Drivers waiting to charge their electric vehicle (EV) in car parks risk being inadvertently fined, according to the Association of Fleet Professionals (AFP).
The fleet trade and training body says that incidents of drivers receiving a penalty charge notice (PCN) were mainly occurring where automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) technology was in use, and it was easy for company car and van drivers to miss signs warning of the maximum free time.
AFP chair, Paul Hollick, said: “If there’s a one-hour free limit in an ANPR car park and a driver has to queue for 30 minutes and then connect to the charger for 40 minutes – which is by no means an unusual situation - they’re getting a fine.
“It seems that because they are queueing and not in a parking bay, drivers are forgetting that they are still liable for car park charges.
“It is something that is being flagged up by a quite a number of our members as an issue and dealing with fines such as this is always a time consuming and surprisingly expensive administrative process.”
Hollick told Fleet News that it seems to be sufficiently widespread that the AFP thinks it is worth fleet managers communicating to drivers that they should bear in mind the maximum free time in a car park when they are charging.
He concluded: “It seems almost every week brings something new such as this which requires an adjustment by fleet managers and drivers, some small and some larger.
“They’re all part of the learning process of electrification and the AFP is performing an important service for its members by sharing best practice solutions.”
> Interested in comparing electric vehicle data? Check out our EV tool.
> Interested in ensuring the efficient use of EVs. Check out our dedicated editorial sections: Insight & policy | EV news | Charging & infrastructure | Costs & incentives | Benefit-in-kind | EV case studies | EV road tests
More articles on:
In this report
How to excel in the new landscape of fleet management
Why the current fleet manager should be mentoring their replacement
Managing a fleet means having a clear understanding of business objectives
How to persuade employees to quit their cars and switch to other transport
Everybody is talking about SDVs and how they could have major fleet benefits.
Read now
Gareth has more than 20 years’ experience as a journalist having started his career in local newspapers in the 1990s. Prior to joining Fleet News in 2008, he worked in the public sector as a media advisor and is currently news editor at Fleet News.
Login to comment
Comments
No comments have been made yet.