Scotland Road trip

[MikeJL]

Forthside Way in Sterling has several 50 Kw chargers & a very nice cafe. Also limited to 40 minutes, don’t know if you’d get away with swapping chargers after 40 mins?

The one free charger in Stirling is in the station staff car park & so not accessible to the public

[BioHzrd]

Forthside Way in Sterling has several 50 Kw chargers & a very nice cafe. Also limited to 40 minutes, don’t know if you’d get away with swapping chargers after 40 mins?

The one free charger in Stirling is in the station staff car park & so not accessible to the public

No they have a no return policy within 90 mins, not sure if that just to the same charger or any "rapid" within that specific charging hub. Not willing to test the theory out though

I'm glad they aren't free anymore are you are somewhat guaranteed to actually get a charge when you need one on a journey

[Ken3966]

I was looking into the feasibility of visiting Edinburgh again this year. Looking at available chargers generally seems cheaper than in England, but often relatively low charging rates and often time limited as well to 40 mins or so. Not long enough for a full charge if needed.

[BioHzrd]

I can understand the 40 min limit on a say 150kW and above but the 50kW CPS units I have never had above 45ish kW at all the different sites I've been to even when they are empty.

I does stop them being hogged though so I can understand it in that context.

[MikeJL]

I suspect that when they set the 40 minute limit the average battery size was smaller than it is now & so it was less of an issue. Maybe we need to lobby Charge Place Scotland to review it?

[CrowSysE243]

Chargeplace Scotland manages the network but does not set the tariff/rules. These are set by the individual charger owners so it would be necessary to lobby them rather than CPS. In many cases the over stay fees have been introduced recently and they do not apply in all cases. For example the tariff update on 2nd May shows that Edinburgh council chargers have £30 overstay fee after one hour on rapid chargers while the Inverclyde Council rapid chargers do not have an overstay fee but have higher price per kWh. https://chargeplacescotland.org/tariff/ ... ff-update/ and https://chargeplacescotland.org/network ... do-cps-do/.

In Northern Ireland, EBS introduced an overstay fee in late April. For rapid chargers it applies after 45 minutes (10 hours on slower chargers) and was intended to "reduce queuing and to ensure chargers are more readily available for all users". From the status shown in the app this appears to have been very effective. At the beginning of April we never managed to find a charger available in a reasonable period. Ever time I have looked since then there has been reasonable availability. I suspect that, where the CPS charger owner has introduced an overstay fee it has been for a similar reason.

[CrowSysE243]

The overstay fee was introduced recently by Stirling Council. The announcement, headed "Electric Vehicle Charging Tariff to be introduced to support demand" states "From Wednesday 1 February, vehicle owners will be required to pay a minimum fee of £1.50 at Council owned EV charging points. The new tariff is set at 25p/kWh at slow and fast charge points and 35p/kWh at rapid charge points.

In addition to the tariff, a maximum stay of 40 minutes will be applied to rapid charging points to improve availability and ensure fair usage. An overstay charge of £1 per minute, capped at £60 will be implemented to enforce this.".

Although the detail varies this seems to be a common trend.

[MikeJL]

I agree with the principle of an overstay fee, but forcing people to move on when they still need to charge just moves the problem elsewhere as I will have to charge sooner or longer at my next stop. Maybe introduce the charge when the car stops drawing current?

[RichR]

Maybe introduce the charge when the car stops drawing current?

If you leave the climate control on, it'll never stop drawing current

[BioHzrd]

Every council has its own rules, Dundee is max 70 minutes at a rapid then a £10 charge there after but it seems to only be a single charge not a "per hour" it's the same at fast chargers but you get 180 minutes to charge.