POLL: SHOULD ELECTRIC VEHICLE OWNERS BE FINED FOR OVERSTAYING AT CHARGING POINTS?

drivers will face new penalty fines and additional fees for overstaying at charging points in new areas from next month. Aberdeen and Sheffield will enforce fines of £30 and £20 respectively from April 1. But do you support the fines? Vote in our poll.

Some areas of Scotland already have charges in place for motorists overstaying, while charging providers in London have varying overstay rates depending on the duration.

Paul Jackson, chief executive of The Miles Consultancy, said one in six motorists is caught out by the charges each month.

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There are more than 1.15 million plug-in electric and hybrid vehicles registered in the UK but fewer than 40,000 public charge points.

Neil Isaacson, chief executive of Liberty Charge, explained the importance of keeping the charging points available. He said: "We have to make sure that our network is available as close to 100 percent of the time as possible because that is the only way we are ever going to get a return on investment."

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Melanie Shufflebotham, the co-founder of Zap-Map, an app used by motorists to locate charging points, said: "The introduction of overstay or idling charges makes sense on high-powered rapid chargers where charging time is short and it is important that the chargers are freed up for other EV drivers."Link

She noted that drivers should not be "unfairly penalised" for using the chargers as part of their daily routine.

Meanwhile, Andrew Till, who appears on YouTube as Mr , warned that the industry has "painted itself into a corner" He explained: "You're telling people that it's easy to charge because you could just charge while you're parked, but now you are saying: "Don't park too long. You have to get back to your car and move it'."

So what do YOU think? Should owners be fined for overstaying at charging points? Vote in our poll and leave your thoughts in the comment section below.

2023-03-27T10:04:10Z dg43tfdfdgfd