A Vent.....thanks for listening

[X Fan]

Had to take my dog up from Florida to see a specialist in New York ( dog lovers I’m sure get it that you do anything for your pets ) and needed to stop at Syosset NY store/SC for refresh.

Only 4 slots, 1 taken by Service Center, other 3 taken by local drivers. My X and another S from Pa. waited 30 minutes to charge.

It’s only 30 minutes but c’mon folks, charge at home.

btw: loads of vehicles in lot with 10+ X’s waiting to be delivered plus plenty of new S. Tesla should look at more slots.....

 

[jeffro01]

This is going to be an ever increasing problem, and there are several threads on TMC about this, until Tesla does what they should do and crack down on locals hogging SC spots.

I've been very adamant that this behavior isn't acceptable and I've said this before and I'll say it again "If you can't charge at home, don't buy the car".

You have every right to vent, that situation is simply unacceptable.

Jeff

 

[grommet]

The liquid cooled Supercharger station here in Mountain View is mostly used by people that live well within 35 miles; it's conveniently located by Google/Alphabet, and our very well paid employees. "Free" is still a strong incentive; their time doesn't seem to be valuable enough to not take advantage of it.

 

[CarlK]

There is a SC minutes from where I work but I can't believe anyone would waste that much time to save just a few bucks. Then again I know my wife would drive miles to go to a grocery store just to get something on sale that saves her a few bucks. It can be a game for some.

 

[Electrifying]

About a year ago Tesla Sent Out Supercharger Abuse Emails to those SC hoggers. Maybe it's time for some enforcement action from Tesla.

Tesla Sends Out Supercharger Abuse Emails - Model S Owners Not Impressed

 

[hiroshiy]

As I live in Tokyo where it is difficult to find homes with big enough parking for Model S, I can understand some apartment dwellers use Superchargers for daily charging and Tesla also wants to sell cars to such segment.

However they need to yield to long distance travelers. I think Tesla could deploy these algorithms:
- if all slots are occupied, identify highest SOC charging/finished car at the SC.
- now call the owner's mobile phone to vacate the slot politely, with automated call. Owners can choose to receive SMS instead.
- if the owner didn't move out in 15 minutes, then he will get penalized to see no power in the future for two days, when he/she tries to charge at local Superchargers. So if the violation was July 1st and he/she tries to charge locally on 3rd and 4th and 6th, he/she won't be able to charge on 3rd and 4th 24H, 6th OK to charge.
- Tesla will need to have contact numbers. If owners refuse or can't provide, those owners will get penalized after 30 minutes with no warning, and get three day no charge locally.
- all penalized cars can use long distance charging

I know this will be a little bit inconvenient to locals who use local SCs to travel long distance (which is legitimate), but they always vacate the charger once getting the call, they can move to different slot. Using the same slot, no power.
- in all cases, messages and instructions will be displayed on the dash and in the app.

 

[jsollender]

Why don't you add "anti-summons" with auto disconnect from chargers for those with auto-pilot so that the vehicle could be autonomously moved from the charging station to another nearby penalty box without the owner involved in the decision making?

 

[hiroshiy]

Why don't you add "anti-summons" with auto disconnect from chargers for those with auto-pilot so that the vehicle could be autonomously moved from the charging station to another nearby penalty box without the owner involved in the decision making?

What kind of penalty do I get if my car ends up in there? Get dirty?

 

[GVTesla]

As I live in Tokyo where it is difficult to find homes with big enough parking for Model S, I can understand some apartment dwellers use Superchargers for daily charging and Tesla also wants to sell cars to such segment.

However they need to yield to long distance travelers. I think Tesla could deploy these algorithms:
- if all slots are occupied, identify highest SOC charging/finished car at the SC.
- now call the owner's mobile phone to vacate the slot politely, with automated call. Owners can choose to receive SMS instead.
- if the owner didn't move out in 15 minutes, then he will get penalized to see no power in the future for two days, when he/she tries to charge at local Superchargers. So if the violation was July 1st and he/she tries to charge locally on 3rd and 4th and 6th, he/she won't be able to charge on 3rd and 4th 24H, 6th OK to charge.
- Tesla will need to have contact numbers. If owners refuse or can't provide, those owners will get penalized after 30 minutes with no warning, and get three day no charge locally.
- all penalized cars can use long distance charging

I know this will be a little bit inconvenient to locals who use local SCs to travel long distance (which is legitimate), but they always vacate the charger once getting the call, they can move to different slot. Using the same slot, no power.
- in all cases, messages and instructions will be displayed on the dash and in the app.

Excellent suggestion Hiroshiy

May I propose a small addition to the protocol?
1. if all slots are occupied, identify owners living nearby and using the SC with highest frequency. If no local residents, within 35 mile radius and local SC usage of > 1 per/2 weeks, plugged in, go to (2). If there is one, proceed to step (3)

 

[KublaConn]

I've been very adamant that this behavior isn't acceptable and I've said this before and I'll say it again "If you can't charge at home, don't buy the car".Jeff

Yeah, I'm sure Tesla will stand tall behind you on this, after all, why would they want people who don't have the common decency to own their own home driving around in their vehicles? While we're at it, maybe we can go back to the days when only land-owners were allowed to vote in this country?

 

[Drivin]

Had to take my dog up from Florida to see a specialist in New York ( dog lovers I’m sure get it that you do anything for your pets ) and needed to stop at Syosset NY store/SC for refresh.

Only 4 slots, 1 taken by Service Center, other 3 taken by local drivers. My X and another S from Pa. waited 30 minutes to charge.

It’s only 30 minutes but c’mon folks, charge at home.

.

Thanks for venting! This will be a great lead example for an article I am writing! Thanks.

Hopefully, rather than just venting here, you explained to those local "e-holes" (the theme of the article) that your time is more valuable and they should pack up and charge at home. 30 minutes is a completely unacceptable wait especially when there is a sick doggy involved.

I assume you also asked the service center to free up their slot since taking up 25% capacity when there are people waiting is rude.

Local people should have a sign, like a big "L" so that they can be shamed against using a local charger. Amazing that they would leave their home, drive to a supercharger, wait there with other people, and drive back home just to save a few dollars.

The Big L sign...I like that...like the Bill Engvall routine: Here's Your Sign - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Possible Article Name: "The Local Charger e-holes: Here's your sign"

 

[Monkey]

I think when a local frequenter of the SC pulls in, the car should tell them which charger slot they're allowed to use, even if there are a couple open and they have to wait for their designated slot. If they pull into another slot, the charger/ slot won't allow the car to charge, it simply alerts them to use the designated slot and wait if necessary.

This would be cheaper than at the busiest locations where they're using a valet to shuffle cars around.

I do see the motivation here and free charging has a lot to do with it. In some areas, charging at home isn't as cheap as it should be or some who have bought the car don't have the option as their condo or apartment car port doesn't have power. I know a couple Tesla owners in that situation. One not happy as the landlord has continuously promised to install some 50 Amp plugs to a few of the car ports for people with electric cars. Also know another who has the HPWC at home and only uses it in a pinch because he's just a cheap bastard who's made topping off his car at lunch most days a habit.

 

[June P]

It sounds like if you don't own a house and there is no option to charge at your apartment due to limitations then you shouldn't buy a Tesla, right?

Or is there way to regularly charge somewhere local without hogging a resource?

 

[Socal85d]

How can you tell they are local drivers??

 

[June P]

Since hiroshiy rushed to rate my question a "dislike," I wish he/she would answer my question if he or she knows the answer about charging for those who don't own a house?

Then I can judge whether it's safe to go through with buying the Tesla I put a deposit on when they announced a new one a few weeks ago and thousands of us put down a thousand dollars via the internet to help support the new model and have the option of buying one in a year.

 

[NathanWolf]

It sounds like if you don't own a house and there is no option to charge at your apartment due to limitations then you shouldn't buy a Tesla, right? Or is there way to regularly charge somewhere local without hogging a resource.

I think the general idea is you have to be able to charge at home to own a Tesla. I'm not sure if there's an official stance on it, other than this vague statement from the website:

Most Tesla drivers choose to charge their Tesla at home overnight.

There are probably exceptions, such as if you're buying the car to commute and there are charging stations at your place of business. 6-8 hours should be enough for a full charge, so this could work out. Unless they fill up, and then you're maybe in trouble - fortunately Tesla range is probably sufficient such that you could miss a day or two and still be OK.

Superchargers, specifically, are not meant for local charging though, so if your plan was to rely on that it's probably not a good bet for you.

 

[June P]

Thanks for trying to help. I am not interested in specifically "superchargers." I am trying to learn what to do if I can't charge at home. What are the options? Some other type of charger than a "supercharger" at some business? Or is it best to just not buy a Tesla until the infrastructure permits or I eventually get a house. I had a house in the past but I don't own a house right now. I don't see how I could charge it at my apartment complex because they would likely not allow me to alter the wiring.

 

[NathanWolf]

Thanks for trying to help. I am not interested in specifically "superchargers." I am trying to learn what to do if I can't charge at home. What are the options? Some other type of charger than a "supercharger" at some business? Or is it best to just not buy a Tesla until the infrastructure permits or I eventually get a house. I had a house in the past but I don't own a house right now. I don't see how I could charge it at my apartment complex because they would likely not allow me to alter the wiring.

Probably true, unfortunately. My sister rents and bought a Leaf, but she couldn't change wiring. Fortunately there was a 120V outlet where she parks, and the Leaf's battery is a lot smaller than a Tesla so that works out ok for her for nightly charging.

For a Tesla, daily driving, a 120V outlet is probably not realistic unless you only plan on consuming 10-25% of range each day. In an apartment complex, I'm guessing there's not even a guarantee you'll have any kind of outlet nearby?

You could always ask, though. It may be worthwhile for the landlord to set up a charging station and appeal to a wider range of tenants! I know this is a blocker for a lot of people (owning a condo, renting a house, etc- same problem) so I'm hoping we see charging stations at these kinds of places more in the future. Imagine, curbside chargers! We're probably a long ways off from that

Otherwise, I think your only option would be a charger at your place of business. Charging on anything other than a supercharger is too slow, you'd basically have to spend your whole day at the store (or wherever) to get charged up.

 

[June P]

There is a standard outlet in my garage that is attached to my apartment. I don't think they're going to want me to alter it but I could ask if I knew how to phrase it. There is a clothes dryer outlet in my laundry room next to the garage too; the kitchen is on the other side of that.

 

[NathanWolf]

There is a standard outlet in my garage that is attached to my apartment. I don't think they're going to want me to alter it but I could ask if I knew how to phrase it. There is a clothes dryer outlet in my laundry room next to the garage too; the kitchen is on the other side of that.

The clothes dryer outlet might actually work out well, I think the mobile connector is like 20' long so you could maybe snake it in there. It'd need to be a NEMA 14-50 plug, but I *think* that's fairly common for dryer outlets.