Retail Park Charging

[Les burrows]

Charging on retail car parks but be AWARE of this one I have used them without a problem but
Les

 

[Hairyfool]

There may not be a sign on the charger but I am certain that there will be at the entrance to the car park. Failure to adhere to the rules of the notice whatever they may be is the fault of the driver even if the store is not open.

Does he expect a notice on every bay? Driving past the sign on entry and still parking in a bay is an indication that the rules are accepted. I presume that he wants all Lidl car parks to be locked if the store is closed which in a reasonable society should not be needed, the facility is there but it is not to be abused as defined by the signage.

 

[Gomev]

There may not be a sign on the charger but I am certain that there will be at the entrance to the car park. Failure to adhere to the rules of the notice whatever they may be is the fault of the driver even if the store is not open.

Does he expect a notice on every bay? Driving past the sign on entry and still parking in a bay is an indication that the rules are accepted. I presume that he wants all Lidl car parks to be locked if the store is closed which in a reasonable society should not be needed, the facility is there but it is not to be abused as defined by the signage.

I wonder if there is a sign at the entrance to Tesco's car parks. Marston Pubs, Starbucks, McDonalds etc. etc., and other retail parks. I'm not certain, well not as certain as you about that Lidl.

 

[biffo]

There may not be a sign on the charger but I am certain that there will be at the entrance to the car park. Failure to adhere to the rules of the notice whatever they may be is the fault of the driver even if the store is not open.

Does he expect a notice on every bay? Driving past the sign on entry and still parking in a bay is an indication that the rules are accepted. I presume that he wants all Lidl car parks to be locked if the store is closed which in a reasonable society should not be needed, the facility is there but it is not to be abused as defined by the signage.

The issue with some Lidl stores is that they're forcing you to buy something from inside the store (and register car details for the ANPR?) and being a customer of the PodPoint unit in their carpark is not deemed adequate. It's not all Lidl, just some. So, whilst the PodPoint unit is working and available for use 24/7, the car park it is situated in, although unlocked, is technically closed as the store is.

I wonder if there is a sign at the entrance to Tesco's car parks. Marston Pubs, Starbucks, McDonalds etc. etc., and other retail parks. I'm not certain, well not as certain as you about that Lidl.

My Local Tesco has a sign at the entrance to the car park - can't remember if it says 2 or 3 hours maximum stay - never really read it as only use the 7kW Podpoint when shopping.

 

[Gomev]

My Local Tesco has a sign at the entrance to the car park - can't remember if it says 2 or 3 hours maximum stay - never really read it as only use the 7kW Podpoint when shopping.

Precisely.

 

[Lguk]

Max stay makes perfect sense and also discourages taxis sitting there all day on free vend. Chargers only available to customers that spend money in the store however is something that should be signposted as many will feel using the point in itself makes you a customer.

 

[Ding]

I charged my car at lidl for 30minutes after store closing time last week. Am I going to receive the fine? The parking sign states 90 minutes stay free.

 

[biffo]

I charged my car at lidl for 30minutes after store closing time last week. Am I going to receive the fine? The parking sign states 90 minutes stay free.

Not all Lidl have ANPR systems - also depends on the terms & conditions on the signage about out of hours parking I guess

 

[Hairyfool]

Whether or not there is a sign will in part depend on who manages parking. Many retail parks will have let their parking administration to external 3rd party companies who in many cases even pay for the privilege. They then recoup the letting fee and make profit by charging transgressors of the rules. They are required by contract law to provide adequate signage so the user has the ability to understand the terms which apply to users of the car park.

Many a case has been lost by operators for not showing the rules in a manner that can be seen understood, they all know what is needed to be in place to win any objection. The operators only make money from the fines and in most cases nothing else and that model is still lucrative at the moment. Proposed legislation capping charges may make them less so.

 

[AK OK]

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.

If we are to believe the "solid glow" of the MG badge mine is balancing every time I granny charge it.... I haven't rapid charged it for months...

 

[Archev]

I’m in Oban with the car at 25% and unable to start the CCS charger at Tweedale car park last night. Went to the Ferry office CCS charge point this morning and again unable to coax any power along the cable. Went into Tesco’s for some water etc and noticed they have had new Pod Point units installed and have only just been commissioned as far as I can see.
I quickly pulled up to the (only) CCS and connected the car to it. It zapped the five’s battery right up to 80% (200 miles) in about three twinklings of the old eyes while we had a baked tattie and coffee in the cafe.
So we’ll get back home without having to pedal at all now - happy days.

 

[sido]

This has to change. Assuming somebody who can actually do something about this looking in. Inevitably when something is free, somebody will abuse it. We need that stopping, quickly. I think charger hogging should now be ticketed with a standard £30 fine. If we all accept a 2 hour max time for charging we will plan for it and benefit from chargers becoming available within a reasonable time. Surely the chargers themselves can be programmed to do the dirty work, with timers and cctv, don’t even need a traffic warden.
i also think the chargers should control the locking mechanism too and when a parked car has broken the law it should unlock the plug allowing you to unplug it and start your owned timed charge. I would like to think if this happened a protocol would require the unplugger ( sorry new word), to replace the plugs in the offending car to protect it from water damage.
This is me thinking out loud but I think something like this will be needed at some point In the future to avoid chaos at charging points

 

[Hairyfool]

Even if the charger locks out after 2 hours you still have the issue of getting in the occupied bay. The charger has to be in the junction of 4 bays but even then most stations are at least 2 chargers.

I used a 22kW station in a hotel in Windsor which was 2 chargers fully expecting a decent charge on my return. However after about 90 minutes someone started to use the 2nd charger and crashed the whole station.

When I complained the operator said the hotel needed to reset the station but the hotel staff said the station was nothing to do with them. Luckily the charge it got was enough to get me home with 16 miles to spare. This is exactly the situation those that are anti EV would quote so more work is needed to stop stations going off line.

 

[Ozzie1989]

Not all Lidl have ANPR systems - also depends on the terms & conditions on the signage about out of hours parking I guess

I generally take a photo of the sign if it's somewhere I'm not used to, at least I have a reference I'm case of any issues.

Two of my local Lidl have different parking terms. Both are 90 minutes but one is next to a rugby pitch. That one just says 'Controlled Parking Area Maximum Stay 90 minutes' (which is kind of them as the parents use the car park). The other says 'Parking for Customers Only Maximum Stay 90 minutes'.

Now if the store is closed, you can't be a customer so could be fined for using that car park out of store hours. It should say 'Excluding EV Charging' to cover users of the charger.

 

[Archev]

I’m in Oban with the car at 25% and unable to start the CCS charger at Tweedale car park last night. Went to the Ferry office CCS charge point this morning and again unable to coax any power along the cable. Went into Tesco’s for some water etc and noticed they have had new Pod Point units installed and have only just been commissioned as far as I can see.
I quickly pulled up to the (only) CCS and connected the car to it. It zapped the five’s battery right up to 80% (200 miles) in about three twinklings of the old eyes while we had a baked tattie and coffee in the cafe.
So we’ll get back home without having to pedal at all now - happy days.

The CPS units at Arrochar, Tweedale car park Oban and the Oban FerryTerminal would hav e been 25 p/unit if they’d been of a mind to give us any Power. None of those seem to like MG5s despite using the time honoured trick of supporting the plug to allow the car and charger to negotiate handover terms ??
The Pod Point unit at Oban was 28 p/unit and cuts off at 80%. We stopped at Stirling as we passed on the way home and sat for half an hour or so for a free top up to 80% amongst the Teslas. Back home I plugged the home charger in and at 8:30pm it lit up during our off peak period and when I went out at ten pm the car reported a full 100% with the promise of 270 miles of happy motoring with a beautifully balanced battery without an Esso Tiger anywhere in sight - just Morris our guard bear gazing over the bonnet from his dashboard perch.

 

[Fishettibean]

Do what the French do: bill by the minute rather than KW. I'm not a fan of this (I am a bill for KW), but will stop hoggers and only use them when needed, and stay for the shortest period unless they want to be ripped off.
And ionity in France without octopus juice card: €0.79 per minute!!!

 

[Hairyfool]

In many cases if the site has ANPR then management will have been passed over to an external company. Software analyses the exit camera to "read" the number plate and then match it to the incoming decoded table. If it can't find one or it exceeds the time limit it is then flagged to a operative to confirm the breach of terms and generate the fine paperwork. The office of the operator can be anywhere in the country and be supervising the images from a considerable number of car parks.

 

[notdodgy]

Oh no I see on zap map they’re noted as type 2’s.

Local ASDA has 4 3kw chargers.
Usually 2 out of order and one permanently in use by the store manager.
Frequently iced. I don't even try.