Payment Method now on Tesla's My Tesla Page [Since Removed]

[Pando]

In a hotel lot people probably view them primarily as parking spaces with a charger added (emphasis on 'parking'). If there are no other places to park, and it's late, some people just ignore the signs (if there are any) and just park where they still can.

If they are designed to appear as 'charging stations', people are less likely to just park on them and leave. This may include redesigning the way cars approach the station and where they stop in the slot. Gas stations are designed this way in mind - a drive through design rather than park and refuel. This would also help EV vehicles with trailers to refuel much more easily.

 

[cronosx]

While I'm fine with the idea of idle fees after car has finished charging, what will be done about ICE vehicles and Teslas which aren't plugged in but are still blocking Superchargers?

Tesla supercharger will be equipped with a giantic hammer that will be auto-used when it's detected that no-one is in the car and the stall is used.
The aftermatch of the smash will be similar to what a little meteorite would be, this will solve the liability on tesla side for the event.
As you see, it's not a big problem afterall

 

[MB30]

I know a lot of people disagree with PPU, but for me it's ideal. I will charge at home 99% of the time and when i take a trip with the car a few times a year, it's cheaper to just pay the few bucks like i would with a gas station.

 

[vjason]

Same here, if I bought permanent SC access it would take a LONG time to recoup that investment.

That being said, I respect those who do so despite that as they are helping push BEV adoption more so than just buying a car. Let's hope that the volume of 3's sold makes up for the fact that many of them will probably not buy lifetime SC access (assuming recent website conspiracy rumors hold true of course).

I know a lot of people disagree with PPU, but for me it's ideal. I will charge at home 99% of the time and when i take a trip with the car a few times a year, it's cheaper to just pay the few bucks like i would with a gas station.

 

[SageBrush]

I know a lot of people disagree with PPU, but for me it's ideal. I will charge at home 99% of the time and when i take a trip with the car a few times a year, it's cheaper to just pay the few bucks like i would with a gas station.

PPU will be the cheapest for me too, though I can think of two downsides:

• A technical payment glitch at the station
• PPU leading to a slow-down in SC build-out

Perhaps just an anxiety, PPU feels a little penny wise and pound foolish to me. When the network is well developed I'll think differently.

 

[krazineurons]

Tesla to introduce new ‘Supercharger Credit’ system to reduce entry price of Model S & X

great idea but how much savings in New vehicle price are we taking about?

Also are there any estimates of how many KWh let charge are typically consumed?

 

[ohmman]

No reason for 8.0 to have anything to do with this. The payments wouldn't apply to Model S or X, and there will be more firmware updates before Model 3 comes out (or different firmware for Model 3).

Tesla to introduce new ‘Supercharger Credit’ system to reduce entry price of Model S & X

<cough>

 

[ccutrer]

PPU will be the cheapest for me too, though I can think of two downsides:

• A technical payment glitch at the station
• PPU leading to a slow-down in SC build-out

Perhaps just an anxiety, PPU feels a little penny wise and pound foolish to me. When the network is well developed I'll think differently.

PPU will also be cheapest for me, since I doubt I'll use a supercharger much or ever with my Model 3. But if things pan out as I think they will, I'll probably get lifetime with my Model 3, cause it will be lumped in with a battery upgrade, which will be required for Performance trim, which is what I want. Granted, I've already bought a Model X, so I'm already drowning in "paid way more than should have for a car, in advancement of BEVs, technology, and disrupting the auto industry." Luckily, we absolutely love it, and feel no regret when that massive loan payment goes out each month.

 

[dsvick]

PPU will be the cheapest for me too, though I can think of two downsides:

• A technical payment glitch at the station
• PPU leading to a slow-down in SC build-out

Perhaps just an anxiety, PPU feels a little penny wise and pound foolish to me. When the network is well developed I'll think differently.

If they really are doing the prepaid method then your first concern should be moot, it would probably be the same vlaidation method as they use now for the "free for life" method. Your second concern might still be valid though as the revenue stream would certainly not be as front end loaded.

 

[SageBrush]

If they really are doing the prepaid method then your first concern should be moot,

Either Tesla Central or the SC has to validate me to charge the car in a PPU setup, neither of which are true currently. It is the validation step that can go wrong. And by the way, I imagine this validation step will also be hoisted on the paid-for-life customers too, since they are no longer the only group of customers.

Tesla has always been so customer friendly that I imagine a validation glitch will default to free charging for everybody, but time will tell. The scenario I hope Tesla never has to live down is a SC that refuses to charge a car. That would just suck ... and the reason CCS sucks, even if they get their act together and offer high power.

 

[ccutrer]

Either Tesla Central or the SC has to validate me to charge the car in a PPU setup, neither of which are true currently. It is the validation step that can go wrong. And by the way, I imagine this validation step will also be hoisted on the paid-for-life customers too, since they are no longer the only group of customers.

Tesla has always been so customer friendly that I imagine a validation glitch will default to free charging for everybody, but time will tell. The scenario I hope Tesla never has to live down is a SC that refuses to charge a car. That would just suck ... and the reason CCS sucks, even if they get their act together and offer high power.

Don't forget there already is a validation step. Some Model S are not supercharging enabled. So PPU would just be an extension of this system, and we have no reason to doubt its stability. My understanding is the car tells the supercharger "I'm valid!", and not vice versa. This could even be done in a disconnected state for PPU. If the car checks in say daily, it will know "I have a balance of 500 kWh". Each charging session, it deducts from that balance and (eventually) reports back to HQ. It can prevent false spends (i.e. getting something you have not paid for). As long as the car has received an update between the time you increase your balance on the website, and when it goes to supercharge, you should be fine. And HQ will likely try immediately to wake the car when you increase your balance, if that fails it will likely queue the notification for the next time the car checks in, and as a last resort, the car will immediately check in when it connects to a supercharger.

 

[ccutrer]

Don't forget there already is a validation step. Some Model S are not supercharging enabled. So PPU would just be an extension of this system, and we have no reason to doubt its stability. My understanding is the car tells the supercharger "I'm valid!", and not vice versa. This could even be done in a disconnected state for PPU. If the car checks in say daily, it will know "I have a balance of 500 kWh". Each charging session, it deducts from that balance and (eventually) reports back to HQ. It can prevent false spends (i.e. getting something you have not paid for). As long as the car has received an update between the time you increase your balance on the website, and when it goes to supercharge, you should be fine. And HQ will likely try immediately to wake the car when you increase your balance, if that fails it will likely queue the notification for the next time the car checks in, and as a last resort, the car will immediately check in when it connects to a supercharger.

As an extension to this - if other manufacturers do end up becoming compatible with superchargers, I would suspect this system to get reversed. Ain't no way Tesla is going to trust the security of other manufacturer's in car systems to not lie and get free power. Personally, as a security conscious software engineer, I would never design a system like this. I'd prefer that the chargers had a direct connection of their own, but could probably be persuaded that for reliability reasons, the charger could build a tunnel through the car's network connection as a failsafe, or at worst rely only on time limited digitally signed "tokens" for an amount of power. And probably make the car sign them too, with its own unique private key, so that you can't steal them from another car.

 

[dsvick]

Either Tesla Central or the SC has to validate me to charge the car in a PPU setup, neither of which are true currently. It is the validation step that can go wrong.

Don't forget there already is a validation step. Some Model S are not supercharging enabled. So PPU would just be an extension of this system, and we have no reason to doubt its stability. My understanding is the car tells the supercharger "I'm valid!", and not vice versa.

Yes, ccutrer, stated what I was referring to.

 

[Model 3]

My understanding is the car tells the supercharger "I'm valid!"

My understanding is that the car tells the supercharger it's VIN code as part of the supercharger protocol.

 

[ohmman]

My understanding is that the car tells the supercharger it's VIN code as part of the supercharger protocol.

Currently, this isn't the case. There's a single binary flag - off or on. It has been flipped by at least one member of this forum and shown to work successfully at the Supercharger.

I believe 8.0 will change this behavior. If so, it raises the question if 8.0 will become a compulsory upgrade in order to continue to Supercharge. If there is a higher level of security, and some type of enforceable idle charge, they'll want to compel owners to adopt the newer firmware. Making it so that it's a necessity to Supercharge would be pretty compelling. And it would create a lot of fury in certain corners.

 

[Az_Rael]

And it would create a lot of fury in certain corners

You are a master of understatement, LOL. I also had this thought - that 8.0 might end up being mandatory to continue to use the supercharger network. While it might cause fury, there was no supercharger TOS anyone signed when they bought their cars, so Tesla is free to change the game up if they want to.

 

[FlatSix911]

Interesting news ... Tesla to introduce new ‘Supercharger Credit’ system to reduce entry price of Model S & X

Earlier this week, Tesla updated its website with a payment option to buy ‘Supercharger credits’ hidden in the source code of the ‘MyTesla’ page of Model S and X owners, and even Model 3 reservation holders. Tesla quickly reverted the update and refused to comment on the temporary change despite several requests from Electrek. Now sources with knowledge of the new program confirmed new details about its upcoming rollout…

Following the leak, the ‘Supercharger credits’ were associated with the Model 3 because Tesla currently only sells vehicles with “free” lifetime Supercharger access and Tesla already said that it will be an option on the Model 3, but as previously mentioned, the code was also embedded in the Model S and X ‘MyTesla’ page. And now we know why.

Sources familiar with the program have told Electrek that Tesla is about to introduce a new Supercharger Credit program to unbundle the cost of Supercharger access from the vehicle and consequently, lower the entry price of the Model S and X while ensuring that the value of the Supercharger network is better represented by the pricing model. The update could coincide with the release of OS 8 or 8.1.

We weren’t able to confirm the amount of the price reduction, but considering Tesla still offers the option to enable Supercharging access for $2,500 on the original Model S 40/60, which were not offered with included access to the network, it wouldn’t be surprising if the discount will be of about the same amount. Update: another source with knowledge of the new program now says that the price reduction will actually amount to $2,000.

Tesla has been working on reducing the price of the Model S and X this year with different options, like with the Model S 60 which is now Tesla’s least expensive option at $66,000. The Supercharger as an option will be Tesla’s next move to reduce the entry price of the vehicle. New owners will be able to buy ‘Supercharger Credits’ by blocks of kWh. The price will depend on local electricity rates in your country. Buying blocks of kWh instead of paying per use, a la gas station, will allow Tesla to simplify its payment structure and reduce the number of credit card transactions.

From the ‘MyTesla’ page on the website, owners will be able to register a credit card number in order to make adding credit as easy as pressing a few buttons on the touchscreen of your Model S, X, and eventual 3. Tesla is also looking to monetize the time spent at the Supercharger by offering other services. We reported last month that Tesla is working to offer car wash service at Superchargers with a pilot project already underway in Fremont.

This new program will allow them to do just that fairly easily. Tesla could sell a Chademo/SAE DC adapter that would work with other vehicles and could be tied to a credit card as well. This could be a huge market for Tesla who is already years in front of the competition in terms of charging. An announcement for the new program is expected relatively soon...

 

[RubberToe]

And it would create a lot of fury in certain corners...

Ohmman's second cousin takes his Supercharging privileges very seriously.

 

[Model 3]

Currently, this isn't the case.

So they have removed the VIN from the supercharging protocol? The car does no longer send it as part of the handshake before the charging begin? Or may I have misunderstood this?

No, I do not say it is currently what gives access to the superchargers, just that it is (I believe) a part of the handshake, and could be used as an identifier of the car that is about to start charging. And yes, that will in that case means that the supercharger has to be connected to the mother ship to verify the VIN code. But that will it have to be anyway: One rule in IT is to never to trust the client computer (in this case - the car). Yes, it was probably OK when there was few cars out there without lifetime "free" subscription, but that will no longer be the case.

My plea here is that if this pay-via-kWh-credit is real, all superchargers have to be connected to "the mothership", and the car will have to identify to enable charging. If the identifier will be the VIN or some other identifier is - AFIK - still unknown. But my point is the last post was that the car had to identify itself to the supercharger, not tell the supercharger "It's OK, I have paid. Honest! Cross my hart^h^h^h^hbattery!"

 

[RubberToe]

Interesting news ...

Following the leak...

Sources familiar with the program have told Electrek...

Update: another source with knowledge of the new program...

New owners will be able to buy ‘Supercharger Credits’ by blocks of kWh...

An announcement for the new program is expected relatively soon...

These kind of leaks didn't used to happen. There is obviously a mole feeding info to Electrek. I would think this kind of thing would really piss Elon off. Anybody know whats going on here?

and now this: The automaker’s latest top-secret program is called ‘Tesla Glass’…

Tesla Glass: the electric automaker’s latest top-secret program

RT