Why many Australian electric vehicle owners are getting fed up

Australian electric vehicle drivers are growing increasingly frustrated with fellow EV drivers who hog charging bays for extended periods of time.

An electric vehicle owner raised the issue last week, calling out a BYD driver who left their car charging for over seven hours at Stocklands Harrisdale in Perth.

‘Do BYDs take that long to charge? Almost seven hours as per the Chargefox app,’ he wrote on Facebook.

Some social media users expressed frustration over the ‘selfish’ parking behaviour, while others pointed out that ‘BYD models take almost 10 hours to fully charge.’

Others reminded EV owners that public charger ports are meant to be shared.

More Australians are making the switch to electric vehicles with 95,289 sold in the year to June 30, 2024.

As lack of proper infrastructure continues to plague the country, the availability of public charging stations continues to be one of the biggest concerns for motorists.

It is not uncommon for long queues to form at free chargers in car parks, hotels, restaurants and shopping centres, but they are generally slower than paid charging stations

Queensland electric motorbike rider Gordon Walker said occupying the charging stations for longer than needed is just ‘arrogant’.

‘I’ve seen it so many times where they’re plugged in, they’re at 100 per cent and they don’t come back for an hour and a half,’ he told Yahoo.

‘They treat it as free parking, that’s annoying.

‘I charge my bike and as soon as it’s charged I move it out.’

Another EV driver shared their experience on Reddit, and said they previously left a note on a vehicle which was regularly plugged in for nine hours. 

‘I get it, sometimes you might be an hour late getting back to the car… maybe you can’t always charge at home, that’s okay too,’ they wrote.

‘But public chargers aren’t yours, don’t leave your car there overnight or almost double the charge time for your car.’ 

There are currently no laws stopping drivers from using a public electric vehicle charger for extended periods, but drivers are urged to be polite and considerate.

‘Unless it’s absolutely necessary, it’s best not to charge all the way to 100 per cent,’ the NRMA said on EV charging etiquette back in April.

‘At the top of any list of lapses in EV charging etiquette would have to be drivers who leave their EV unattended on charge for longer than they need to.

This is sometimes referred to as ‘camping’ and is a source of great frustration for other EV drivers waiting to use the charger.’

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