Burned by Tesla on idle fees. Something to know

[jelloslug]

The fees are for the situation where common sense and consideration were not applied...it doesn't mean that common sense and consideration can't be used. Thus my original point that being pedantic is not necessary. In situations where parking overnight or for extended periods of time don't violate the rules of common sense and consideration it is reasonable to do so.

And as long as the rules that are set forth are followed, nobody will be charged a fee.

 

[X Fan]

^^^
FWIW: if ur at a hotel and you park overnight to charge it will most certainly will be ok; both for your fellow Tesla drivers and in saving idle fees.

However, if you get a late start and idle fees are then triggered due to SC congestionn, then it’s only fair that you pay idle fees.

 

[efusco]

And as long as the rules that are set forth are followed, nobody will be charged a fee.

That was never in question. This whole thing started with your concrete admonition that people should never park at superchargers when not charging.

 

[jelloslug]

That was never in question. This whole thing started with your concrete admonition that people should never park at superchargers when not charging.

And I stand by that. Not charging, go park somewhere else.

 

[efusco]

And I stand by that. Not charging, go park somewhere else.

And I stand by...no....there are reasonable situation to stay parked which I very clearly described. 99% of the time we're in agreement, but there are situations where that is an unreasonable expectation and so long as nobody else is being inconvenienced being that concrete is just silly.

 

[alloverx]

perhaps no idle fees between midnight and 6am?

 

[efusco]

perhaps no idle fees between midnight and 6am?

Not sure that's even the answer as I can imagine situations where even that would be a bad idea. But, again, it goes to what's reasonable and requires a bit of situational awareness. If you show up at 1 am in Columbia, MO and there are no other Tesla's there and you're leaving at 7am, it is reasonable to assume that there will not be a sudden influx of Tesla's b/w 1a and 7a wanting to charge and that you're car's presence would impede that. Maybe in Los Angeles where there are many more Teslas that would be a bad idea. It's all situational.

 

[mongo]

perhaps no idle fees between midnight and 6am?

That would be terrible for people traveling at night...

Not sure that's even the answer as I can imagine situations where even that would be a bad idea. But, again, it goes to what's reasonable and requires a bit of situational awareness. If you show up at 1 am in Columbia, MO and there are no other Tesla's there and you're leaving at 7am, it is reasonable to assume that there will not be a sudden influx of Tesla's b/w 1a and 7a wanting to charge and that you're car's presence would impede that. Maybe in Los Angeles where there are many more Teslas that would be a bad idea. It's all situational.

Indeed, who know when a there may have been a recent nearby Tesla gathering...

 

[dfwatt]

While I get your directive in theory (don't occupy a supercharging spot and potentially prevent someone from a needed charge), even Tesla has endorsed the use of the SC spots by non-Tesla's. Many Superchargers have "general parking" permitted signs presumably due to requirements of the lot owner not wanting to give up too much parking for other customers. The OP made the reasonable assumption that at a Supercharger with no-one else charging he would likely be ok leaving the car overnight and not prevent another Tesla from charging or incur any idling fees. Could always leave your contact info in the windshield if someone needs a charge I suppose but probably better just to move the car after it has reached the desired SOC.

Literally the moment SC spaces are generally treated as in any sense equivalent to parking spaces is the moment that Tesla's chance at building a critically needed charging infrastructure goes to zero. While I understand your point here, we can't have exceptions to the rule that SC spaces aren't parking spaces. All the SC locations need to enforce this, including charging gas vehicles for parking, which is particularly egregious, or frankly towing their asses out of there. As the wave of M 3's hits the infrastructure, which is happening as we speak, this preservation of space become more and more critical. Otherwise, you'll quickly approach a situation in which people cannot travel away from home with a Tesla, without exposing themselves to enormous grief and long wait times. So there can be no exceptions on this rule. And Tesla need to enforce tows on gas vehicles parked in EV spaces.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

Doesn't anyone remember what happened after the Gigafactory grand opening in 2016? After the event, dozens of Teslas went to the Atlantis and many plugged into the Superchargers. Some of them, including one driven by a Tesla employee, were left plugged in for hours. During the grand opening of the Supercharger the following day, the Tesla-owned car was still plugged-in and had sticky notes all over the windshield. There was a long line of cars waiting to use the Supercharger stalls. We needed to charge before heading out of town but gave up on waiting and ended up adding enough miles at my mom's house to get us to the Supercharger in Lovelock.

So it may be rare to have Superchargers fill up overnight but it can happen and it just gets worse if there are several cars parked there for hours.

 

[alloverx]

It all comes down to how you handle edge cases. Do you allow for weird one off events?

 

[thefortunes]

The world isn't quite so black and white...unfortunately. I take it you've never arrived at a supercharger near your hotel at 2am knowing you have to get up at 7am and leave with a full charge. Yeah, you can get up at 3:30am and go out and unplug, but when there's nobody else there at 2am, the chances that your chosing to park there until 7am will prevent someone else from being able to charge in that 5 hour window is very small. Is this a common scenario...nah, is it a realistic one...you bet, it's been me, more than once. And I didn't feel bad leaving my car parked...slept like a baby.

There's being reasonable, an fair, and there's being pedantic.... to make this an absolute, is pedantic.

Well, let me share the opposing side of this story (real-life). I was driving through the night and arrived at Goodland, KS about 1:30am. The six stalls were all full. Two with Teslas, four ICEd.

Now what was I to do? According to TeslaFI logs (I had to look it up) I had 30 miles of range left, so no good alternative but to go into the Holiday Inn and ask the (understandably reluctant) night clerk to call one of the Teslas to come down and move their car.

This was prior to the idle fees, but even if it was now they STILL WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN CHARGED IDLE FEES AND WOULD NEVER HAVE KNOWN that they inconvenienced another Tesla driver due to their selfishness.

While I agree that odds of enough others needing to charge at remote Superchargers in the middle of the night is slim, you cannot be as certain that the slots will not be ICEd when a traveler comes through, especially at those Supercharges stupidly (imo) located at hotels.

So maybe it was you? If so, I hope that you have learned from someone who experienced the other side of your selfish move to save 5 minutes in the morning (the time to go start Supercharging when you awake and have it done when you are ready to go).

 

[TexLaw]

...except for where there is no cell service, like Baker City, Oregon

Then it wouldn't matter what your app might notify you about, since it won't work at all, in which case you better have a good idea how long charging will take.

 

[TexLaw]

perhaps no idle fees between midnight and 6am?

No, that's letting the plugged-in driver have it both ways at the further expense of someone looking to charge. If someone is willing to accept the risk of inconveniencing another driver, then they have to accept the same risk of paying a fee. The two go hand-in-hand.

 

[Brass Guy]

ask the (understandably reluctant) night clerk to call one of the Teslas to come down and move their car.

No way, should have had all the ice owners wake up and move.

 

[alloverx]

The night clerk could do the ask as long as there was a clear sign by the charging spots that you might get awoken if you leave the car there overnight. i.e. handle the exception manually.

 

[Brass Guy]

So the Tesla Charging signs aren't enough? Or maybe they were the 30 minute parking signs and they all just arrived?
I mean, sure the Tesla's may have been done charging, but the other cars should never have been there. That behavior makes me want to carry a floor jack and some wheel dollies. Just roll them into those empty handicap spots and call the local tow company.

 

[thefortunes]

No way, should have had all the ice owners wake up and move.

The night clerk could do the ask as long as there was a clear sign by the charging spots that you might get awoken if you leave the car there overnight. i.e. handle the exception manually.

So the Tesla Charging signs aren't enough? Or maybe they were the 30 minute parking signs and they all just arrived?
I mean, sure the Tesla's may have been done charging, but the other cars should never have been there. That behavior makes me want to carry a floor jack and some wheel dollies. Just roll them into those empty handicap spots and call the local tow company.

My recollection (it was a few years ago) is that there were neither 30 Minute Parking nor Tesla Charging Only signs. That was why I had the Tesla owner woken up, because he should understand.

Regardless of signs, a Tesla owner should know better.

All you need to do is go down and start your car charging when you wake up, then proceed to get ready, have breakfast, etc...

 

[SoCalNick]

I think this comes down to what kind of person are you.

Let's compare this to a gas station. There are gas pump spots, and parking spots.

Personally, I don't care if the gas station is busy or not, I park in the parking spots (not the gas pump) to run inside to buy gum, or something like that.
Some people feel entitled to park at the pump (when not buying gas) as they are shopping in the mini-mart.
Some people feel entitled to park at the pump when getting gas, but go across the street to Starbucks for 20 minutes, after all, they are getting gas.

Where do you draw the line?

 

[mknox]

Where do you draw the line?

Honestly, I don't even know why this is being debated. They are "Charging" spots, not "Parking" spots. You move the car when it is done charging. Even in the middle of the night at a hotel, you have no idea if some Tesla Club is on a rally where dozens of cars may show up at 3 in the morning. Unlikely, but it is not any single owner's right to make assumptions about how a station may be utilized and violate the Supercharger fair use policy.