Supercharger Abuse - Tesla takes a Stand

[DucRider]

Do they actually have a contract? Or was it advertising talk? Cell phone companies and everyone else change their terms of service all the time.

The announcement only affects cars ordered after December 31. Owners that have cars with free unlimited supercharging will always have free unlimited supercharging. Nothing has changed, regardless of Elon's attempt to persuade owners to avoid supercharging, and charge from home. With that said, I'd absolutely be one of those "offenders". if I lived in SoCal, and was paying up to $0.39 per kWh you bet I'd suck up free electrons instead of paying 30 after-tax dollars to SDG&E.

Tesla changed the wording a year or two ago to "Free supercharging for long distance travel" away from "Free Supercharging for Life". Don't know what (if anything) was in the actual purchase contract at the various times.
Putting an actual numerical limit was the next logical step. Free charging tends to create bottlenecks at charging locations, and with already crowded Superchargers, Tesla needs to look to when 100x the number of cars are trying to use 2x the current number of chargers.

 

[michael]

That's my point....I'm guessing Tesla's lawyers put enough wiggle room in the deal that they have flexibility to modify the terms.

Anyone have a written contract for free, unlimited, full rate, forever?

Like I said, ATT had no difficulty wiggling out of they unlimited data plans.

 

[SeanNelson]

Like I said, ATT had no difficulty wiggling out of they unlimited data plans.

Cell phone plans are different because they run for a fixed term, and the phone companies are under no obligation to offer the same plan once they expire. Since the longest plans typically last 3 years, that means over a 3 year period the company is able completely overhaul its terms of service, subject only to the need to offer plans that are competitive with other companies.

 

[Norton]

>...What's to prevent Tesla from providing grandfathered cars maybe 400 kWh per year at full speed, then throttling to L2 speeds?
>>...Or better yet, devising some "abuser" profile. ...

>That would not make any sense. The Superchargers are DC Fast Charging. They don't want cars loitering there. The idea is: Chit and Git.

>>Again, when they bought the car it was "Free Lifetime access to the SC network", in writing. A deals a deal. There is no abuse of 'Free'.
It obviously was not a sustainable business model. 'Lifetime' is a very long time. This is why they are changing it with new and CPO car purchases next year.

 

[oilerlord]

That's my point....I'm guessing Tesla's lawyers put enough wiggle room in the deal that they have flexibility to modify the terms.

Anyone have a written contract for free, unlimited, full rate, forever?

Like I said, ATT had no difficulty wiggling out of they unlimited data plans.

My buddy in Carlsbad has exactly that written in his Model X contract. Free Unlimited Supercharging.

Not sure what cell phone carriers you guys use, but when I've signed a deal for talk time & metered and/or unlimited data - I've never had my provider "wiggle" out of it. This goes back to 1990, and my first Motorola 8000M.

Musk has already re-iterated that cars ordered before December 31 will not be affected by the new policy. With that said, "Free Unlimited Supercharging" used to be front-and-center when ordering a Tesla, but has been stricken from everywhere that describes the supercharging that comes with a new or pre-owned Tesla. Doesn't mean that they aren't honoring the terms, just not advertising them anymore.

As more supercharging stations come online, and through attrition of older cars, it's not going to be a problem for legacy owners to get their free electricity.