  Traveling back to take a closer look around the car park might have been a reasonable option if it wasn't quite so far away.

John707

Umkomaas said:

Who has sent you the PCN?  Can we see a redacted copy of it (back and front) but leave all dates showing please. 

OK, will do thanks.  What should I redact?  Name, Address, Vehicle details I assume?  Should I redact either photos or location details?  I looked in the FAQ, but it didn't seem to mention this.

James_Poisson

In spite of what the above poster has stated, if there were no signs near the charger stating a time limit, and you did not pass any stating there was a time limit they made no contract with you about that.

I assume that there must now be signage these GSV images from 2024 show none:

Ralph-y

The first person who advised you has been accused of working for a PPC , if the accusers are right then base your decision as to following his / her advice as you think fit .... the other advice was spot on ...

John707

Thanks. I might have some record on my dashcam regarding signs. I might be able to get someone I know to go there and take some photos. I assume there is one, but I thought that the signage at the charge point would take precedence. Unlike other chargers, which stated that parking fees applied whilst charging, there was no notice here, neither was there a time limit posted on the charger itself after which it ceased charging, and this was a paid rather than free charge (very occasionally, retails have free charging, but these are usually time limited I believe).

John707

Unfortunately dashcam record is overwritten (just), so I can't see what (if anything) I drove past.

Car1980

 Thanks. I might have some record on my dashcam regarding signs. I might be able to get someone I know to go there and take some photos. I assume there is one, but I thought that the signage at the charge point would take precedence. Unlike other chargers, which stated that parking fees applied whilst charging, there was no notice here, neither was there a time limit posted on the charger itself after which it ceased charging, and this was a paid rather than free charge (very occasionally, retails have free charging, but these are usually time limited I believe).

It does take precedence. The onus is on them to offer a contract.

If you are placing restrictions on those charging their cars via a contract, you have to place your contract where they can see it. 

Maybe worth a pop at Popla going by no signage and therefore no contract. If it's on purpose and they're making a lot of money out of scamming at this site they'll likely just withdraw without challenge and keep the cash cow alive.

John707

Here is an example of a notice at a different EV charging location.  I've seen notices like these in the past (and complied with them!).  I assume there must be some reasonable doubt here, otherwise they would not have gone to the trouble of posting a sign like this?In this case, there was no such notice, just the sign which I posted at the top of the thread saying:

"Electric Vehicle charging only".