Supercharging on way home from buying Tesla out of state

[RayK]

One of the posters gave the solution; CHAdeMO. In all probability you will probably end up buying the adapter anyway.

One of the main reasons why I purchased the Tesla CHAdeMO adapter was that work has ChargePoint DC FAST stations and the local water company had opened two free DC FAST stations. While I'm not longer employed at Samsung, I found out that I still have access to the company garage. I've used them several times when I was in the neighborhood. The local L2 stations worked a couple of times but then went offline. I haven't checked them since just before the SIP went in force.

$500 is indeed a lot of money to spend on something which might not get a lot of use. I had calculated that it would take about 7200 miles worth of free DC FAST charging to break even on the adapter. Certainly I could do that if I was traveling extensively but that was not one of my concerns. Rather, the second main reason I bought the adapter was in case of an emergency; peace of mind that I had something in my trunk which could save my bacon in case I was near a L2 station and not a Supercharger.

ref: CHAdeMO Charging the Model 3

 

[ElectricIAC]

SC should be active on the car regardless unless its unsupported. Eventually it'll prompt to enter a CC to bill to even if it's not on your account. No need to use third party chargers.

Source: Bought a Tesla private party, PO removed from their account. Tesla took their sweet time adding it to our account and the message to add CC to continue SC popped up once unpaid balance reached $50.

 

[bedoig]

SC should be active on the car regardless unless its unsupported. Eventually it'll prompt to enter a CC to bill to even if it's not on your account. No need to use third party chargers.

Source: Bought a Tesla private party, PO removed from their account. Tesla took their sweet time adding it to our account and the message to add CC to continue SC popped up once unpaid balance reached $50.

I was going to say I didn't think this was an issue. I know I've seen reports in the past that the vehicle would just aggregate charges until a valid card was added. I think I've also seen people say they were charged at their next Service Center visit if they never added a card. I haven't tried it personally, and I'd also be hesitant to book a flight without knowing 100%, but I don't think Tesla wants to strand a bunch of cars on the side of the road either. Same reason each supercharging session doesn't have to validate a card before charging starts (ie, you're in an area with no cell coverage, etc).

 

[EV3_]

Just to clarify, a L2 is usually a J1772 which comes with the car. (I hope) The CHAdeMO for ~$450 is a L3, but slower than a supercharger, but still much better than A L2 when you are trying to step across the country...

 

[Burt]

I got a call back from a Tesla used car specialist. He said without a VIN number he cannot say if it is eligible for supercharging, but presuming it is supercharging would not be denied. I asked what situation would not be able to and he said damage for one. When I said I'd be looking at a 2018-2019 model 3 he said I shouldn't have an issue. If I were to pull up to a supercharger and it was for some reason not to work to call the Tesla support number and it would be taken care of.

I think if I am to do it, I'd try to work it out with the person to make the supercharging on the return trip part of the deal or at least to offer to reimburse for the expense. That seems to be the safest option.

 

[RayK]

Just to clarify, a L2 is usually a J1772 which comes with the car. (I hope) The CHAdeMO for ~$450 is a L3, but slower than a supercharger, but still much better than A L2 when you are trying to step across the country...

You're correct; I made mistakes on my last post. Meant to say DC FAST instead of L2.

 

[Jeff Davlt]

Tesla has been selling cars since 2012, so used Teslas have been a thing since 2013. If they haven't solved the problem by now, it's probably not something they are going to solve at all. If you want to buy a used Tesla you will either have to by the L2 adapter and be prepared to stop for a longer duration to charge or you can buy from a dealership that delivers, like VROOM or Carvanna. Once you get the car, you should have your home charging setup ready to go so that you won't need supercharging for local driving. I would opt for home delivery and put the $450 (for the L2 adapter) towards having the Tesla Wall Charger installed.

This seems like the route to go.

 

[ElectricIAC]

I think everyone is reading way too much into this. As long as you know the history of the vehicle is clean and is on the right side of support, it will supercharge one way or another barring any equipment failure.

-If you're buying from Tesla, the car will be on your account on pickup.
-If you're buying from private seller, even if they won't leave the car on their account, the car will still charge but will eventually ask for a payment method.
-If you're buying from a third party dealer, the vehicle may still be on someone else's account if they simply abandoned it when they traded in, or it will have been removed and the vehicle should still charge and eventually ask for a payment method.

 

[Jeff Davlt]

Just to clarify, a L2 is usually a J1772 which comes with the car. (I hope) The CHAdeMO for ~$450 is a L3, but slower than a supercharger, but still much better than A L2 when you are trying to step across the country...

I think everyone is reading way too much into this. As long as you know the history of the vehicle is clean and is on the right side of support, it will supercharge one way or another barring any equipment failure.

-If you're buying from Tesla, the car will be on your account on pickup.
-If you're buying from private seller, even if they won't leave the car on their account, the car will still charge but will eventually ask for a payment method.
-If you're buying from a third party dealer, the vehicle may still be on someone else's account if they simply abandoned it when they traded in, or it will have been removed and the vehicle should still charge and eventually ask for a payment method.

Thanks for the clarification. It’s good to know that one way or the other superchargers will work. It makes the adventure of a 1,000 mile drive home with a new to me Tesla just a bit less adventurous.

 

[TX_M3P+]

I think everyone is reading way too much into this. As long as you know the history
-If you're buying from private seller, even if they won't leave the car on their account, the car will still charge but will eventually ask for a payment method.

So if I buy a used Tesla (not from Tesla) and never create a Tesla account I can supercharge for free, until it decides I need to start paying? How does the car eventually "ask for a payment?" Buying a used Tesla does not require creating a Tesla account. However, many things are blocked until you create an account and link the VIN, like using the Tesla app, using your phone as a key and supercharging. This kinda forces you to create the account and link the VIN, but it is not required, to my knowledge.

 

[Jeff Davlt]

Another hiccup/ question I have would be about the LTE connectivity. If this was not subscribed through Tesla, how much more difficult would a multi-day trip home be? My understanding is that navigation still works, it just won’t do real time traffic visualizations. And I suppose I wouldn’t be able to watch Netflix on my way home either. Anything else about not having an LTE subscription that would be extra challenging? I assume this too would need to be setup through a Tesla account.

 

[DelPhonic1]

I bought my used X 100D from a 3rd party Texas dealer a few weeks ago. They emailed me registration papers immediately upon the long distance sale completion. It took Tesla about 2 hrs from my initial upload of DL, insurance, VIN and title, to add this magnificent starship to my Tesla account. But yeah I still think they'll let you charge 'on account' anyway.

 

[Glamisduner]

They really need to streamline this. Think outside the box a bit. yea right now this is directly tied to your tesla account which requires long processing, but does it have to be? Why not just have it connected to your account? Fragmentation? I dunno seems like they could flush something out that could be useful in other situations as well (lending your car to someone etc).

 

[MP3Mike]

They really need to streamline this. Think outside the box a bit. yea right now this is directly tied to your tesla account which requires long processing, but does it have to be? Why not just have it connected to your account? Fragmentation? I dunno seems like they could flush something out that could be useful in other situations as well (lending your car to someone etc).

The current owner of the car can already add you as an authorized user of the car in your own account. So Tesla already has that covered.

How do you suggest that Tesla speed up the state registration paperwork? (Or alternatively how do you suggest that Tesla verify that you actually own the car?)

 

[Glamisduner]

The current owner of the car can already add you as an authorized user of the car in your own account. So Tesla already has that covered.

How do you suggest that Tesla speed up the state registration paperwork? (Or alternatively how do you suggest that Tesla verify that you actually own the car?)

I'm thinking more along the lines of an easy way to assigning a credit card for supercharging outside of your tesla account.

 

[MP3Mike]

I'm thinking more along the lines of an easy way to assigning a credit card for supercharging outside of your tesla account.

Again, how does Tesla verify that you should be allowed to do that?

 

[Glamisduner]

Again, how does Tesla verify that you should be allowed to do that?

same as any other application on the web?

 

[MP3Mike]

same as any other application on the web?

Show me one example of an application on the web that verifies the ownership of a given car, that doesn't rely on the state registration data.

 

[thepoynt]

I bought my M3 from a private party cross-country, and the previous owner just left the car on his account until I got home, and I paid them back for the charging. At the time I found it annoying that they couldn't just transfer the ownership to me through their account, but it makes sense when you consider the damage that could be done if that was a feature and someone hacked into your account...

 

[Glamisduner]

Show me one example of an application on the web that verifies the ownership of a given car, that doesn't rely on the state registration data.

again I'm not talking about transferring ownership, just a way to allow additional forms of payment for supercharging, without necessarily being linked to main Tesla account. Why do you think Tesla should have the need to verify that I want to allow someone else to pay for charging the car?

If I am at a supercharger, with a Tesla. Why can't I open the app to allow payment for charging the car, it could be an option without stepping on seamless integration of the usual super charger stop...