Tesla introducing idle fee for fully charged parked cars when left connected to Superchargers

Tesla supports its electronic cars with a network of Supercharging stations across the countries in which it operates. These charging stations recharge the batteries on Tesla Model S and Model X vehicles, and are strategically placed along highways and congested city centres. It takes about 75 minutes to fully charge a Tesla car, and users tend to park the cars at the Superchargers, which can be frustrating for other Tesla users.

Tesla is now tackling the problem, and hopes to reduce the wait time, by charging a  $0.40 (Roughly Rs 27) idle fee per minute after a car is parked at a Supercharger station, after the batteries have been fully charged. The charges will start accumulating immediately after the batteries are fully charged, but will only be applicable if the car is not moved after five minutes. The Tesla app notifies the user when the car is almost fully charged, and once again on being fully charged.

The move is to encourage users to move their vehicles out of the charging stations once the batteries are fully charged, to free up the charging stations for other users. The fees are applicable even if there are other Superchargers nearby that are unoccupied. The fees are not applicable to Destination chargers, which are charging stations installed by Tesla after partnering with various locations such as resorts, restaurants and shopping arcades.

While the move does penalise those who leave their vehicles parked at Supercharger stations, there is scope for improving the user experience further. When Tesla users arrive at a station to find all the Superchargers occupied, Tesla owners often request other Tesla owners to free up the station if they have enough charge to reach their destinations. The Superchargers fill up the batteries quicker when they are empty, and take longer to charge when the batteries are almost full.

It takes almost as long to go from 80 percent charge to 100 percent charge, as it takes to go from 0 to 80 percent charge. Maybe Tesla can come up with a way to incentivise those users who free up the Supercharger after their batteries are almost full. Eventually, Tesla hopes to implement technology where the car automatically frees up the Supercharger slot once the batteries are full. Tesla has noted that the charge is merely a measure to increase customer happiness, and the company will be glad if they never make any money from idle fees.