Thirteen cents worth of electricity turned into a big headache and even bigger bill for a Surrey man who was slapped with an $80 fine for charging his electric vehicle at a wall outlet in the Central City mall parking lot.

Thirteen cents worth of electricity turned into a big headache and even bigger bill for a Surrey man who was slapped with an $80 fine for charging his electric vehicle at a wall outlet in the Central City mall parking lot.

Brett Favaro was hoping to add a few kilometres of range to his Chevy Volt when he and his daughter went shopping last week.

After finding all the charging stations either occupied or out of commission, he spied an open wall socket. So he parked, plugged in, and went into the mall.

When he returned an hour later, the $80 ticket on his windshield described the violation as "using outlet to charge vehicle not allowed."

After posting about the ticket on social media, the company that runs the lot on behalf of the mall, Concord Parking, rescinded the fine as a "one-time courtesy" and reduced the ticket to a "warning."