kazuki1328
Established Member
As a new phev driver, I would say fair point. however more of a bug bear for me as I started observing charge points prior to picking up my new car is the amount of Uber / minicabs charging at charging points. In london I would say 80% of people I have seen using charging points have been minicabs. Some have been full ev but some such as the mitsubishi outlander are phev.When I had an outlander phev I didn’t find public chargers to be cost effective. The mg one might be different.
There are a multitude of apps out there for multiple charge companies. Most but I don’t think all take contactless (credit or debit) card payments.
One piece of advice on charge etiquette though, short of being ICE’d the next infuriating thing is a phev plugged into a public charger, please leave these free for ev drivers as phevs have an alternate energy source so don’t strictly need to plug into public chargers to be able to complete their journey. Of course unless there are multiple empty charge bays. I have experienced this frustration multiple times when I have seen phevs plug in to free pod points at my usual supermarket making it a bit dicey for me to complete my journey home after a day of driving in the sticks. Luckily it is no longer free and has sorted the issue of phevs plugging in. I know the above might get some hate but I can only imagine the sentiments of an ice driver if I were to block the last free petrol pump on the forecourt. I am certain most ev drivers will relate to my frustrations.
Yes as a ev driver they have every right to use the charger the same as everyone else but considering the amount of mileage they do, Im guessing they hog the chargers quite often.
Yes I know the other side of the argument is, by using an EV its better for the environment which I do agree on. But that does't help when every time you want to use a charge point they are all full with minicabs