My biggest issue with this whole announcement is that once again it seems like a rash, reactive, hastily put together, and poorly thought through policy by Tesla....
Here's a few thoughts on how they could frame a balanced policy:...
You can't simultaneously state that their process is rash and hastily put together, then proposed a list of highly complex bullet points that would be nearly impossible to implement, or at least without major resources to accomplish this. Trying to change behavior by suggesting proper etiquette squarely fits into that box. They needed an easy fix, and found it. There could be alternative methods, and they probably debated these at a conference table over many hours, over many weeks or months, and came up with this solution. It makes sense, and as I said before, it hits the low-hanging fruit.
From the Tesla website: "Stations are strategically placed to minimize stops during long distance travel and are conveniently located near restaurants, shopping centers, and WiFi hot spots."... I don't feel I should have get up and walk 20 minutes round trip to move my car to avoid being charged, thus ruining dinner.
Like someone else said, you can drive your car back, so it would be 10 minutes, not 20. Besides, as you said, most SCs are located NEAR restaurants, closer than 10 minutes. If you choose to go farther away at a very busy SC, you take the risk. It is not fair to inconvenience others who need to reach their destination, and make them wait so that you can be less inconvenienced for your meal.
Should I be charged $.40 a minute for the 25 minute difference between what the estimate was vs. the actual charging time? I don't feel I should.
Yes, you should.
Certainly this is one example of a relatively rare instance, but most people on here complaining are also complaining about relatively rare instances of superchargers being full and having to wait. I say relatively rare because of the 769 supercharger locations, there is most likely a problem in 50-75 of them in California and a few other major metropolitan areas.
Well, there you go then. If it is rare, than it is not a huge concern, is it? Seems like a worst case scenario for you and other similar drivers would be a few bucks on a very rare occasion. I am not sure if that warrants any true concern requiring a change in this policy. Let's give a chance for the new policy to work. Tesla already listened to its customers and immediately updated their policy. If a Supercharger is not busy, the penalty is not enforced. If a Supercharger is busy, drivers must immediately move their car. Not 5 minutes later, not 10 minutes later, but immediately and let someone else get in so they can reach their destination. We as drivers have no right to dictate that other people have to wait because we want to have a relaxed meal. That just seems selfish.
Someone else upthread mentioned that handicapped drivers may need more time to get back to their cars. There are likely other reasonable circumstances. My guess is if they called Tesla once back on the road and explained, the fee would be waived. Tesla just rolls that way.
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