“…If an electric or hybrid car that has run out of charge is connected to a charging station, generally the first hour after the end is free and the subsequent hours are paid (quite a bit) to the charging station manager with direct debit on the user’s payment system, but they cannot be fined or removed…”
Totally wrong.
The Highway Code is unequivocal:
«Art. 158.
Prohibition of stopping and parking of vehicles
1. Stopping and parking are prohibited:
[…]
h-ter) in the spaces reserved for charging electric vehicles. This ban is also foreseen for electric vehicles that do not carry out the charging operation or that remain in the charging space more than one hour after the completion of the charging phase. […]»
The relevant sanction is regulated by the following art. 159:
«Art. 159.
Removal and blocking of vehicles
1. The police bodies, referred to in art. 12, provide for the removal of vehicles:
[…]
b) in the cases referred to in articles 157, paragraph 4, and 158, paragraphs 1, 2 and 3;
[…]
3. As an alternative to removal, it is permitted, even after moving the vehicle, to lock it with a key tool applied to the wheels, without the cost of safekeeping, the technical characteristics and methods of application of which will be established in the regulation. The application of this tool is not permitted whenever the vehicle in an irregular position constitutes an obstacle or danger to traffic.
4. The removal of vehicles or their blocking constitute an additional administrative sanction to the pecuniary administrative sanctions provided for the violation of the conduct referred to in paragraph 1, pursuant to the provisions of Chapter I, Section II, of Title VI.»
So, in summary:
● Electric vehicles that park in a low-power charging bay between 7:00 and 23:00 without recharging or remain there for more than 60 minutes from the end of charging are subject, in addition to the charge foreseen by the operator used by the user, also to removal of the vehicle, or, alternatively, to blocking with the famous “jaws”;
● removal or blocking is added to the administrative sanction (= fine) provided for by the Code itself.
Then there remains the problem of how to determine the famous 60 minutes of tolerance for an electric vehicle connected to the charging station and which has finished charging. Nowadays the charging stations – as far as I know – unfortunately do not indicate the end time of charging, so the Local Police, IF and WHEN they intervene, can do nothing but note down the time of the first intervention and wait a further 60 minutes before being able to intervene with full cause.
It would be very useful if, as I have been proposing for years, charging station manufacturers were required by law to show the charging end time on the display, among other information.
