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Supercharger blocking? Elon promises a solution

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There are many ways Tesla could address the issue of "free for life" owners leaving their cars in Supercharger stalls long after the car has finished charging. Each approach would cause various degrees of controversy with heated arguments pro and con. I'm not going to spend time detailing imaginary scenarios because what I post will have no impact on what Tesla decides to do and we will know Tesla's solution soon enough.. But you are welcome to speculate.
 
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The wallet hit won't be that effective. I think meeting SC abuse with temporary SC bans would yield the most result. Abuse the SC, get banned for two weeks.

Abuses of the SCs make other Tesla owners' lives miserable, and seriously interfere with multi-leg travel plans. So there should be a serious policy to deter such abuses. Getting to a SC where all stalls are taken by unoccupied cars fully charged would make anyone crazy. It's one thing to wait for your turn, and another to be stuck somewhere for an hour because of inconsiderate abusers. I'm surprised there hasn't been cases of Super Charger Rage yet.
 
I still think that Tesla ought to keep their word on their "For Free, For Life" claim.

But that doesn't mean that it has to remain convenient for abusers.
Since Tesla knows who they are, Tesla can send them a kind note reminding them that abuse of this resource will result in a penalty.

I recommend that the penalty be some measure that makes it miserable for the abuser to keep on abusing.

My original thought was to modify the Supercharge cycle for abusers in two ways:
1) Force the owner of the car to remain in the car during the entire charge cycle. Nobody there? No juice. No going to the office, no shopping all day, no leaving it there overnight unattended. The car's built-in "butt-in-seat" detector can be used to sense a person there, and occasional demands that the person press a button, turn the steering wheel, or some kind of random activity to prove it isn't a backpack in the seat.

2) Since 30-45 minutes of waiting may not be miserable enough, I imagine that Tesla can reduce the Supercharger's (or the car's) power flow, increasing the charge time from Supercharge rates of 100-150 miles of range per hour to ordinary L2 rates of 20-30 miles of range per hour. Super (ab)user? Slow it down to L1 rates of 3-4 miles of range per hour.

Its still "For Free, For Life," but maybe sitting in a car for 4 - 8 hours isn't what the (ab)user had in mind...

Not sure how to handle husband/wife (ab)user profiles using the same car, though.


-- Ardie
"Honey, can I borrow your key fob?"
 
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Reactions: Topher
I still think that Tesla ought to keep their word on their "For Free, For Life" claim.

But that doesn't mean that it has to remain convenient for abusers.
Since Tesla knows who they are, Tesla can send them a kind note reminding them that abuse of this resource will result in a penalty.

I recommend that the penalty be some measure that makes it miserable for the abuser to keep on abusing.

My original thought was to modify the Supercharge cycle for abusers in two ways:
1) Force the owner of the car to remain in the car during the entire charge cycle. Nobody there? No juice. No going to the office, no shopping all day, no leaving it there overnight unattended. The car's built-in "butt-in-seat" detector can be used to sense a person there, and occasional demands that the person press a button, turn the steering wheel, or some kind of random activity to prove it isn't a backpack in the seat.

2) Since 30-45 minutes of waiting may not be miserable enough, I imagine that Tesla can reduce the Supercharger's (or the car's) power flow, increasing the charge time from Supercharge rates of 100-150 miles of range per hour to ordinary L2 rates of 20-30 miles of range per hour. Super (ab)user? Slow it down to L1 rates of 3-4 miles of range per hour.

Its still "For Free, For Life," but maybe sitting in a car for 4 - 8 hours isn't what the (ab)user had in mind...

Not sure how to handle husband/wife (ab)user profiles using the same car, though.


-- Ardie
"Honey, can I borrow your key fob?"

Punishing someone who is tying up a Supercharger stall by forcing them to tie up the Supercharger stall for a longer period? You might rethink that...