Retail Park Charging

[AK OK]

More importantly you shouldn't recharge even at home if you have more than 80% unless you have a need for a subsequent journey.

Our local tesco extra has a total of 6 points and a 2 hour limit on ANPR.. Introduced long before the chargers because office workers were meeting in the morning and leaving all but 1 car to go in to work. Workplace parking has to be included on a P11D and is deducted from the personal tax allowance.

I thought they tweaked the BMS to cope better with 100%?

Also it will only balance charge after it's at 100%...

P11D etc only if they are charged for work parking?
Else they're just saving fuel by car sharing, which is to be applauded (but not the parking of X vehicles in someone else's carpark!)

 

[Dave]

More importantly you shouldn't recharge even at home if you have more than 80% unless you have a need for a subsequent journey.

Our local tesco extra has a total of 6 points and a 2 hour limit on ANPR.. Introduced long before the chargers because office workers were meeting in the morning and leaving all but 1 car to go in to work. Workplace parking has to be included on a P11D and is deducted from the personal tax allowance.

Employees have no associated P11D declaration requirement. The Employers (businesses) may have to declare, but not the employees.

 

[Hairyfool]

It is inherent with the battery technology that they don't like being kept perpetually at a high state of charge, the claims of no memory effect is not entirely accurate.

Overprovisioning can mitigate but it depends on the BMS configuration. If the physical battery is say 60kWh but the meter is calibrated for 50 this may be to prevent over discharging and a "get you to a charger" reserve you are still charging the full battery pack. Some systems can now rotate packs out of the charge cycle so they all are allowed to drop well below 80% in turn even though the gauge indicates 100% capacity.

The primary need for balancing arises from regular use of rapid chargers as it is the period of high charge currents that induces significant imbalance in the 1st place. Domestic charge currents don't have the same level of detrimental effects. I have my WallBox throttled to 3kW and never use rapid charging so I would expect to balance much more than once a year at worst.

 

[Hairyfool]

Employees have no associated P11D declaration requirement. The Employers (businesses) may have to declare, but not the employees.

The problem came to light with employees getting company cars as a sweetener but only worked in one office. Our senior and deputy accountant both had company cars and only worked in the one office, they had to come up with some very spurious reasons to visit sites to justify the car and the parking space.

 

[Ozzie1989]

The problem came to light with employees getting company cars as a sweetener but only worked in one office. Our senior and deputy accountant both had company cars and only worked in the one office, they had to come up with some very spurious reasons to visit sites to justify the car and the parking space.

Interesting, a company car (one in which you pay Company Car Tax for personal usage) is a benefit (hence being taxed) but there are no rules on how many places you visit etc. or mileage covered.

You may be referring to 'business needs' vehicles which can enable the employer and company to offset some of it and, in some cases after signing various declarations, not pay any tax at all.

Sounds to me like they were trying to play the system...

 

[BowrieMG]

do the MG's have an app that sends a push notification to you phone when the car is fully charged?

the problem is then finding a space to move the car to especially if you are halfway round the store, not too bad if you and partner shopping but if on your own could be a pain

but yes there does need to be a deterrent for just putting a car on charge and leaving it there all day, some supermarkets round here have an ANPR system and a 2 hour parking limit (aldi's is the main one)

I have seen cars at my local Tesco, parked most of the weekend in a charging bay , there is no need for this and people need to use common sense and move the car when it has finished charging.

 

[Alb]

My local Tesco has a 3 hour parking limit.
That or something similar is the norm rather than the exception.

 

[bwanamdevu]

Our local Asda has four points, three at 7kw and one a 3-pin plug connection! A fat lot of mileage you can get from two hours allowed on one of those in this ANPR controlled car park!

 

[Lovemyev]

I have seen cars at my local Tesco, parked most of the weekend in a charging bay , there is no need for this and people need to use common sense and move the car when it has finished charging.

Our local Tesco’s have 4 X Off 7kw units.
Every time we go shopping, all four posts are in use.
Which is a good thing, but each and every time there is a HUGE Merc EV in the same bay.
I don’t think Tesco’s are paying enough ( even the manger ) to afford one of them !.
Somebody must be getting there really early and claiming the post.
My guess is, behind the store there are some large law firms located, they are the likely customers !.
It is left on charge ALL day.
You would think that somebody who can afford a car of that price range, they could afford a charge at home !.
Hey - I have no issue with with people using this units, that’s what they are there for,
but come on, share the facility !.
Of course, there is no time restriction on the car park, so that’s why it is stuck there ALL day.
Selfish buggers !.
Brand new Aldi next door, with four bays.
But they don’t get the same use ( Fat Merc ) because they are on a 2 hour charge, then shuts down.

 

[Sue H]

I went to Chester Zoo last August which is about 100 miles from home. There were over 20 charge points and no facility to pre book which is ok. I was charged £3 for 3 hours. Obviously being a zoo you are likely to be there for that length of time anyway. I was well impressed.

 

[Sue H]

I went to Chester Zoo last August which is about 100 miles from home. There were over 20 charge points and no facility to pre book which is ok. The charge was £3 for 3 hours but of course being a zoo you are likely to be there for that length of time anyway. I was very impressed.

 

[Lovemyev]

I went to Chester Zoo last August which is about 100 miles from home. There were over 20 charge points and no facility to pre book which is ok. The charge was £3 for 3 hours but of course being a zoo you are likely to be there for that length of time anyway. I was very impressed.

Great place to visit Chester Zoo !.
It’s only about a 30 minute car ride for use.
Having 7 kw posts is great, because you will be in there for hours !.

 

[Lguk]

Work are looking at installing charge points in the larger general staff car park (I park in the management car park that already has 2 points and only 2 staff that use them).

Ive suggested given the nature of our staff working day. That it's pointless installing 7kw charge points. The majority of staff will be unable to leave their post to move a vehicle off a charge point and free it up for someone else to use, we would be better off installing double the number of 3.5kw chargers. My 5LR charges 10% an hour, on average that means 3 hours charging to replenish my 70 mile round trip commute. I do make a point of moving off the charger despite being only 1 of 2 staff with EVs

 

[Shrink Proof]

Try the Inverness Retail Park. A truly massive retail park, the biggest for 100 miles in any direction (literally). You really can shop till you drop - it contains a Tesco large enough to have time zones, plus Argos, Boots, Card Factory, Carphone Warehouse, EW Sports, EE & BT phone shop, JD Sports, Millets, New Look, Next, Pets at Home, Poundland, River Island and Superdrug.

You can eat at Costa, Frankie & Bennys, Nandos, Pizza Hut and Starbucks.

There's a huge multi-screen Vue cinema too.

For all this they have over 1,000 parking spaces, not to mention a Tesco filling station (with car wash).




And not a single EV charge point. Not one.

 

[Shrink Proof]

And 2 miles down the road from the Inverness Retail Park is the slightly smaller Inshes Retail Park. Same set-up, but different shops (McDonalds, Aldi, Dobbies Garden Centre, etc.).


There isn't a single EV charge point there either....

 

[Gomev]

Work are looking at installing charge points in the larger general staff car park (I park in the management car park that already has 2 points and only 2 staff that use them).

Ive suggested given the nature of our staff working day. That it's pointless installing 7kw charge points. The majority of staff will be unable to leave their post to move a vehicle off a charge point and free it up for someone else to use, we would be better off installing double the number of 3.5kw chargers. My 5LR charges 10% an hour, on average that means 3 hours charging to replenish my 70 mile round trip commute. I do make a point of moving off the charger despite being only 1 of 2 staff with EVs

Agree, standard 3 pin sockets in all spaces so granny can be attached all day.
The added advantage is no expensive EVSEs to purchase and install and maintain by specialists. The in-house sparky (if there is one) can maintain and look after them as they are bog standard home/office electrics.

 

[Fishettibean]

Agree, standard 3 pin sockets in all spaces so granny can be attached all day.
The added advantage is no expensive EVSEs to purchase and install and maintain by specialists. The in-house sparky (if there is one) can maintain and look after them as they are bog standard home/office electrics.

I wouldnt recommend 3 pin plugs. One, they not
water resistant. Second they are not really designed for high loads.
Get the business to properly fit type 2 sockets with load balancing, so even when the grid supply is not enough for all the chargers to give 7kw, at least they can give 3kw or even 1.5kw to all the cars rather than tripping the circuit and no car charging.

 

[Hairyfool]

I wouldnt recommend 3 pin plugs. One, they not
water resistant. Second they are not really designed for high loads.
Get the business to properly fit type 2 sockets with load balancing, so even when the grid supply is not enough for all the chargers to give 7kw, at least they can give 3kw or even 1.5kw to all the cars rather than tripping the circuit and no car charging.

They are designed for 13A which is all the granny charger can take, what they are not rated for is a continuous load indefinitely. Even those now available specifically marked as "EV ready" still cannot deliver 3kW indefinitely, most being rated at 10A.

There isn't the detail on the Granny charger provided with the MG but the one with the Leaf does report that the plug has a thermal sensor built in and will reduce the current draw if it detects overheating. I did use the GC until my Wall Box was fitted and did not find that it overheated the (admittedly new) external 13A socket even if left on all day. Problem is really going to be apparent with older, corroded and cheaply made sockets.

 

[Gomev]

I wouldnt recommend 3 pin plugs. One, they not
water resistant. Second they are not really designed for high loads.
Get the business to properly fit type 2 sockets with load balancing, so even when the grid supply is not enough for all the chargers to give 7kw, at least they can give 3kw or even 1.5kw to all the cars rather than tripping the circuit and no car charging.

So on that basis you are saying nobody should ever use a granny charger ?

I have waterproof outdoor modern sockets rated 13amps. The granny is rated at 10amps and has never caused a problem. I'm sure there are others on this forum also that have never had any problems using a granny charger.

Any company installing new outdoor 3 pin 13amp sockets will have the latest best waterproof sockets installed along with any necessary new circuits. This could be achieved at a fraction of the cost of installing type 2.

 

[Hairyfool]

So on that basis you are saying nobody should ever use a granny charger ?

I have waterproof outdoor modern sockets rated 13amps. The granny is rated at 10amps and has never caused a problem. I'm sure there are others on this forum also that have never had any problems using a granny charger.

Any company installing new outdoor 3 pin 13amp sockets will have the latest best waterproof sockets installed along with any necessary new circuits. This could be achieved at a fraction of the cost of installing type 2.

Apart from the last paragraph I have to agree, there are more than a few contractors who resort to the cheapest available components which could be of concern but even then they will be ok at 1st but don’t age well.

I did look at rewireable trailing sockets but I didn’t find one at any price I would describe as good quality. I wanted one to put on the end of my motorhome 16A lead but they all would have been the weakest link in the chain.