TMC is an independent, primarily volunteer organization that relies on ad revenue to cover its operating costs. Please consider whitelisting TMC on your ad blocker and becoming a Supporting Member. For more info: Support TMC
  1. TMC is currently READ ONLY.
    Click here for more info.

Burned by Tesla on idle fees. Something to know

Discussion in 'Model S: Battery & Charging' started by Zooomer, Nov 2, 2017.

  1. Pinot.Noir

    Pinot.Noir Member

    Joined:
    Feb 28, 2014
    Messages:
    773
    Location:
    Livermore, CA
    They could install tire piercers in the ground at each supercharger location. When an ICE car is reported, the sharp tongs pierce all 4 tires of the car in question, and that Tard never makes the same mistake again!
     
    • Funny x 1
  2. David99

    David99 Active Member

    Joined:
    Jan 31, 2014
    Messages:
    4,850
    Location:
    Brea, Orange County
    That's a noble thought :)
    In more than 3 years and many road trips I have never left my car plugged in at a Supercharger over night. It's fundamentally wrong IMHO.
     
    • Like x 5
  3. kort677

    kort677 Banned

    Joined:
    Sep 17, 2015
    Messages:
    4,801
    Location:
    florida.
    wow so you're advocating everyone become a supercharger nannie? let us know how this works out for you
     
  4. kort677

    kort677 Banned

    Joined:
    Sep 17, 2015
    Messages:
    4,801
    Location:
    florida.
    they'll work on that idea after FSD is fully implemented
     
    • Love x 1
  5. kort677

    kort677 Banned

    Joined:
    Sep 17, 2015
    Messages:
    4,801
    Location:
    florida.
    that's a very charitable view.
    however if I am in need of a charge and someone with a few of your "special" circumstance types are blocking the chargers and I am either delayed or unable to charge I really cannot remain sympathetic to their "special" needs.
    the issue, to use a tmc friendly term, is very binary, charging ok, parking at an SPC, not ok.
    for the good of the entire tesla community the culture has to become one where this is non thinking choice. If your car is finished charging move the car from the charging spot.
     
    • Like x 4
  6. andrewket

    andrewket Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Dec 20, 2012
    Messages:
    5,702
    I get what your saying, but I sincerely doubt that tesla is evaluating power for the entire site when determining idle fees. It's overly complicated, hard if not impossible to convey to customers, and imho not necessary. I have seen odd number of stalls available.

    I also think it's unlikely that the denominator is reduced for out of service stalls. A customer would have to know that those stalls are offline. Unless they are blocked, or they happen to try one of those stalls, they are unlikely to know. We could test this ....
     
    • Like x 1
  7. efusco

    efusco Moderator - Model S & X forums

    Joined:
    Mar 29, 2009
    Messages:
    5,421
    Location:
    Nixa, Missouri, United States
    Fortunately, you're not the boss of that. I'll abide by Tesla's standards and will be willing to risk the idle fee, but I'm not getting up at 3am to move my car on the off chance that 8 Teslas show up simultaneously at a 8 place supercharger at 4am in a rural and very low usage location. If I'm in Southern CA, sure, i get it. I'll move. But all circumstances are not the same and the situation is not binary.
     
    • Like x 5
    • Disagree x 3
  8. kort677

    kort677 Banned

    Joined:
    Sep 17, 2015
    Messages:
    4,801
    Location:
    florida.
    are you trying to imply that the location of the SpC impacts upon whether you'd block the unit or not?
    hmmm. is there a map that the rest of the world can access that shows where you believe that "proper" SpC use is in play and the locations people can just do what works for them?
    I suppose that when it comes to who gets to charge, it's your world and everyone else just has to try and survive in it.
     
    • Funny x 1
  9. efusco

    efusco Moderator - Model S & X forums

    Joined:
    Mar 29, 2009
    Messages:
    5,421
    Location:
    Nixa, Missouri, United States
    Absolutely. Other than during the eclipse, to my knowledge, there has never been more than 3 teslas at the Columbia MO supercharger at a time even during daylight hours. If I show up at 12:30am and need a 90 minute charge it is crazy to think that that location will suddenly fill up or that I will be somehow inconveniencing any one. If it's 5pm in SoCal, it's a totally different game.
    Nope, but considering my familiarity with this part of the world and utilization, I have no qualms about making those judgments. Likewise, if I were in the middle of North Dakota, Hayes, KS or other similarly remote locations under similar circumstances and arrived at a wee hour to an empty 8 spot supercharger, I would reasonably assume that it is safe to use. Some of us can use logic, reason and judgement for such choices. The issue here isn't a pedantic binary one, it's one of consideration for others. And your implication is that I"m being inconsiderate, I'm saying just the opposite. I'm making very considered choices and if I think there's a chance that choice would inconvenience anyone, I would do something differently...even if it means getting up at 3am to move the car.
    Not at all, nor is it your world to decide what the rules are. I'm saying we all need to be logical, reasonable and considerate and that is exactly what I've done.
     
    • Like x 3
    • Love x 1
  10. kort677

    kort677 Banned

    Joined:
    Sep 17, 2015
    Messages:
    4,801
    Location:
    florida.
    I'll let that comment stand on it's own
     
    • Funny x 1
  11. Ulmo

    Ulmo Active Member

    Joined:
    Jan 19, 2016
    Messages:
    4,324
    Location:
    Vienna Woods, Aptos, California
    I think the title is misleading; what $ amount would be required to "burn" you? What $ amount was it? The fact you omitted the $ amount suggests some sort of less-than-accurate thing.
     
  12. Ulmo

    Ulmo Active Member

    Joined:
    Jan 19, 2016
    Messages:
    4,324
    Location:
    Vienna Woods, Aptos, California
    I argue it should be closer to 10 to 15 minutes (since most SuperChargers are nowhere near anywhere useful to spend time during the wait for the car to charge, and a charge can stop for any reason at any time without notice), but other than that, yes.
     
    • Like x 1
  13. Ulmo

    Ulmo Active Member

    Joined:
    Jan 19, 2016
    Messages:
    4,324
    Location:
    Vienna Woods, Aptos, California
    In this case, the car should move itself. Elon?
     
    • Like x 3
    • Love x 1
  14. Ulmo

    Ulmo Active Member

    Joined:
    Jan 19, 2016
    Messages:
    4,324
    Location:
    Vienna Woods, Aptos, California
    #114 Ulmo, Nov 3, 2017
    Last edited: Nov 3, 2017
    Split-charge. Charge for 10 minutes before going to bed, and finish the next day. That first 10 minutes will knock off a huge portion of your time wait.

    Also, plan your destination chargers better. Many hotels have destination chargers. I spent 3 months doing destination-charger only hotels when I traveled in a Tesla, and my life was a lot simpler.

    Does preconditioning the car work? You can have the car pre-condition before you go out to charge it in the morning; as soon as you wake up, set it to warm up from the app.

    The other thing is plan your sleeping better. If you're so tired you can hardly stay awake while charging for 10 to 15 minutes, then were you even safe driving before you got there in the first place? When this was poorly planned by me, I ended up quite a few times parked somewhere where the car was not getting charged, then when I awoke, I'd still have to go to a charger. At least I could take a walk (in the same old boring SuperCharger location) when I got to the SuperCharger. This taught me to plan better, and make less assumptions. Also, learning how my car worked and practices made this almost unconsciously easy, compared to when I started.

    I wish Tesla would put more priority on self-charging cars, so they can move to and from the SuperCharger on their own. Tesla could install automatic arms on cars and/or chargers to plug/unplug the plugs, with proper reattempts to make it work reliably. Then the cars would at least leave the charging area and go somewhere else within the same parking lot, ready for the owner when they get back. If the robot arms were on the cars themselves, they could be programmed to work with almost every charger (including Level 2), where similar concerns exist (but at a slower rate).
     
    • Like x 6
  15. bonnie

    bonnie I play a nice person on twitter.

    Joined:
    Feb 6, 2011
    Messages:
    16,427
    Location:
    Columbia River Gorge
    I'm in the camp of 'don't leave your car at a Supercharger after done charging'. I've seen remote locations fill up with a pod of Teslas coming through. (I can find some pics of Tesla Road Trip showing up at a remote location & several spots blocked because 'no one is ever here'.)

    Usually I try to find a hotel with a Destination charger or J1772 (and I still leave my contact info on the car) - then I don't have to deal with any of that 'move your car' nonsense. But if I didn't have a choice, I'd leave it charging while I checked in & then would move it, and finish in the morning.

    Everyone's time is valuable, I get that. Part of moving is because I do know of times where a bunch of Teslas show up at once. And part of it is because the next wave of EV owners will learn from us. We are role models for the next group of owners. If we're unwilling to move because we think we know better, they're going to be worse. It's a given.
     
    • Like x 6
    • Love x 2
    • Helpful x 1
  16. apacheguy

    apacheguy S Sig #255

    Joined:
    Oct 21, 2012
    Messages:
    5,069
    Location:
    So Cal
    Well if Tesla puts superchargers along an interstate at a hotel then it really is common sense to have a couple destination chargers reserved for hotel guests overnight. In comparison to the cost of a supercharger site ($250->300 K), a few HPWCs adds nothing to the cost.
     
    • Like x 1
  17. MorrisonHiker

    MorrisonHiker S 100D 2021.4.11

    Joined:
    Mar 8, 2015
    Messages:
    9,151
    Location:
    Colorado
    Speaking of the 6 stall Supercharger in Hays, KS, I showed up there on 12/26/16, probably one of the busiest travel days of the holiday season. I found one inconsiderate local blocking half the stalls in the middle of the day.

    Unfortunately, there's no way idle fees can be charged properly for someone who parks like this:
    IMG_20161226_113532.jpg
     
    • Informative x 3
    • Like x 1
  18. apacheguy

    apacheguy S Sig #255

    Joined:
    Oct 21, 2012
    Messages:
    5,069
    Location:
    So Cal
    Agree. And talk about being logical. I wish the folks in this thread would get more worked up about the people that charge at a supercharger at 5 pm and have an ICE waiting to ferry them off to run errands while their car is picking up free juice.
     
  19. croman

    croman Active Member

    Joined:
    Nov 21, 2016
    Messages:
    4,624
    Location:
    Chicago, IL
    Even if it wasn't illegal, its a stupid idea because the ICE cars would block the charger for even longer.

    +1. Its silly this is generating this much discussion. Golden Rule people.
     
    • Like x 1
  20. croman

    croman Active Member

    Joined:
    Nov 21, 2016
    Messages:
    4,624
    Location:
    Chicago, IL
    I've seen that. It is bad. But this thread is about idle fees and not Supercharging etiquette generally.
     
    • Funny x 1

Share This Page

  • About Us

    Formed in 2006, Tesla Motors Club (TMC) was the first independent online Tesla community. Today it remains the largest and most dynamic community of Tesla enthusiasts. Learn more.
  • Do you value your experience at TMC? Consider becoming a Supporting Member of Tesla Motors Club. As a thank you for your contribution, you'll get nearly no ads in the Community and Groups sections. Additional perks are available depending on the level of contribution. Please visit the Account Upgrades page for more details.


    SUPPORT TMC