Unable to use council car park charger

System

This discussion was created from comments split from: New charger locations (notification only, no discussion see #1).

ted1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119386433#Comment_119386433

“employee car park”

why are you getting upset that the public can’t use it.

AndyBoBandy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119387742#Comment_119387742

As he said, the carpark is open to the public over weekends….

JohnC.

That doesn’t mean you get to use all employee facilities at weekends.

Miscreant

Sounds like it is for employees of the council only. Could be activated with an employee RFID card or something during the week and then deliberately turned off at the weekends as it is not a "public" charger.

You could always query it with the council directly? Might get you an answer quicker than wondering about it on Boards........

liamog

We spend lots of public money on chargers that the general public can't use, roughly €600 per EV owner goes into subsidising single user chargers. I don't mind government money being used to subsidise local government.

slave1

whatever avenue gets more ICE off the road, couldn't care less

Dubwat

I'm a Dub who has visited Dungarvan regularly since I was a child. I'm actually in Dungarvan now with my EV.

If the OP is true, it's a shame as the town needs more chargers. Currently, there's 1 x 2 AC and 1 DC chargers. The Nissan garage has a charger (only business hours?)

The town has a population of ~7,000 and it"s the business centre for the county outside of the city. It's relies heavily on tourism and is one end of the Greenway.

That carpark is on the town bypass and would be a great spot for a hub (wishful thinking) if the town and/or county councils wanted to improve the town's attractiveness.

Anyways, that's my selfish 2 cents :)

Red Silurian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119387845#Comment_119387845

Council staff car park, presumably owned by the council and the charger installed with public money but not accessible to the public when not in use by council staff (public servants?)

A bit annoying alright

ted1

I guess the people giving out are the same type of person who charged in Lidl for hours.

Gumbo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119397281#Comment_119397281

Activation by RFID card for council cars/vans on official business.

Same as An Post chargers at their depots. In large public accessible car parks but any Joe soap cannot plug in and rightly so.

I guess your annoyed Lidl are charging now 🤣🤣

Dubwat

But... the photos the OP posted show instructions about downloading the app and choosing your charger. There's also a phone number for support. It's suggestive that it's available to the general public. There's no 'Council Vehicles only' signs or whatever...

slave1

It's 2022, can't see why these should be council employees only during normal working hours and available to the public at a cost outside these hours.

Not having IT side of the house capability is simply not an excuse

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119402993#Comment_119402993

Do you feel that you should be able to use the council offices for yourself outside of normal hours too?

slave1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119403011#Comment_119403011

Not sure what this has to do with the topic under discussion?

In the OP the car park is already open for general public use so I see no issue with paid access to allow EV charging on what appears to be a publicly accessible unit

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119403069#Comment_119403069

It may be publicly accessible, but it's privately owned. Just because the owner happens to be Local Government doesn't mean the public have an entitlement to enjoy its use too. Similarly you wouldn't expect to have an entitlement to use their offices at the weekend either.

Kramer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119403337#Comment_119403337

Why is the car park available for public use at weekends then? Isn't it the same?

You think "the public", i.e. the people who paid for this equipment, shouldn't be "entitled" to use it, even though it will otherwise be unused, for days at a time? Take this weekend. EVSE unused from Friday 5pm until Tuesday at 9am. There, accessible, paid for with taxes, in a public car park, in a climate crisis where we want people to move to EVs. But no, shall not be used by anyone save for the employees, who won't be there for the next 3.5 days.

I must have hit my head unbeknownst to myself because I can't see rhyme nor reason for this.

Miscreant

Are the chargers in Leinster House available to the public after hours? I doubt it and the same "public money" argument applies there too.

A letter to your local councillor about the charger could furnish a reason as to why it isn't available to the public perhaps? I'm pretty sure that posting on Boards is not going to get an official answer from the Council!

zg3409

First it might be worth ringing epower during office hours and finding out if it would be possible to technically apply a fee to visitors then ringing facilities in the council or dropping in and finding the right person. It might not be easy to apply fees, or they might not want the extra wear and tear.

I had a similar issue in Donegal newly built health centre. Following instructions did not work. Contacting support I received a reply that they are staff only (no staff using them) and not listed on app. Contact facilities and they might help. It's more or less a visitor and staff car park with no barriers. Public money wasted.