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Tesla Tells New Taxi, Uber Drivers Not to Use Its Superchargers
- Harelin 9y agoI'm reminded of the Tesloop episode of 'The Pitch' podcast. "Haydn Sonnad pitches his plan to revolutionize regional transit on the back of Tesla’s electric charging network." https://gimletmedia.com/episode/11-tesloop/ https://gimletmedia.com/episode/11-tesloop/
- KallDrexx 9y agoHah first thing that came to my mind too.
- hackcrafter 9y agoThey called him on this potentially happening too during the pitch. I hope they bought all the Teslas they need!
- greglindahl 9y agoI think the average owner hopes that they didn't. Although there's a new 40-stall supercharger between Vegas and LA, so Tesloop probably isn't significantly harming the system at this point.
- kirillzubovsky 9y agoCan you still mine BTC from the trunk, so long as you do it solely for your own purposes?
- Jagat 9y agoYes https://electrek.co/2017/11/29/tesla-mining-bitcoin-model-s-supercharger-power/ https://electrek.co/2017/11/29/tesla-mining-bitcoin-model-s-...
- greglindahl 9y agoNote that an unmodified Tesla allows you to draw 120 watts from the cigarette lighter, not 2,800 like the claim in the article. Which likely false. Fun article, I see you clicked on it.
- dba7dba 9y agoOh no Bjorn, what is he going to do?
- fmihaila 9y agoThe wording in the article's first paragraph can almost be read as if the policy applied to all Tesla cars used commercially, but the actual announcement is more clear: > This Policy applies to all Superchargers worldwide and all Tesla vehicles purchased, either new or used, whether from Tesla or a third party, after December 15, 2017. https://www.tesla.com/about/legal?#supercharger-fair-use https://www.tesla.com/about/legal?#supercharger-fair-use I updated the title accordingly.
- moonka 9y agoI understand changing the policy for new sales going forward, but changing it unilaterally from used sales seems wrong.
- hackcrafter 9y agoBut it does prevent a business trying to run off of free supercharger power from just buying up used Teslas...
- sowbug 9y agoI don't think that was the point of the post you're replying to. The point was that you might be annoyed that an invisible hand reached out and plucked away part of the value of the thing you owned and were about to sell to someone.
- rebuilder 9y agoThis is a lesson we seem to be learning over an over: Don't rely on services provided by others continuing to exist indefinitely. Whether it's your social media account or free charging for your car, if you aren't prepared for losing access to that service, you are guaranteed to have a bad experience somewhere down the line. Which is why I'm not terribly sanguine about the current everything-as-a-service model. Going off a bit here, but aren't we kind of becoming serfs again, with ownership and power flowing into the hands of the corporations renting us their services?
- glenstein 9y agoMaybe this is a dumb question, but why not just charge commercial users more instead?
- im3w1l 9y ago̶T̶̶̶h̶̶̶e̶̶̶y̶̶̶ ̶̶̶a̶̶̶r̶̶̶e̶̶̶ ̶̶̶c̶̶̶u̶̶̶r̶̶̶r̶̶̶e̶̶̶n̶̶̶t̶̶̶l̶̶̶y̶̶̶ ̶̶̶f̶̶̶r̶̶̶e̶̶̶e̶̶̶,̶̶̶ ̶̶̶s̶̶̶o̶̶̶ ̶̶̶i̶̶̶t̶̶̶'̶̶̶s̶̶̶ ̶̶̶n̶̶̶o̶̶̶t̶̶̶ ̶̶̶j̶̶̶u̶̶̶s̶̶̶t̶̶̶ ̶̶̶a̶̶̶ ̶̶̶m̶̶̶a̶̶̶t̶̶̶t̶̶̶e̶̶̶r̶̶̶ ̶̶̶o̶̶̶f̶̶̶ ̶̶̶a̶̶̶d̶̶̶j̶̶̶u̶̶̶s̶̶̶t̶̶̶i̶̶̶n̶̶̶g̶̶̶ ̶̶̶a̶̶̶ ̶̶̶p̶̶̶r̶̶̶i̶̶̶c̶̶̶e̶̶̶.̶̶̶
- djrogers 9y agoNo, they are not free anymore. [1] https://www.tesla.com/support/supercharging https://www.tesla.com/support/supercharging
- greglindahl 9y agoThey're currently free for most S and X owners. If you buy a new S or X, any current owner can give you a referral code for free charging. They will never be free for any 3 owners.
- refurb 9y agoCapacity. It doesn't do Tesla any good if they charge commercial users, they pay and block all the super chargers 24/7.
- loeg 9y agoYour hypothetical scenario sounds like they just aren't charging enough.
- stephengillie 9y agoIndeed - were the price to charge commercial vehicles close to the ridiculous $1 million/hour, and traditional owner rate was unchanged, Supercharger slots would open.
- jasonjei 9y agoHow will Tesla enforce this policy? Tracking vehicle usage data, looking for lots of short trip patterns? Looking for rideshare decals (drivers would be wise to use removable decals)? Asking Uber/Lyft to share VIN numbers of registered cars?
- ams6110 9y agoLooking for cars with Uber placards parked at superchargers?
- jasonjei 9y agoWhat if the placards are removable?
- tytytytytytytyt 9y agoWhy bother if you have access to vehicle and supercharging data?
- ams6110 9y agoJust saying, there are simple ways that don't involve deep statistical analysis of driving data. Incidentally this is a reason I'll probably never buy a Tesla. I don't care for the manufacturer of my car to be logging every trip I take and every location I visit.
- 35bge57dtjku 9y agoAs if it's not already via your cell phone?
- gruez 9y agodo all uber/lyft cars have identifying features? i thought those were optional.
- Fogest 9y ago
- jondwillis 9y agoHow will they enforce this for rideshare drivers?
- venomsnake 9y agoThey probably have abuse clause in the contracts. They would claim that charging more than X times per week, for long period is abuse and terminate privileges.
- lafar6502 9y agoAnd the reality is back, teaching the maths
- paul7986 9y agoAn Uber driver can afford a Tesla??
- nobodyshere 9y agoThey can and they do. I talked to an Uber driver with a model s in Amsterdam. Leases it with his brother for about €1600 per month and still makes profit.
- t0mas88 9y agoThere are Tesla Ubers/taxis all over Amsterdam. It's a tax thing, a typical Mercedes taxi would also cost 1200 / month and then much more in fuel than the Tesla.
- walshemj 9y agowhich only works until the govement notices the tax loss ad changes the tax laws basing a business on a tax loop hole is a high risk stratergy
- nobodyshere 9y agoApparently right now environmentalism is a quite good justification for such lowered taxes. After all taxis are some of the most actively driven vehicles in the streets of any country.
- walshemj 9y agoWell in the UK it was a tax break for rich middle class people - not going to help a single parent who buys her electricity on a key system.
- greglindahl 9y agoThe single parent doesn't get any benefit from less pollution and less global warming?
- marklyon 9y agoI must say, the drivers who use their Tesla as an Uber do a hell of a job of representing the company and making the brand accessible. I am not fully ready to purchase a car and don’t want to deal with a sales pitch, but got a great overview of the S and X from two different drivers on trips. I got to touch and play with the car. I got real feedback from people who spend far more time in the car than I ever will. Both left me with a positive impression and, as a result, I’ll likely seriously consider a Tesla when I am ready to buy a vehicle.
- greglindahl 9y agoAlmost all of those drivers don't supercharge all the time.
- dingo_bat 9y agoIsn't that the case with any car though?
- techsupporter 9y agoI really hope Tesla is successful at beefing up its supercharger network. If the proper phrase is "I have no dog in this hunt," I extend the analogy to "because I have a cat." As an occasional driver of a Nissan Leaf in Puget Sound, the (in my observation) massive uptick in Tesla cars up here has really put a strain on the relatively tiny DC quick-charge network. Where that car can be in and out of a CHAdeMO station in 25-35 minutes, Tesla cars seem to occupy it for two hours. Presumably, and I'm just guessing, this is because a CHAdeMO station is to a Tesla what a 240V level 2 charger is to a Leaf. If I drive to a particular Eastside shopping center, I'd better hope I plan to be there for at least two hours because there's no chance of ever seeing an unoccupied one of the quick chargers there. Either way, that's why I hope that either Tesla gets its superchargers more widely deployed or that some company takes the hint and builds more DC quick chargers. (Preferably more reliable ones, too, while I'm wishing for ponies. The one at the Lake City Fred Meyer seems to only have two states, occupied or broken.)
- CiaranMcNulty 9y agoLeaf battery is 30kWh and even the smallest Teslas are double that (60kWh), most are triple (90kWh until recently was the largest). Assuming they can all draw the same current it makes sense that teslas are lingering for 2-3 times longer. The new 40kWh Leaf 2.0 offers similar range to the 60kWh Tesla, for comparison. Presumably this is due to weight etc.
- speedplane 9y agoMy hope: Tesla succeeds at making real things and has a stock valuation that accurately reflects their intrinsic value while providing sufficient support to fund new ventures. Is that too much to ask?
- plg 9y agoHow do they know whether you use it commercially or personally? I think I know the answer and it's disconcerting.
- nikanj 9y agoSend you a friendly letter if miles per week exceed a treshold?
- plg 9y agoWhat if I don’t want them to track me.
- paulie_a 9y agoAs far as I know, that isn't an option
- nikanj 9y agoIt's really hard to fill up your battery, without learning how much juice you have used. They don't have to track you, they can just follow the amount of power spent.
- xocyabencl 9y agoShouldn't have bought a Tesla and parked it in their free fueling stations.
- Shivetya 9y agothis kind of retroactive changes to their policies with regards to supercharges can end up biting them in the butt. it demonstrates that they consider nearly all promises changeable. though when the III becomes widely available I fully expect a whole host of other issues come about and some segments of their user base to demand exclusions for those they think make unfair use of the chargers. having been disconnected from a public charger by another EV owner who flat out told me i did not drive a real EV (its a Volt) I have found there are some real entitled thinking people driving these days
- supergirl 9y ago“We may also take additional action to protect the availability of Superchargers for their intended purpose, such as limiting or blocking your vehicle’s ability to use Supercharger stations.” say what. is it well known that tesla can brick your car whenever they feel like it?
- B1FF_PSUVM 9y agoThey have root and a comm line, they can. Same with Amazon taking back Kindle books a few years ago. Also your smartphone. Not yours. Nowadays "buy" means "rent". Pick a landlord.
- supergirl 9y agosomehow it feels way bigger deal if my car is bricked.