Free Traffic Legal Advice
General discussion => The Flame Pit => Topic started by: mickR on March 23, 2026, 11:48:46 am
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Tesla make some of their DC chargers publicly available and the pricing is only expensive (at the right time of day)- you will need the Tesla app.
Otherwise as hc25036 posted, the Electroverse app is one of the more useful, it shows Lidl chargers, if you have the Lidl app for your shopping and pay using it they are 62p per kWh for DC rapid charging and 40p/kWh for the 7kW "fast" charging. (Still hugely more expensive than home charging, even at standard rate, horrendous if you are used to 7p/kWh!)
The Lidl needs to be open though and there will be a limit on your time in the carpark, but half an hour rapid charging will be fine.
Tbh, if you would have to pay 80 odd pence per kWh to rapid charge away from home you might as well just run on petrol for the same sort of cost per mile and not waste time charging. (Can you charge by regenerative braking when running on petrol?)
Most of the charger networks do a subscription service where you shell out every month and get a discount on their extortionate prices, but you need to be doing a lot of rapid charging to make it worthwhile.
EDIT: Whoops! I put Aldi by mistake, their chargers do show, but I don't know their prices, I tested that my car will DC charge with £3 worth of Lidl electricity, I won't be buying any more unless the choice is pay or walk home....
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See Reply №2 above.
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If you happen to get home electrcity from Octopus, then their Electroverse App works on plenty of chargers (over a million, but not all in the UK of course) and gives a small discount at some of the major suppliers.
No idea if it is open to non-customers of Octopus though.
In terms of route mapping and finding most chargers, I use ABRP (a better route planner).
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What's your main concern, where to find chargers of certain speeds, how to manage your stop so as not to have stopped charging while still parked etc?
This is for a PHEV 28kw so charging time is negligible but want to make more use of electric when on longer journeys. so looking for charger locations and cost indication, also any apps that might give discounted rates.
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Dont charge out and about much, as am lucky enough to get free charging at work.
Going off at a tangent, how do HMRC treat that?
Right now they don't, but fairly sure its only a matter of time.
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Can members suggest the best app/apps for EV charger location and use.
My car's infotainment system shows me where, how many, of what type(and has a filter for 'faster than'), how many are vacant etc. Similarly, my car's own app, SKODA, tells me all necessary charging data live once plugged in, including a predicted time at which my pre-set limit would be reached and charging stop etc.
What's your main concern, where to find chargers of certain speeds, how to manage your stop so as not to have stopped charging while still parked etc?
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A word if caution: don't expect to charge much above 80% on a high rate charger - charging slows down after that, plus it's often detrimental for the batteries to charge fast when near full.
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Chapter 3 of Part 4 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/1/part/4) would seem to be relevant here, in particular 237A:
(https://i.ibb.co/kgDrRQGm/Screenshot-2026-03-23-164751.png) (https://ibb.co/7JpTw2Sk)
Thanks for that. Every day's a school day, even at my advanced age!
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Chapter 3 of Part 4 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/1/part/4) would seem to be relevant here, in particular 237A:
(https://i.ibb.co/kgDrRQGm/Screenshot-2026-03-23-164751.png) (https://ibb.co/7JpTw2Sk)
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Dont charge out and about much, as am lucky enough to get free charging at work.
Going off at a tangent, how do HMRC treat that?
im guessing that would depend on whether they know or not
Exactly!
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Dont charge out and about much, as am lucky enough to get free charging at work.
Going off at a tangent, how do HMRC treat that?
im guessing that would depend on whether they know or not
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Dont charge out and about much, as am lucky enough to get free charging at work.
Going off at a tangent, how do HMRC treat that?
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Dont charge out and about much, as am lucky enough to get free charging at work. I will first look at Tesla App for superchargers that are open to all cars and if nothing suitable I use Zapmaps.
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Most of the time I've been using ZapMap.
This will hopefully now be augmented by the Tesla app, now I have a car that is (allegedly) compatible with superchargers on those Tesla sites that are open to non-Tesla vehicles.
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I cannot, but I can offer a word of caution to be careful when using chargers located in private car parks subject to enforcement. We're seeing more and more cases on the private parking forum of folks who've pulled into a private car park to use a charger, then received a parking charge notice for breaching the T&C's of the car park in which the charger is located.
There are various considerations here as to whether some of said charges are enforceable, but in most cases better to avoid receiving one in the first place.
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Can members suggest the best app/apps for EV charger location and use.