An Update to our Supercharging Program

[suwaneedad]

Can anyone point me to clarity from Tesla whether unlimited free supercharging goes with the vehicle regardless of the vehicle's owner? In other words, if I buy a MS in 2017 from someone who owned it prior to 2017, am I acquiring not only the used car but also unlimited supercharging for the rest of the life of that car? Thanks.

 

[brkaus]

Can anyone point me to clarity from Tesla whether unlimited free supercharging goes with the vehicle regardless of the vehicle's owner? In other words, if I buy a MS in 2017 from someone who owned it prior to 2017, am I acquiring not only the used car but also unlimited supercharging for the rest of the life of that car? Thanks.

Nothing is documented yet. Tesla said by end of year.

 

[Sonny Daze]

Can anyone point me to clarity from Tesla whether unlimited free supercharging goes with the vehicle regardless of the vehicle's owner? In other words, if I buy a MS in 2017 from someone who owned it prior to 2017, am I acquiring not only the used car but also unlimited supercharging for the rest of the life of that car? Thanks.

Similar discussion on Model 3 forum...

We will release the details of the program later this year, and while prices may fluctuate over time and vary regionally based on the cost of electricity, our Supercharger Network will never be a profit center.

It would be nice if this would happen. There's only a few weeks left and isn't Tesla off the last week of this year?

Well remember they promised the same details of the program "soon" after the May 31st announcement at the shareholder's conference about the decoupling.

 

[suwaneedad]

Nothing is documented yet. Tesla said by end of year.

OK. Thanks. Tick Tock, Elon!

 

[AB4EJ]

This reminds me of the practice that Goodyear has (or at least used to have) where they provided free tire rotation for a set of tires they sold you... but only to the original owner. I hope not, but this could be the outcome here as well.

 

[Electroman]

This is my hunch - all cars manufactured before end of 2016 will get unlimited supercharging that carries over from the original owner to subsequent owners. Mine is a 2014, and if i sell it to someone next year I fully expect the next owner will have all the benefits that I had.

 

[JeffK]

Can anyone point me to clarity from Tesla whether unlimited free supercharging goes with the vehicle regardless of the vehicle's owner? In other words, if I buy a MS in 2017 from someone who owned it prior to 2017, am I acquiring not only the used car but also unlimited supercharging for the rest of the life of that car? Thanks.

Actually, it was confirmed it would follow the car.

 

[ohmman]

Actually, it was confirmed it would follow the car.

Officially? The only confirmation I heard was through Electrek or some other media outlet quoting a Tesla employee. I haven't seen anything from corporate.

 

[JeffK]

Officially? The only confirmation I heard was through Electrek or some other media outlet quoting a Tesla employee. I haven't seen anything from corporate.

Not officially, just citing the Electrek article.

 

[FlatSix911]

Tesla will start cracking down on Supercharger abuse, says CEO Elon Musk

Beyond announcing the end of unlimited free Supercharging and the change to ‘Supercharging credit program’, it looks like Tesla is preparing to introduce new measures to crack down on Supercharger abuse, especially Tesla owners leaving their vehicles at Supercharger stations for long periods of times after charging is over. Earlier this year, Tesla already started implementing a new message text-based alert system to deter owners from leaving their cars at Superchargers after reaching their preset charging requirements. Tesla would send a message text alerting the owner that charging is over and then again every 5 minutes until the vehicle is unplugged.

Apparently, that is not working with everyone since owners are still complaining that people are leaving their Model S or X after charging is over, even overnight in some instances. Last night, French entrepreneur and Model S owner Loic Le Meur took to Twitter to complain about the issue to Tesla CEO Elon Musk who agreed with Le Meur:

The CEO confirmed that Tesla “will take action”. It’s not clear what it could entail at this point. Let us know if you have any idea in the comment section below. Some owners have complained about taxi services, like Tesloop, leaving their vehicles overnight at Superchargers in Southern California:

Their business model is to offer long distance transport services, especially between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, and using Tesla’s Superchargers to charge their vehicles for free. It lowers their ongoing costs and it is technically within Tesla’s guidelines for Superchargers. The vehicles delivered before April 2017 have access to Superchargers for long distance travel for free. As long as they use the cars for long distances, like Los Angeles to Las Vegas, they should be fine.

Other taxi services using Tesla vehicles, like Teo Taxi, bought their own private Superchargers directly from Tesla in order to be able to charge their vehicles for short distance travel without causing any issues at public Superchargers. Where Tesla owners have a problem with Tesloop is when they leave their vehicles at Superchargers overnight, even though it would be fully charged within just over an hour, and in the process, they can be taking the spot of someone who actually needs to charge – hence Musk’s comment that “Supercharger spots are meant for charging, not parking”.

 

[JeffK]

Officially? The only confirmation I heard was through Electrek or some other media outlet quoting a Tesla employee. I haven't seen anything from corporate.

I guess technically the blog post does say:

These changes will not impact current owners or any new Teslas ordered before January 1, 2017, as long as delivery is taken before April 1, 2017.

I might take this to mean the changes don't affect any Teslas ordered before Jan 1. but we might have to wait for further clarification. I found the article btw... it was from the verge

Current Tesla owners with Supercharger-equipped cars will be able to use the stations for free for the life of those vehicles, and a Tesla spokesperson tells The Verge that the free charging will transfer to successive owners.

 

[MP3Mike]

@JeffK But if you want to take that literally if you sell your Tesla after April 1st, 2017 the new owner didn't take delivery prior to the cut-off.

I think we just have to wait a little longer for Tesla to publish the official policy/rules. I personally expect private sales to retain the unlimited Supercharging while CPO sales would get rolled to the 400kWh/year plan. (And at the same time I think Tesla will pay trade-in prices based on having the unlimited Supercharging so trade-in owners don't get penalized.) IMO: It makes the most sense since it is in Tesla's, and everyone's, best interest to reduce the number unlimited Supercharging cars out there.

 

[robby]

I don't understand the confusion. Look at your purchase paperwork. Supercharging is clearly tied to the car, just as every other included feature and purchased option is. They can't take supercharging away from you post hoc any more than they can take away your automatic headlights or your battery. And they can't stop you from selling what is legally yours.

The only open question about legacy supercharging right now is what will happen to CPOs. They can take supercharging away from CPOs when they secure ownership of them if they want to eat that loss.

 

[Az_Rael]

I don't understand the confusion. Look at your purchase paperwork. Supercharging is clearly tied to the car, just as every other included feature and purchased option is. They can't take supercharging away from you post hoc any more than they can take away your automatic headlights or your battery. And they can't stop you from selling what is legally yours.

The only open question about legacy supercharging right now is what will happen to CPOs. They can take supercharging away from CPOs when they secure ownership of them if they want to eat that loss.

It doesn't say "unlimited" supercharging, though. My sales paperwork says "supercharger enabled". Technically 2017 cars will say the same thing, since they have supercharging enabled as well. They just only get 400 kWh free per year instead of unlimited.

 

[JeffK]

@JeffK But if you want to take that literally if you sell your Tesla after April 1st, 2017 the new owner didn't take delivery prior to the cut-off.

What if you sell to a past Tesla owner??
Mind == Blown! haha

 

[robby]

It doesn't say "unlimited" supercharging, though. My sales paperwork says "supercharger enabled". Technically 2017 cars will say the same thing, since they have supercharging enabled as well. They just only get 400 kWh free per year instead of unlimited.

True but "supercharging" is a Tesla-specific term and there is a litany of materials, all straight from Tesla, that defined it as "free long distance travel for life" at the time early buyers purchased their cars. If you think, when presented with all of the materials defining what "supercharging" was, that Tesla could convince a judge or jury that "free long distance travel for life" was not part of that definition and not what the term was understood to mean, then it's a fair legal concern. But it's hard for me to see Tesla winning that in civil court where the standard is a preponderance of evidence. "Supercharging enabled" would admittedly, I think to your point, have a different meaning for later buyers once Tesla changed its definition in product presentations, financial statements, marketing and promotional materials, etc.

The legality aside, I really can't see Tesla pushing this issue. It'd generate a lot of bad blood, for very little upside. In a few years, this will affect only the least desirable 10% of its fleet, and the number will get smaller every year.

 

[ron8853]

Tesla will start cracking down on Supercharger abuse, says CEO Elon Musk

Beyond announcing the end of unlimited free Supercharging and the change to ‘Supercharging credit program’, it looks like Tesla is preparing to introduce new measures to crack down on Supercharger abuse, especially Tesla owners leaving their vehicles at Supercharger stations for long periods of times after charging is over. Earlier this year, Tesla already started implementing a new message text-based alert system to deter owners from leaving their cars at Superchargers after reaching their preset charging requirements. Tesla would send a message text alerting the owner that charging is over and then again every 5 minutes until the vehicle is unplugged.

Apparently, that is not working with everyone since owners are still complaining that people are leaving their Model S or X after charging is over, even overnight in some instances. Last night, French entrepreneur and Model S owner Loic Le Meur took to Twitter to complain about the issue to Tesla CEO Elon Musk who agreed with Le Meur:View attachment 205353
The CEO confirmed that Tesla “will take action”. It’s not clear what it could entail at this point. Let us know if you have any idea in the comment section below. Some owners have complained about taxi services, like Tesloop, leaving their vehicles overnight at Superchargers in Southern California:

Their business model is to offer long distance transport services, especially between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, and using Tesla’s Superchargers to charge their vehicles for free. It lowers their ongoing costs and it is technically within Tesla’s guidelines for Superchargers. The vehicles delivered before April 2017 have access to Superchargers for long distance travel for free. As long as they use the cars for long distances, like Los Angeles to Las Vegas, they should be fine.

Other taxi services using Tesla vehicles, like Teo Taxi, bought their own private Superchargers directly from Tesla in order to be able to charge their vehicles for short distance travel without causing any issues at public Superchargers. Where Tesla owners have a problem with Tesloop is when they leave their vehicles at Superchargers overnight, even though it would be fully charged within just over an hour, and in the process, they can be taking the spot of someone who actually needs to charge – hence Musk’s comment that “Supercharger spots are meant for charging, not parking”.

 

[ron8853]

Heard on the Street:

The new charger program has cost related to zip codes-i.e. cars with zip codes further from a charger will be billed at a lower rate than those with zip codes adjacent to the charger.

Secondly, a per minute charge for vehicles with charging complete after 30 minutes has elapsed.

 

[jerry33]

The legality aside, I really can't see Tesla pushing this issue. It'd generate a lot of bad blood, for very little upside. In a few years, this will affect only the least desirable 10% of its fleet, and the number will get smaller every year.

I'm not convinced that early adopters should be classified as 'least desirable".

 

[roblab]

I don't see selfishness and abuse as bad blood generated by Tesla. It's generated by owners who think that supercharging for life means charging for life. Tesla needs to stop putting superchargers in urban and suburban locations. If you are on a trip, there might be a supercharger location along the interstate, but why would they put one in town? I hope they have learned that lesson: There are obviously more drivers who can afford a $100,000 car who can't afford to pay to plug in at home ($5?), than there will ever be superchargers.

If SCs are only located on the long empty stretches, Tesla can still offer unlimited supercharging. People who want to travel to, let's say, Napa Valley, can visit one of the many wineries that have 80 amp charging ("offered to our guests only") and get 50 miles every hour, enough surely to make it to the next winery. Destination charging. But absolutely no need for a supercharger in Napa, and thankfully, the "Napa" supercharger is out of town.

If they decided to, Tesla could just stop putting in so many chargers. Pretty soon we who like to travel learn which chargers to avoid (Dublin, Burbank, etc.) and plan our stops accordingly. Not only do I not need to charge there, I don't want to meet the people who will loudly proclaim it is their "right" to hog a spot so long distance travelers can't make it to the next charger. I hope Tesla has a way to make those charge spots even less desirable, like, for some reason (and "they're working on it"), they will only charge at 80 amps or less.