Viral TikTok claims BMW dealership in Aylesford is 'hogging' electric charging spaces from the public
16:14, 21 January 2022
updated: 16:20, 21 January 2022
A video posted on social media shows a car dealership supposedly using electric charging points for its new cars, when the bays are intended for shoppers.
The user claims the BMW dealership in Aylesford has been parking cars on rotation in South Aylesford Retail Park and charging them two or three times a day.
The TikTok video, posted on Tuesday, has now gone viral online
With almost 200,000 views on TikTok and over 200 shares, the woman in the video says: "BMW rotate their cars through this charging point all day long, so no one else gets a look in."
She then pans the camera over to the spaces, where two BMW cars are parked.
"I'm here for eight hours a day and I sit and watch it, as I work next to the charge point."
When interviewed by KentOnline, she explained that she began to notice a pattern in October last year.
"Within the first week of starting my new job I started to notice something was going on.
"They would come and go two or three times a day, sometimes more. Rotating their cars every three hours or so."
During one instance, she claimed that a tow truck needed to use one of the spaces to charge a dead electric car, but couldn't as two BMW vehicles were there.
Since posting the video on Tuesday, she says there have been fewer sightings of BMW cars using the spaces.
The electric charger, owned by 'Pod Point', doesn't require users to sign up and is free to use.
Car owners can 'claim' the charging point for a number of hours easily through its website.
The retail park has two 7kW charging stations, which can provide cars with a full charge in eight hours.
However, most electric car owners use these charging points as a method of 'topping up' power while they are shopping or at the gym.
The dealership, Arden Maidstone BMW, is situated across the way from the charging stations.
They both sell and service a range of BMW motors, including electric cars.
KentOnline spoke to the dealership who said it had 'no comment at this time.'
We also reached out to the company's press office, which has so far declined to comment.
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