This is mostly targeted at HVAC usage while the vehicle is charging
It seems that Tesla is fed up with people sitting in their cars while supercharging. While this may be an oversimplification, the thing is that a lot of people are cranking up their AC and playing games, watching Netflix or surfing online, all while charging their vehicles. And if you think all of those items are not that big of a deal, try running your HVAC to the max, then see how much of the range gets drained due to that. And Tesla is taking notice.
In turn, according to the automaker, customers in “extreme climates” could see a difference of 10 to 25 kWh for the energy consumed during a charging session. All of this is due to the heavy usage of the car climate control system.
In the past, Tesla was not was adding the car’s electricity use to the owner’s Supercharging bill. However, apparently that will change going forward. This was revealed in an internal memo sent to its staff.
The calculation used to bill for Supercharging has been updated. Owners will also be billed for kWhs consumed by the car going toward the HVAC system, battery heater, and other HV loads during the session. Previously, owners were only billed for the energy used to charge the battery during the charging session.
Owners may see a noticeable increase in billed kWh if they are using energy-consuming features while charging, e.g., air conditioning, heating etc. This is more likely in extreme climates and could be a 10-25 kWh difference from what a customer experienced previously.
While this will affect plenty of users, we applaud it. After all, some people tend to look at the Supercharging utilization as their own personal item. If people are forced to spend less time in their cars while charging, prompting them to more carefully plan their sessions, this might actually alleviate some of the congestion, seen at some Supercharger locations. And sure, some owners might not be happy. But in the end, 10-25 kWh in one charging session is a lot of juice to throw around. And Tesla took notice.
Source: Electrek
