Electric car and is this theft?

[ericmark]

The local heritage railway decided it would be a good idea if people using the railway could charge their car while on the train, so arrangements were made and a double charging point was fitted with some arrangement with a agent so people using it can pay.

So the railway gets the money for charging car minus a commission I would think, not used much as yet, but two 22 kW charge points are going to recharge most cars with a 2 hour train trip.

Today I was chatting to a guy charging his car, and he stopped talking to unplug the car and plug it back in, I asked why, and he said first 15 minutes is free, you only have to pay if using it for more than 15 minutes, so he goes to butty van and gets food and eats it in his car, unplugging and plugging back in every 15 minutes.

It seems idea is you can plug in and start the charge then arrange payment, not to give 15 minutes free, the railway guy was unaware this could be done, so it seems people are using the railways power without paying.

So I wonder how wide spread is this, do all charging stations allow 15 minutes free while your arranging payment, OK 80p is not that much, and if the person has gone on the train not that much of a problem, but the guy was not using the train, and butty van is not part of train system, to me it seems a bit off sitting there plugging the car in every 15 minutes to get 80p worth of power, just wondered how wide spread the problem is?

 

[Tigercubrider]

I did a quick search and the only 15 min reference I could find was to do with quick charges being limited to 15mins unless instructed by the app?

Imho it's theft, but how much is pilfered and how much would stopping unauthorised power cost?
At work a new cleaning supervisor tried to charge the cleaners for the electric they used for their kettle.
They complained and were given a longer tea break so they could go to a designated room..

A pub I go to has a barrier arm and token system. Ask at the bar on entry and a token is handed out that opens the barrier to leave.

The railway could install some kind of system to prevent random users?

 

[ericmark]

I am sure the railway would allow me to charge my E-bike, but to be frank, I do not carry the charger around with me, and if I can do the return run I would not be trying to find anywhere to charge it, I think it is around 12 Ah at 48 volt so ½ a kWh will take me around 25 miles, costing around 8p. Simply not worth the effort to steal the energy. And the odd 80p for an EV to top up for 15 minutes not really a problem, but to sit there unplugging and plugging back in again to steal 80p a time seems a bit off when stealing from a Heritage railway which can only keep running by using volunteer labour.

 

[mattylad]

Contact the manufacturer of the charging point and ask them, not an internet forum.

 

[ericmark]

I think the railway are doing just that, I think the guy who set it all up was unaware that car owners could sit there repeatedly unplugging and plugging car back in to get it charged for free. When he had seen a car there he was simply glad it was being used, and hoped it would start paying for its self.

80p once in a while when some one does it is not really a problem, it is the repeated 80p when they do it again and again.

 

[big-all]

i am sure using an app and or plugging it in will start a contract and unless it specifically says you are not allowed to have multiple free goes then the contract is not clear
all depends on the wording really

 

[johnny2007]

i am sure using an app and or plugging it in will start a contract and unless it specifically says you are not allowed to have multiple free goes then the contract is not clear
all depends on the wording really

Contract?
Contracts are for human beings.
Do you consider this soulless beast a human being?
Would a human being waste all of this time for a few pennies after having thrown away tens of thousand in an electric car?

 

[ericmark]

It was a Kia, but the site electrician was surprised it could be done, so was I, but 80p for 15 minutes at 22 kW is what my rough calculation worked out, and it is not that much, and just because one guy will repeatedly unplug and plug back in, does not mean most do that, I would be happy with my e-bike to pay a £1 to have it recharging while in a cafe or pub, even if asked to donate to a charity, so maybe a charity box by the charge point is the way to go.

 

[Diver Fred]

Hope you told the Railway / Charity.

To be honest even if's not legally a crime in my eyes it is certainly dishonest and of the worst kind, stealing from a charity. If it was a place I regularly visited or known at I'd have been out to him with the charity's collection box.

 

[EFLImpudence]

I don't understand why the first 15minutes is free.

When buying petrol and paying at the pump, you don't get a litre free while entering your details.

 

[mattylad]

IF you did I'd be making repeated trips to my local service station lol

 

[Jackrae]

Surely the second(and subsequent) time he plugs in his car it is no longer the "first 15 minutes", so he's effectively in contravention of an implied contract and what he's doing is theft; but there again some have no moral standards. A simple notice by the company stating "The first 15 minutes in any 24 hour period ......." might clarify the legal status. Alternatively get rid of the 15 minutes of free charging - if the railway is a charity, then giving away charity funds will be of interest to The Charity Commission.

 

[kettlejim]

to me it seems a bit off sitting there plugging the car in every 15 minutes to get 80p worth of power, just wondered how wide spread the problem is?

This sounds ridiculous - he quite possibly recycles Christmas cards

 

[thetman]

It was a Kia, but the site electrician was surprised it could be done, so was I, but 80p for 15 minutes at 22 kW is what my rough calculation worked out, and it is not that much, and just because one guy will repeatedly unplug and plug back in, does not mean most do that, I would be happy with my e-bike to pay a £1 to have it recharging while in a cafe or pub, even if asked to donate to a charity, so maybe a charity box by the charge point is the way to go.

It's likely to be even less than that as most of the Kia type electrics only have 7.5kw on board chargers so if charging it with AC the most it will draw is 7.5kw. To get any more needs the rapid DC charger so it's peanuts in the grand scheme of things.

 

[plugwash]

I suspect the reason for the initial free charging is that electric car charging is not exactly 100% reliable and they don't want to have to deal with refund requests from people whose cars didn't want to play nice with the charger.