Another n00b question - idle fees

[AutomaticMan]

Another thing I can't quite figure out from videos/reading things is Supercharger idle fees. It looks like it charges you for every minute you're plugged in past your charge limit?

Now, being a good citizen and courteous to my fellow EV drivers, I would never deliberately plug in for longer than I need to anyway. But I have also been an EV driver long enough to know that the best laid plans of mice and EV drivers to get back to chargers on time often go awry!

So let's say I have set the charge limit to 80%, and I've wandered off in search of food. I start walking back to the car but am attacked by a bear in the car park - nightmare! I fight off the bear, but after doing so look at my Tesla app and the state of charge is 79%, I'll never make it back in time! Can I just change the charge limit in the app to 90% to give me time to get back until the late fees kick in, or doesn't it work that way?

 

[Tony Hoyle]

That works.. you also get 5 minutes grace period - long enough to dispatch the bear.

 

[AutomaticMan]

That works.. you also get 5 minutes grace period - long enough to dispatch the bear.

Thanks!

 

[GRiLLA]

You can also change the charge limit if you need, but it's a bit of a disrespectful move to charge higher than you need for no good reason other than you can't get your life sorted, unless of course you are in active Ursidae combat.

 

[DM206433]

Think the idle fees only kick in if the supercharger stalls are populated past a certain point too.

 

[HenryT]

I fell foul of the late charge while I was test driving a M3.

Left my MS on charge with 100% charge target set which meant I had plenty of time but missed the fact the supercharger 'defaulted' it back to 80% because of the busy chargers at Stockport. Couldn't get a phone signal to change it back when the app pinged to tell me charging was complete at 80% so put it down to my own fault and left it at that.

In the event, when the app updated it said the late charge was waived as it was a first offence.

 

[davidmc]

In the event, when the app updated it said the late charge was waived as it was a first offence.

Let's hope the fight with the Bear happens to be your first offence then! @AutomaticMan

 

[AutomaticMan]

Let's hope the fight with the Bear happens to be your first offence then! @AutomaticMan

Happens to me all the time. I'm often carrying pic-a-nic baskets...

 

[Adopado]

You can also change the charge limit if you need, but it's a bit of a disrespectful move to charge higher than you need for no good reason other than you can't get your life sorted, unless of course you are in active Ursidae combat.

I find that I can fend off the bear with one hand and use the other hand to use the phone app to increase the charge percentage. (Sometimes the "bear" just turns out to be a forkfull of chips.)

 

[MrBadger]

So let's say I have set the charge limit to 80%, and I've wandered off in search of food. I start walking back to the car but am attacked by a bear in the car park - nightmare! I fight off the bear, but after doing so look at my Tesla app and the state of charge is 79%, I'll never make it back in time!

Actually, a real world scenario occurs with V2 Superchargers. If you plug into a supercharger whose twin is already occupied (V2 paired stalls are numbered with A and B and are not necessarily adjacent although most are), you often get a small share of the total overall power. When the other vehicle leaves, the power to your car will quite often increase, often dramatically. Your charge time will suddenly reduce, meaning any sustenance you may be part way through needs to be quickly consumed as first you often know that charge will complete far sooner than first estimated (other than a mental note to self that its a shared charge so at the mercy of the first car) is a 5 minute notification on the app - assuming you have a mobile signal on your phone, which is not always the case, eg Fleet Services.

I tend to return to my car well in advance of any estimated charge completion. It also means that I am safe inside my car when the bear arrives.

 

[Tony Hoyle]

Ahh but then the bear will attack you whilst you're in the car, which could affect your no claims bonus.

 

[Mrklaw]

I’ve done that before a couple of times - although it was a grey squirrel.

The car sometimes auto sets to 80% if its a busy charger so even if you start with it set to eg 90, it can lower it to a ‘recommended‘ setting. But you can still override in the app. And they send you a handy notification before you’re fully charged so thats ideal to bump it up to 100% to give you the 5 minutes you need to get a rabies shot and get back to the car

 

[AutomaticMan]

Actually, a real world scenario occurs with V2 Superchargers. If you plug into a supercharger whose twin is already occupied (V2 paired stalls are numbered with A and B and are not necessarily adjacent although most are), you often get a small share of the total overall power. When the other vehicle leaves, the power to your car will quite often increase, often dramatically. Your charge time will suddenly reduce, meaning any sustenance you may be part way through needs to be quickly consumed as first you often know that charge will complete far sooner than first estimated (other than a mental note to self that its a shared charge so at the mercy of the first car) is a 5 minute notification on the app - assuming you have a mobile signal on your phone, which is not always the case, eg Fleet Services.

I tend to return to my car well in advance of any estimated charge completion. It also means that I am safe inside my car when the bear arrives.

So it sounds like the way to approach it is to always set your charge limit to 80% and aim for that. I've always done that anyway in other EVs I've owned as it's a waste of my time and everyone else who might be waiting for a charger's time having my car's charging speed slow to a trickle much above that. But it sounds like in the Tesla, there's a second reason for that which is that if you are being defeated by a particularly large sandwich - or a particularly large bear - you can use that extra 20% as a buffer to prevent idle fees by knocking the charge limit up to 100% in the app.

 

[Mrklaw]

the idle fees can be based on historically busy sites but may not be busy at that moment. In that case if its quiet I don’t mind bumping the charge to 100 (which will be slow) and making a point of getting back as soon as possible.

My learning from my first year of ownership going forwards will be: mostly the thing charges quicker than I expect so if I only need 10-15 mins then I’m allowed a wee or grabbing a sandwich or coffee but not all three - I’ll head back and move the car first or sit with it while it tops up

 

[DrTR]

Happens to me all the time. I'm often carrying pic-a-nic baskets...

Perhaps we need to consult our friends in Canada, they might have experience of this sort of thing. I wonder if anyone of them have ever got idle fees due to...

 

[pgkevet]

Simple answers are to carry the pic-a-nic basket with you in the car - no need to get out apart from plugging in. Bear deterrent sprays exist.

 

[Buzzliteyear]

Another thing I can't quite figure out from videos/reading things is Supercharger idle fees. It looks like it charges you for every minute you're plugged in past your charge limit?

Now, being a good citizen and courteous to my fellow EV drivers, I would never deliberately plug in for longer than I need to anyway. But I have also been an EV driver long enough to know that the best laid plans of mice and EV drivers to get back to chargers on time often go awry!

So let's say I have set the charge limit to 80%, and I've wandered off in search of food. I start walking back to the car but am attacked by a bear in the car park - nightmare! I fight off the bear, but after doing so look at my Tesla app and the state of charge is 79%, I'll never make it back in time! Can I just change the charge limit in the app to 90% to give me time to get back until the late fees kick in, or doesn't it work that way?

Which M3 do you have?
Only use a supercharger on long journeys and have the limit set to 100%, not that I wait until it's gets to 100%.
It starts slowing down by 80% so that usually gives you enough time if your stopping for you to get something while you are charging.

 

[AutomaticMan]

Which M3 do you have?
Only use a supercharger on long journeys and have the limit set to 100%, not that I wait until it's gets to 100%.
It starts slowing down by 80% so that usually gives you enough time if your stopping for you to get something while you are charging.

I have no Model 3 But on Friday I will have a Model 3 Long Range!

I was thinking I would set it to 80% as ideally, if I manage to avoid big bears or big time-consuming sandwiches, I would be looking to get back to my car around then so that I'm not wasting time charging while the charge rate is slow above that. Then that way I presume the app will tell me how long left until I hit that limit so I can plan when to start walking back. But then I'd also be ready to switch the limit up to 100% in the app if I am attacked by bears/sandwiches and need a little more time.

 

[Mrklaw]

I have no Model 3 But on Friday I will have a Model 3 Long Range!

I was thinking I would set it to 80% as ideally, if I manage to avoid big bears or big time-consuming sandwiches, I would be looking to get back to my car around then so that I'm not wasting time charging while the charge rate is slow above that. Then that way I presume the app will tell me how long left until I hit that limit so I can plan when to start walking back. But then I'd also be ready to switch the limit up to 100% in the app if I am attacked by bears/sandwiches and need a little more time.

Yep. App warns you you’re nearly done and again when you’re done. So there is time to bump the charge limit if needed

And note that setting it to 100% initially won’t always work - the car will turn it down to 80% at a supercharger decided to be ‘busy’

 

[BK11SBY]

What a lovely problem to have, 'Idle fees'. As a large battery, early S owner, I don't have to worry about my car carging too fast, I go looking for bears to buy me some more time, hehe