Supercharging letter from Tesla 8-13-2015

[stsanford]

I haven't gotten one, however I was concerned that I might, as I have had a few runs in my 60 where it would be close to 10 or so miles left by the time I got home, so I would stop on my way back (say 30 miles from home) to top off so I would have miles left for errands and running the kids wherever... On 2 occasions, our plans changed and I wound up not needing the charge, I felt bad, but genuinely didn't have the knowledge that I wouldn't need the range. What's more, I charged up only enough to get home and still have 60 miles or so left for wherever I had to run. I know that by me, on Long Island, the Syosset SC is very highly utilized and that there are some owners who I have been told do not have chargers at home. They SC every morning or night. Now THAT would seem highly abusive to me. I know I had to wait 25 minutes one time I desperately needed a charge to get home.

Of course, all this gets easier in 2 weeks when I trade in my 60 for a P85 ;-)

 

[yobigd20]

this isn't surprising coming from Tesla since they are notoriously horrific at communication and this letter seems to be sent to the wrong folks. I did not get one, yet I do sometimes use "local" (what constitutes local??) superchargers weekly and sometimes even twice daily. though maybe my driving habits has their algorithm confused considering I spend 1/4 of my time in south jersey, 1/4 of my time in north jersey, 1/4 of my time in the poconos, and 1/4 of my time up in the finger lakes. maybe it can't determine what's "local" to me, haha.

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I'm starting to wonder if everyone is getting the letter - just sending it to 100% would mean no one is getting singled out. Usually comms roll out over a few days. And it seems like a LOT of people are reporting receipt.

no way. reading it over and over again it's definitely meant to be targeted at people rather than everyone as a whole.

 

[artsci]

I got the same email, stating that I am "...a frequent user of local Superchargers...". BS. The nearest Supercharger to me is 60 miles away and I've used it maybe 12 times in the last 7 months and many of those times were coming back from an extended trip to get me home.

I agree, the tone is off putting.

View attachment 90271

I don't understand what about the letter is off putting or insulting, as others have suggested. It's polite and makes no accusations. Perhaps the fault is that you received it at all, given that you have no "local" superchargers. Perhaps the problem is Tesla's definition of "local."

 

[mknox]

Any Canadians get the letter yet? (I haven't).

There is a Supercharger strategically placed mid-point between Toronto and popular summer cottage / winter ski areas. Many people will travel that route every weekend and, in fact, it is one of the busier Superchargers I've been to. It's necessary to use on trips of this length, especially in winter, and is exactly why it was placed where it is. It will be interesting to see if I or other users of that station get letters.

 

[JST]

Maybe they are sending it to all owners within X radius of particularly busy Superchargers?

That would require a lot less data analysis than pulling individual logs for vehicles and correlating them with home addresses.

 

[scaesare]

I am disappoint.

 

[Nevek]

I don't understand what about the letter is off putting or insulting, as others have suggested. It's polite and makes no accusations. Perhaps the fault is that you received it at all, given that you have no "local" superchargers. Perhaps the problem is Tesla's definition of "local."

The letter is fine and as mild as it could be. The problem is if it isn't directed correctly, it is ineffective.

 

[MrClown]

Maybe they are sending it to all owners within X radius of particularly busy Superchargers?

That would require a lot less data analysis than pulling individual logs for vehicles and correlating them with home addresses.

Where X = 1500 miles.

 

[NigelM]

That did not take long.

My reaction: wrinkled brow, shrug my shoulders, doesn't apply to me, someone made a mistake, delete mail.

I have a hard time feeling offended or insulted as others apparently have over this. Sorry.

 

[toto_48313]

Any Canadians get the letter yet? (I haven't).

There is a Supercharger strategically placed mid-point between Toronto and popular summer cottage / winter ski areas. Many people will travel that route every weekend and, in fact, it is one of the busier Superchargers I've been to. It's necessary to use on trips of this length, especially in winter, and is exactly why it was placed where it is. It will be interesting to see if I or other users of that station get letters.

I haven't yet... but may expect to have one as I use the Montreal Service center supercharger when I visit them.

 

[4SUPER9]

I don't understand what about the letter is off putting or insulting, as others have suggested. It's polite and makes no accusations. Perhaps the fault is that you received it at all, given that you have no "local" superchargers. Perhaps the problem is Tesla's definition of "local."

I think the letter is insulting if it is addressed, by name, to someone who rarely uses a SC. Being accused of something that you did not do, no matter how benign or trivial, is naturally disturbing, and immediately places someone into a defensive posture.
The tone of the letter is in of itself, acceptable.
I have not received the letter, but if I did (or if I do), I will immediately respond to TM, asking them to get their sh*t together. All it would take is spending a few hundred bucks (at most) of someone's time to come up with a reasonable algorithm. As is, who they sent this letter to brings up serious issues of competence.

 

[ZBayChris]

I received the email this morning as well. It actually didn't come as much of a surprise as there has been much discussion recently, on several investment sites, concerning the unexpected financial burden to TESLA of maintaining the SC network. Both the costs to service the chargers and pay for the electricity used has been speculated as being far greater than TM originally anticipated. While I am not a shareholder I, like most of MS owners, hope that the SC network continues to roll out as planned. Particularly in areas that are currently "under served".

 

[efusco]

I don't understand what about the letter is off putting or insulting, as others have suggested. It's polite and makes no accusations. Perhaps the fault is that you received it at all, given that you have no "local" superchargers. Perhaps the problem is Tesla's definition of "local."

Again, it's just two lines that are off putting, particularly to those who feel they don't/haven't abused the superchargers:
"As a frequent user of local Superchargers, we ask that you decrease your local Supercharging and promptly move your your Model S once charging is complete."

It is stating clearly that they have been singled out as a frequent user and are being asked to change their behavior. If it doesn't apply, or you don't think it should apply, that can be pretty off putting. Think, cop accuses you of a crime you didn't commit. That is off putting.

 

[AnOutsider]

Again, it's just two lines that are off putting, particularly to those who feel they don't/haven't abused the superchargers:
"As a frequent user of local Superchargers, we ask that you decrease your local Supercharging and promptly move your your Model S once charging is complete."

It is stating clearly that they have been singled out as a frequent user and are being asked to change their behavior. If it doesn't apply, or you don't think it should apply, that can be pretty off putting. Think, cop accuses you of a crime you didn't commit. That is off putting.

"As a habitual shoplifter, we ask that you please keep your hands in plain sight when entering our stores"

Who needs sensational headlines about fires and hacks when Tesla can shoot holes into their own feet?

 

[LetsGoFast]

If it read "If you are a frequent user of local Superchargers..." it would be fine.

 

[Skotty]

If it read "If you are a frequent user of local Superchargers..." it would be fine.

Amazing the difference a few word changes can make. This is really all they needed to do. (well that, and either just sending it to everyone or making a better algorithm, preferably the former)

 

[Mr X]

Ya... I don't see how "Millions" of Tesla's are going to be able to Supercharge for "Free".


That just aint happening if people are getting letters about decreasing their Supercharging usage now... and there isn't even 100k Tesla's on the road.

 

[omarsultan]

While the overall tone of the letter is reasonable, I think the following phrase is problematic:

As a frequent user of local Superchargers, we ask the you decrease your use of local Supercharging and promptly move your vehicle once charging is complete.

When doing corp communications like this, you tend to want to bias towards false negatives instead of false positives: its better to miss a few of the folks your are targeting then hit folks who are doing nothing wrong. As this single phrase makes two specific accusations (excessive local Supercharging and leaving a car parked in an SC stall), IMO it would have been better if whomever did this applied a bit more rigor to the dataset selection, or, if this truly is a blast to everyone, re-worded the above phrase.

A couple of folks have noted "its just and e-mail", which is true. However, as much as I am a Tesla fanboi, there is a persistent level of imprecision with the company (owner communications probably being the best example), which at some point, if not corrected, will become as indelibly connected with the brand as positive traits such as performance and styling.

In terms of practical impact, say Tesla decides to throttle the SC rate of folks who excessively use local Superchargers (still free). If they use the same level of precision to target those owners as they did to target this e-mail, they are going to do an immense amount of damage to themselves.

 

[tstafford]

Noob here - I was looking forward to the occasional lunch near the local Supercharger. Grab some food, get some juice for the car and hopefully talk to some other owners. Is this considered inappropriate?

Also - is there a documented Terms of Use for the SC network?

 

[NoMoGas]

I got The letter and I am hopping mad about it. First of all there is no soap supercharger Close to my house, the nearest one is about 30 miles away. Secondly and more to the point we don't need to be condescended to about home charging. I'm fully aware how home charging works as 3 OUT OF THE 4 of these I own get charged at home.

Treating tesla owners like they're stupid is unbelievably short sighted. If you don't want people, even locals, using the Chargers then TELL THEM THE RULES AT THE POINT OF SALE. Don't play word games and be suprised when people see what they want to. I wonder if this is why Jerome left, I don't see him sending out this kind of letter.