Supercharging letter from Tesla 8-13-2015

[MyJoule]

Like many others, I got the letter too- I've used the nearest supercharger (55miles) several times but not at all since May- Interestedly, we have two Model S's and one is registered to me and the other to my wife- I got the letter and she didn't Also, interestingly, she got the referral e-mail and link and I didn't.

I admit, too that I'm a bit annoyed but given that many communications from Tesla are garbled, I'm not too upset. There are other problems in the world that have my attention. I plan to continue to use superchargers on road trips and to charge at home the other 99% of the time using our HPWC or Blink(until either dies) then I will likely replace with Clipper Creek (daughter has a Volt)
or just a plain 14-50 outlet.

 

[shelbri]

When I ordered my car In June 2014 there was no discussion about Supercharging being for long distance travel. In fact, my DS made it a point that I could charge for free anytime at the Supercharger in Darien CT as often as I'd like.

Now I fully appreciate the need to allow travelers priority but I have never seen more that two Teslas at this site ( with 4 stalls).

I charge every night at home but my weekend commute is from home to Stamford, CT to Mystic CT to home. My marina in Mystic does not have charging and I sometimes need charging in Milford CT to make it home with a small buffer.

I do this just about every weekend so I am using local superchargers and will continue to do so.

Tesla can't just change the rules.

Of course, I say all this and I have NOT received a letter. I hope I don't. Love the car and the supercharger network. 25k miles in 10 months.

 

[beingpaulp]

I got the email, I was also told the same thing in the letter verbally *after* taking delivery while in for service. Before delivery I was told "use it as much as you like"....

I was in a strange situation when I took delivery, was basically living out of hotels (without charging stations) so I was using Fremont as my fueling station.

Now I haven't used a SpC in the last month, but after getting the email, I felt the need to go top-up at my local supercharger. It's my way of saying F U to the email.

 

[tinm]

Could someone please provide a screen shot of this email?

 

[Max*]

Could someone please provide a screen shot of this email?

Post #7... Supercharging letter from Tesla

 

[tinm]

Thanks, missed it.

 

[smac]

I hope I get the letter, I'll frame it!

(Non SpC enabled 60 owner )

 

[Cyclone]

Another banner day for Tesla's communications department.

Exactly what I was thinking!

- - - Updated - - -

I think they used the logic of Trip Planner to determine who gets these letters.

Good one!

 

[sorka]

This makes me wonder what their criteria is for sending an e-mail, I have used the Petaluma SC when coming back from up north and we need to stop at Target. Maybe once or twice a month.

This is most ironic. Given how little some of the letter recipients claim they've used the SCs, i should have gotten several letters already. I supercharge often and frequently on my 260 mile round trip commute. I use Fremont and Manteca weekly.

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At the end it says, "Thank you for your cooperation". (screenshot in message #7) To me this sounds like they expect people to cooperate with the implication they will keep monitoring the same users and potentially something else might happen if the user doesn't cooperate.

When this subject was discussed after Elon talked about it, there was a lot of speculation on how they might decide if somebody is abusing the system. It looks like the definition is not as sophisticated as some expected. In other words, it doesn't take into account your home location, whether you have a home charger or what percentage of charging happens at home. From what I have read, they only look at how many times you have supercharged at each station. If this number is more than X times during last Y months, then you get an email.

This creates a disadvantage to heavy users who have a home charger but travel long distance on a specific route frequently. The user might use superchargers only for 5% of driving but that 5% would be a lot if the user drives a lot and most long distance travel is on same route. I think they should look at what percentage of charging happens at home.

If they count number of times somebody has supercharged at each station, that would fail to identify Uber drivers or commercial drivers who supercharge a lot at different stations. Of course I might have misunderstood it. More data would be useful from people who received the email.

Like me as I have a 260 mile round trip commute, but I did not receive the letter.

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Got an email, a local supercharger just opened up 4 days ago. I still have yet to use it. Not sure what criteria Tesla has for sending emails, but it's clearly WRONG.

They just want to make sure you never use in case you were thinking about it :tongue:

 

[danahull]

Hey there. What is your number? Would love to discuss. Dana Hull, Bloomberg News [email protected]

 

[FlasherZ]

Hey there. What is your number? Would love to discuss. Dana Hull, Bloomberg News [email protected]

And here it starts...

I didn't receive a letter (yet). But I take it as a reminder note, that Tesla intended it to be a long-distance travel enabler, and perhaps for those who can't have charging infrastructure at home (yet). Not a big deal IMO, they aren't announcing any changes in policy or turning off supercharging for people. Come back screaming when they do.

 

[sorka]

5K followers. Not bad. Probably worth lot of re-tweets.

 

[techmaven]

I haven't gotten the letter. I'm starting to feel left out.

 

[vdiv]

I haven't gotten the letter (yet), but I did get pretty much the opposite email inviting me to a new supercharger unveiling.
It is in Norfolk VA, which is two superchargers (Woodbridge and Glen Allen) away:

Not sure if I should laugh or cry. Do you think I should go and ask for a clarification at the ceremony? No?!

 

[SmartElectric]

Any Canadians get the letter yet? (I haven't)

Nope. I'm 20 km away from the Toronto supercharger, and have opportunity charged there a few times when getting service or purchasing accessories. The letter won't change how I charge, and it doesn't bother me one bit to see Tesla outline their policy clearly. However, as has been noted, it could have been done with more care and higher degree of accuracy on the algorithm (in indeed there was one).

 

[brianman]

The letter ...

Please let us know when Model X drivers start getting the letter.

I presume Roadster drivers aren't getting it (unless they have a Model S).

 

[Canuck]

This is really poor communications on Tesla's part. Not only do they upset people who use the Superchargers for their rightful purpose, but those are abusing their use get painted with the same broad brush so as to mean practically nothing.

 

[capt601]

If you want to contribute to another one-sided article about Tesla give them a call.
now we know how little research the writers actually do - read about a couple people complaining on a forum and than write an article. guessing they will put something negative out this evening or tomorrow morning.

Hey there. What is your number? Would love to discuss. Dana Hull, Bloomberg News [email protected]

 

[Nevek]

This is really poor communications on Tesla's part. Not only do they upset people who use the Superchargers for their rightful purpose, but those are abusing their use get painted with the same broad brush so as to mean practically nothing.

That is the real issue. Ok, it's a little disconcerting to get the note when it doesn't apply, but because of the error in filtering, those who might need a gentle (and let's face it, it is gentle) reminder don't think it's them.

Wait-maybe I'm one of THEM!

Oh well, let's talk about Model X green dots and Model S autopilot missed commitments instead.

 

[RDoc]

I'm certainly no lawyer, but I have seen companies build legal cases against employees they intend to fire. They start off with a mild warning about some trivial thing, then another, etc. and after a few months they've got a file of warnings they can refer to.

My point is: don't be too sure this is all that innocuous, everyone getting the letter has been warned once.