Public electric car charging etiquette 🔌

“After travelling back from a weekend away, I needed to charge my car enough to get home. Due to other electric car drivers, a normal two-hour journey actually took us four hours - plus I got caught in a storm when trying to get the car on charge - it made me think about public charging and whether there is enough education around it - so I thought I would compile this blog post” said Gaurav Ahluwalia from The Electric Car Scheme.

It is important to be considerate when charging your electric car publicly, so that you don’t inadvertently prevent other drivers from charging when they need to.

To help you navigate the world of public charging, I’ve pulled together the key areas of charging etiquette that you should be aware of.

1. You do not need to always charge your car to 100%

You often don’t need to charge to 100% before moving. You may be able to continue and complete your journey with less, so consider moving once you have got to the range that you need. 

Not only is it polite to head off before your car has charged to 100% but, it is also an efficient use of your time. The last 10% of your battery typically charges quite slowly, so it is quicker to get going when you reach approx 85% either to charge at the next en route rapid charger, or, better still, to charge at your destination.

TIP: Google Maps now features a ‘eco-friendly’ route option which is designed to provide you with the most efficient route in your electric car too.

2. Plug-in your car

This is a pretty obvious one - but only make use of an electric car bay if you are able to access the charge point. 

Parking an ‘Internal Combustion Engine’ (ICE) car in a charging bay is known as “ICEing”.

Don’t do it.

If you come across this situation - make your annoyance with ICEing known by contacting the owners of the car park hosting the chargepoint to ask for enforcement of the bays.

3. Charging only!

Normally electric car spaces are in great locations - particularly those near shop entrances - however you should only park in the bay of the electric car charge point if you are going to use it.

When you are at a public charge point, it’s also considerate to move your car once you’ve achieved your desired charge range - this will then allow other drivers to make use of the charge point.

4. Don’t use a rapid charger, if your electric car can’t rapid charge

Some rapid chargers have AC sockets, which some electric cars that won't rapid charge can use.

Some electric cars can only charge at the slower AC charging rates (3.6kW or 7kW - speeds you’d expect using a home charge point). If not an emergency for an electric car driver, they should avoid rapid chargers and use a slower, public charge point if available.

5. As soon as you have charged as much as you need, unplug and leave the bay.

The rapid charger is not for parking at. It’s for charging and moving on from. 

While inconvenient, it is about being considerate to other users. And increasingly drivers who leave their car charged and plugged in will be hit with “idle fees” for overstaying.

6. Keep calm, don’t try and unplug someone else’s car!

Unplugging someone’s car is usually impossible in practice, there are locking mechanisms in the car-side socket and some charge point sockets. The charge must be ended by the user on their phone/ access card or by releasing the cable from their car.

If you try and remove a plug from someone else’s car, you’ll fail and look silly…

7. Try and top-up at home or at your destination (where available) 

Try and get into a routine of topping up at your destination or home whenever you can. Whilst this may feel strange for those who are used to refuelling, it reduces your reliance on the (usually) expensive public charging network. 

If you don’t want to have your car on charge all the time at home, you can schedule your home charge point or car to charge at specific times. Also, this will let you take advantage of dual-rate electricity tariffs designed for electric car drivers, which can help significantly reduce the cost of charging.

You could save up to 70% on electricity costs by scheduling your electric to charge during off-peak hours.

I hope you found this summary helpful - please message me (Gaurav Ahluwalia) at gaurav@electriccarscheme.com or LinkedIn if you have any other suggestions or tips we can add. 

Have a great day and happy charging - thanks!