In recent times, Tesla witnessed a significant drawback for its electrically driven cars i.e, non-availability of a charging spot at Supercharger stations. The problem occurred due to the fact that a majority of Tesla owners use the charging station as a parking spot and leave their vehicles for hours even after the charging completes. The company has now come up with a solution to dismiss the issue.
The company today announced that it is putting an end to its unlimited free Supercharging scheme. Instead, it is launching a Supercharging credit program. Under the program, Tesla would charge an $0.40/minute idle fee when the automobile is fully charged.
However, a waiver of five minutes would be given to drivers for abandoning the spot. Further, a text message-based alert system has been implemented for alerting owners to leave the Supercharger stations. Even repeated alerts would be send to the owner in an interval of five minutes until the automobile is unplugged.
The system is functional under an all time virtually connected network of the company. The alert is an addition to the notifications by Tesla mobile app notifying users about preset charging requirements. Tesla made the announcement via its official blog which states,
For every additional minute a car remains connected to the Supercharger, it will incur a $0.40 idle fee. If the car is moved within 5 minutes, the fee is waived. To be clear, this change is purely about increasing customer happiness and we hope to never make any money from it.
We’re excited to increase availability during long distance travel and think this change will make the Supercharging experience far better for everyone.
Further, the post makes it clear that the vision for idle fee charge is enhancing the use of Supercharger stations rather than generating revenue from the program. The bill for the same would be generated at your next visit to a service center. From now on wards Tesla owners have to be careful before leaving their automobiles at charging stations.
