Tesla increases Supercharger idle fees to decrease wait times

Tesla doesn’t want cars sitting at Superchargers for too long once they are fully charged. It’s why the automaker introduced “idle fees” two years ago.

Now Tesla is increasing those fees to discourage the practice even more.

Back in December 2016, Tesla introduced a $0.40/minute idle fee at Superchargers to incentivize owners to move when charging is over.

Tesla said about the fee:

“We designed the Supercharger network to enable a seamless, enjoyable road trip experience. Therefore, we understand that it can be frustrating to arrive at a station only to discover fully charged Tesla cars occupying spaces. To create a better experience for all owners, we’re introducing a fleet-wide idle fee that aims to increase Supercharger availability.”

The automaker has now updated it to make it both more lenient when the stations are not seeing high usage and more aggressive if they are full.

Starting now, the fee is going up to $0.50 per minute if a station is at least 50% full. If the station is 100% full, the fee goes up to US$1 per minute:

As first announced with the original Supercharger idle fee, if the owner unplugs the vehicle within 5 minutes after the car is full, the fee is waived.

To be clear, this fee is completely separate from the Supercharger paid model, which charges by the kWh or minute of charging for vehicles without the free unlimited Supercharging program.

All Tesla owners using the Supercharger network are subject to this fee, which aims to make sure people don’t use the network as parking but to actually charge their vehicles.

Tesla sent us the following statement about the change:

“Based on feedback from the Tesla owner community, we are adjusting the idle fees associated with our Supercharging program to continue providing the best Supercharging experience as the size of our fleet grows. As has always been the case, our Supercharging and associated fees charged on the network are not meant to be a profit center for Tesla, and we hope to never need to bill for idle fees.”

Furthermore, Tesla owners cannot let their unpaid balance for those fees, or regular Supercharging fees, exceed $50 or Tesla will block Supercharger access.

Owners can pay online through their ‘My Tesla’ account and Tesla will also add the ability to link a credit card to your account directly in the vehicle.

Here are the idle fees by country: