Tesla Is Prohibiting Commercial Drivers From Using Its Supercharger Stations (theverge.com)

Tesla has issued a new policy called Supercharger Fair Use, which prohibits new commercial drivers from using the red-and-white charging ports. The reason behind this new policy is to help alleviate congestion and improve the experience for others who rely on the Supercharging services. The Verge reports: Tesla says that the stations are intended for drivers who don't have ready options for charging at home or at work, and that when they're not used for this purpose, "it negatively impacts the availability of Supercharging services for others." Thus, the new policy says that for vehicles purchased after December 15th, drivers who plan to use their vehicles as a taxi, for ridesharing, commercial delivery or transportation, governmental purposes, or other commercial ventures won't be permitted to use the free stations. The company tracks usage and driver behavior, and if they find that someone isn't complying with the policy, they might be asked to stop, and simply limit or block one's vehicle from the stations in certain instances. The policy went into effect on Friday, December 15th, 2017. A Tesla spokesperson said that the company does "encourage the use of Teslas for commercial purposes," and that they will work with drivers to find other places to charge their vehicles. The policy carve out an exception, saying that some stations might be excluded, depending on local circumstances.

Comments

Re:That's what I love with modern society

[Wrath0fb0b]

First, you can do whatever you want with what you buy, but you didn't buy a supercharger. You can decide when you have the right to fill up on your own charger or use someone else's charger according to their rules.

Second, you didn't RTFA because it said for vehicles purchased after December 15th, the new rules shall apply. Meaning that no one that already purchased a Tesla is having the rules changed after the purchase.

Finally, the rule makes a lot of sense to me. If superchargers are getting contested and if a significant fraction are used by a small percentage of users, it's reasonable to makes rules to ensure they are more readily available.

Hnt: YES

[SuperKendall]

Are they expensive to install? YES THEY ARE.

That's also ignoring the cost of getting wiring TO each spot, and the huge additional burden of ongoing maintenance all of the wiring and chargers entail.

So what's the hold-up? I'd say it's the complete lack of demand.

There are already areas with high Tesla ownership running into issues. There's plenty of demand in places, but why would there be a rush to build out expensive support that no-one will be paying for?

Unlike your fantasies, I have resources to back up what I am saying, not to mention simple common sense for anyone that spends ten minutes on the thought experiment of what it means to wire every spot (or even just most spots) in a parking lot.