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Is anyone only charging for free at a supercharger?
- Thread starter Right_Said_Fred
- Start date
Teriyaki88
Member
Since everyone "paid" for this privilege they CAN do it. Will I do it if I had one near my house is San Diego? Probably not. My time, doing other stuff, is more valuable than saving a buck or two. That's just me.
One argument against the "Can't use the SC cloe to your house argument" is that, I could foresee needing to drive along distance on short notice, or after having had just completed some other trip (getting home from work and leaving immediately for vacation), and needing to top off as you leave for the beach.
Not something you'd do more than once every long while... but if after commuting to and from work, grabbing some supplies, picking up the kids, and heading off for the weekend I can see needing to add 100 miles to the pack as a legitimate need...
Not something you'd do more than once every long while... but if after commuting to and from work, grabbing some supplies, picking up the kids, and heading off for the weekend I can see needing to add 100 miles to the pack as a legitimate need...
roblab
Active Member
I agree. The comments I am reading that seem to be responding to my post on p.2 are missing something I thought I had said, but didn't make quite clear. The owner WHO IS BEING INCONVENIENCED, who has watched two or three cars taking up room for hours, should go look at the VIN in the windshield and ask the Ownership team to send a message. If the same VIN keeps getting dinged, Tesla may decide to communicate more strongly.
But everyone has the right to use free charging wherever it is located, at any time, for as long as it takes to get the desired charge. It is not the charging that is the issue, but the lack of common courtesy, the not caring what others will have to endure if they abuse the system.
That's why we need to start leaving a cell number on the dash, so someone can call and ask how long the car might be there. When the MS locks, there is no visible display of charging. The only method would be to ask the owner.
I have used this number-on-dash method, and it works. And no, telemarketers don't go around collecting those numbers to use in their sales endeavors.
andystj
Member
I'm in Texas, and so I'm still anxiously awaiting the ability to run into this problem. I am in the camp that thinks the only "abuse" would be leaving a fully charged vehicle in the space. While you should not have to babysit your car while it charges for 45 minutes, you should be back within a few minutes of a completed charge.
The other oft-mentioned alternative is to charge for parking when not charging. Give a 15 minute grace period, then charge $2/minute starting 15 minutes after the charge completes. Late pickups at preschools often charge $1/minute late after a grace period and warning. That's just for inconveniencing the staff. In the case of Superchargers you are alienating other Tesla customers.
A different penalty could be similar to what Mark Peterson suggests:
I had to look up V2G which is "Vehicle to Grid." My guess is that the Supercharger hardware could handle this, and software implementation would be pretty easy. The details might differ from the above quote, but it would seem reasonable to loose the amount you added if you don't disconnect. Perhaps a 10 minute grace period to allow everything to cool down, then start with a 10KW discharge for 5 minutes then 30KW for 5 minutes, 60KW for 5 minutes. . . Tesla probably could not take out more than was added, so the local jerk who "tops off" for three hours may need another intervention. It really is a pretty elegant solution.
Andy
The other oft-mentioned alternative is to charge for parking when not charging. Give a 15 minute grace period, then charge $2/minute starting 15 minutes after the charge completes. Late pickups at preschools often charge $1/minute late after a grace period and warning. That's just for inconveniencing the staff. In the case of Superchargers you are alienating other Tesla customers.
A different penalty could be similar to what Mark Peterson suggests:
I had to look up V2G which is "Vehicle to Grid." My guess is that the Supercharger hardware could handle this, and software implementation would be pretty easy. The details might differ from the above quote, but it would seem reasonable to loose the amount you added if you don't disconnect. Perhaps a 10 minute grace period to allow everything to cool down, then start with a 10KW discharge for 5 minutes then 30KW for 5 minutes, 60KW for 5 minutes. . . Tesla probably could not take out more than was added, so the local jerk who "tops off" for three hours may need another intervention. It really is a pretty elegant solution.
Andy
mnx
2018 M3P
I don't see this being a widespread problem at all.
Let's face it the people who are doing it for free electricity are cheap, these same people are not going to risk shortening the life of their battery just for free juice... I know I wouldn't!
Let's face it the people who are doing it for free electricity are cheap, these same people are not going to risk shortening the life of their battery just for free juice... I know I wouldn't!
It's hard to see any problem with superchargers becoming "widespread" (other than scarcity) until the superchargers themselves are widespread. Just sayin'.
actually, the solution to the problem could be to make the SCs so widespread that it doesn't matter if 1% of Tesla owners decide to be impolite. If there are enough charging stations, it doesn't much matter if someone is parked in a spot.
Tesla could even work with businesses to promote the idea of locals charging. Take the gym scenario posted above. ClubOne lets Tesla install a SC on their property in a spot that says for ClubOne members only. The gym pays for the electricity. Owners pay the gym membership fee, and the membership fee is much greater than the cost of electricity.
How can it be impolite or abusive to use something that comes with the purchase of the vehicle?
I already PAID for my "free" electricity from the supercharger for the life of the car.
The only thing impolite or abusive is having your car block a spot if its not charging any more, but that's it.
The actual usage is neither impolite or abusive or rude or whatever.
I already PAID for my "free" electricity from the supercharger for the life of the car.
The only thing impolite or abusive is having your car block a spot if its not charging any more, but that's it.
The actual usage is neither impolite or abusive or rude or whatever.
LOL, interesting idea.
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The "on my way home, grab some free juice" type--I think so. But the "I'm shopping/eating around here anyway and don't need a charge" type--no, you're right.
There are extremes that are abusive and/or rude. For example, driving around the supercharger parking lot for hours on end blocking safe access to the supercharger would be abusive and rude.
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That's fine for regular chargers, but Tesla Superchargers are separate--available to all Model S owners who have supercharging, so they couldn't restrict it like this. Anyway, someone going to a gym doesn't need a supercharger or even HPWC; local businesses like this would do great with a Level 2 J1772 charger that all EVs can use.
It's slow, but local businesses are starting to put in chargers, cities/local governments are, etc. I think things like Tesla's success and the supercharger network will encourage more and more people, businesses, and governments into EVs and charging infrastructure will improve more quickly now. (I may be crazy....) It's slow but growing.
Check this page for the supercharger rollout: Supercharger | Tesla Motors
Under the map you can change the setting to Summer 2013, Fall 2013, Winter 2013, 2014 and 2015. You can see that the East Coast rollout is speeding up.
NigelM
Recovering Member
Strictly speaking, we paid for the reduction of range anxiety and the ability to do road trips when we need to. Personally I'd consider it impolite to leave my car on the Supercharger when I no longer needed it; now if you're waiting by/in your car and just topping off every day that's not what I'd call impolite but I'd question if that is really worth it.
Having driven pure electric for more than 2 years now I find one of the great joys is never having to worry about charging. I get home at night, plug in and get up next morning with a full charge. I'm really, really happy about not having to go to gas stations anymore. Personally, the last thing I would want to do now is to start waiting at a service station while my car charges. YMMV.
It may be that constant topping off with a Supercharger is abusive to the battery; Elon has said it's ok but he also says mid-level SOC and cool is best. Supercharging is going to add heat and managing the SOC to the appropriate level would mean more regularly using Superchargers..... This may be a vicious circle?
You're never going to change the fact that some people fancy themselves the Center of the Universe (how there can be more than one CotU is a puzzle, but that's another discussion). The only real solution is to put in a surplus of charging ports, and to locate them where folks have no compelling reason to hang around longer than it takes to charge. So Tesla's strategy of installing SC stations in between population centers, at travel plazas and the like, makes perfect sense.
swaltner
Active Member
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