An Aberdeen man has been shocked after he was billed £73 instead of £5.63 for overstaying at an electric vehicle charging point in Altens.
Stephen Brand, a production manager from Cove, was left stunned when he made the discovery after charging his Nissan Leaf at the Aberdeen Hydrogen Centre.
Aberdeen City Council had, only days earlier, increased its tariff from £0.19 to £0.47 and implemented a £1 per minute overstay fee for vehicles staying more than two hours on rapid chargers.
Mr Cove has questioned whether they put up a sign, or not.
Before the overstay charge was implemented, car owners could keep their cars at the charge points for a long time, despite most cars only requiring 30 mins to charge their battery to 80%.
The change was designed to make more rapid chargers available for when people need them and to stop “charger hogging”.
No sign for new tariff or overstay charge
But Mr Brand, 47, said the local authority had failed to put up a sign informing customers of the changes on the charge point.
After receiving the notification on his phone of the bill, he said: “I just about fell off my seat.
“I initially thought they had charged me for another person’s charge.
“It is ridiculous. I thought it was a mistake.
“The old tariff was still on the machine.”
The £1 per minute overstay fee racks up to a maximum of £60, which Mr Brand received in full.
But when he phoned up ChargePlace Scotland, who manage the payments of EVs around Scotland, he was said he needed to take up his case with Aberdeen City Council who own the charge point.
Mr Brand said: “They weren’t very good at advertising they were putting the rates up.
“I am okay with seeing price increases because it will make charging points used more efficiently.
“But if I had known those tariffs were applicable I wouldn’t have charged on that machine.”
It was only after he complained that a sign stating the actual tariff was put on the charge point.
Council eventually decides to refund bill
Despite the incident happening on April 4, Mr Brand said it took the council until April 28 to agree to refund him.
A spokesman said: “We been in touch with the customer to discuss the matter. We confirmed with him that the signage was indeed posted late and that he is entitled to a refund.
“We are liaising with Chargeplace Scotland to arrange the refund and have apologised to the customer for any inconvenience caused.”
Electric charging increasing in price
Mr Brand has also expressed dismay at the trend of increasing prices for electric vehicles around Scotland recently.
As well as Aberdeen City Council increasing its rates in April, other operators have been doing the same.
In March, Aberdeenshire Council announced its standard rate tariff would increase from 24p per kilowatt hour to 47p.
Highland Council also announced its fast charging rate would increase from 30p up to 70p per kilowatt hour.
Mr Brand said: “I am getting a bit annoyed and frustrated by that.
“It was cheaper to run until they increased the prices by 150%.
“I think my diesel will be cheaper to run than the electric car now.”
However, the amount of people buying electric cars has never been higher.
In December 2021, sales of electric cars made up over 21% of all new car sales in Scotland.
The UK Government has committed to banning the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles from 2030.
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