Tesla Supercharging promised but not delivered

NiallDarwin

NiallDarwin

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May 12, 2018
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I guess you guys believe we should be allowed to tinker and repair things we own? If so you may be interested in my pain with Tesla:

Just over a year ago I bought a salvage Model S in Australia. Just over 3,300km (2000miles), 6 months old, right rear damage. It really didn't look much to fix so I decided to repair it and run it here in New Zealand rather than part it out. I then entered a World of Pain. I wish I'd watched Rich Rebuilds / Car Guru's videos and stuck with my trusty G1 Leaf before getting involved. But 20-20 is hindsight.

Before spending money on the rebuild I confirmed with Tesla (AU) that the car had Supercharging. After spending a heap of $$ and getting the car *perfect* again I was feeling very pleased with myself. I was then down in the dumps when it wouldn't supercharge. I was told the car had to have an inspection to become 'supported' again. Despite not having been warned of this requirement earlier I went ahead with it and the car passed. I got a "Notice of Results of Inspection of Unsupported Vehicle" (Tesla form SC-15-00-005 ) stating that the vehicle had:

Passed Tesla Approved Body Shop Inspection
The Unsupported Vehicle has passed the Tesla Approved Body Shop inspection. The Unsupported
Vehicle must pass inspection by a Tesla Service Center at your expense before Tesla will redeem
Unsupported Vehicle and re-enable support.
&
Passed Tesla Service Center Inspection
The Unsupported Vehicle has passed the Tesla Service Center inspection. Tesla will redeem the
Unsupported Vehicle and re-enable support. Any Tesla limited warranties and extended service
agreements for the vehicle remain void, and all future service and repairs will be at your expense .

However a month passed and my frustration grew and still I had no Supercharging. Phonecalls and emails didn't get me an answer, a date that I could expect an answer, an accountable person, nothing. Eventually I got told over the phone that the car would not be supported (but that I'm welcome to buy parts from Tesla?!).

I'm angry but I'm trying to stay positive. If any of you good folk have the ability to raise this issue with someone senior at Tesla, please do. If not, share this video around or give me feedback here.

Thanks
 
I've watch the video Niall , I am in confusion as to the meaning of the term "supported"

Does this mean that tesla have the ability to block supercharging on any car they do not "support" ,that the car can be supercharged by they just won't allow this ?????
 
Tesla will redeem the Unsupported Vehicle and "re-enable support" - so they support it but will not allow supercharging as in over the air software updates...

Tesla will possibly consider some structural damage as a potential issue for the battery pack due to the G force involved during the accident. With supercharging any weakened conductors/joints could set fire to the vehicle so I would have thought it is a reasonable precaution and high acceleration is only a short duration high current discharge. Not sure if this is the reason, it would be very interesting if it is and why they could not check this in the service center.

Tesla seem reasonable compared to some Apple products..
 
completelycharged said:
Tesla will redeem the Unsupported Vehicle and "re-enable support" - so they support it but will not allow supercharging as in over the air software updates...
Click to expand...

So this means anyone buying a second hand tesla is vulnerable to losing supercharging? ..... when known this will reduce the value of second hand teslas , buyers of new teslas should be informed of this ....

Complainant should inform tesla he has already made a video , and contacted forums ...andif he does not have supercharging enabled he will make it his life's mission to inform potential tesla customersthey may not be able to get a good price if latter theywish to sell, or if the car is scrapped.
 
Fix it yourself and "supported" means we will provide you with software updates, download your valuable data for the NZ market and refuse free electricity (supercharging of S series)...

Best approach is to be "constructive" as to highlighting repair issues specific to supercharging that could cause problems for the S series..... post on Youtube and wait..
 
ozz93666 said:
completelycharged said:
Tesla will redeem the Unsupported Vehicle and "re-enable support" - so they support it but will not allow supercharging as in over the air software updates...
Click to expand...

So this means anyone buying a second hand tesla is vulnerable to losing supercharging? ..... when known this will reduce the value of second hand teslas , buyers of new teslas should be informed of this ....

Complainant should inform tesla he has already made a video , and contacted forums ...andif he does not have supercharging enabled he will make it his life's mission to inform potential tesla customersthey may not be able to get a good price if latter theywish to sell.
Click to expand...

There is no issue with secondhand Teslas in general, the issue is ones for which a Salvage title has been issued.

Once Tesla goes through the motions (and collects a few thousand dollars) of certifying a salvaged then repaired vehicle as Supported, I would expect at minimum that Supercharging be enabled, although possibly not for free. Free Supercharging For Life is a service given as a perk to early adopters of the brand, they are phasing it out (currently on the S and X you only get free supercharging for life if you use a referral code when you buy, and that perk has been announced to expire soon). While Tesla has usually allowed the Free Supercharging to stick with the vehicle for the 2nd owner, I believe it is really meant to be a perk for the first buyer only, the one whose money actually is going to Tesla. As long as paid supercharging is enabled I wouldn't see a further issue, but to not allow supercharging at all on a Supported vehicle is wrong to me.
 
I think we have to get the terms straight here. What exactly does "supported" mean in this case? I guess you're not complaining about supercharging not being free but that it is not possible at all for you car even if you wanted to pay for supercharging?
 
@DarkRaven: That's what I gather here. Supercharging is available to be used with the car as it is capable. But the software has it set to off to not allow it. Essentially, the car has a feature that the manufacture has disabled.
Like the FM radio that is in practically all cell phones. Here in the US, carriers have the liberty (which is not right) to disable the FM receiver and "charge" the buyer another fee, perhaps monthly, to enable the feature. Same thing with wifi Tethering.

Altho, I think there is a little difference here as Tesla is providing a secondary service for supercharging. But still, even paying for it it should be available to be used on this car as the car was cleared through it's inspection, regardless. Now, how much is it going to cost per kWh of charge?
 
Thanks brwainer. That helps. So here in Fl it's $0.21/kWh. That's about 5% higher than the average cost of power here (which is including the taxes and fees as well). I suppose if you need to charge up on the road, that's not terribly a bad deal. At that point, you are paying for convenience, speed, and distance (or emergency). If each state is about that much, I think that's about fair. At least they aren't asking for 25% more than the cost of power, or even higher than that.
 
UK works out around 16p/kWh vs 20p/kWh for supercharging.

In the UK charging can cost a lot, over 40p/kWh for some other charging networks....

This is the fees for a local charge station for a 10kWh charge of around 42 miles.

image_pvrdgd.jpg


Another network charges 12 per hour for charging on a fast charger !!!! As long as you don't leave it connected for more then absolute necessary the overall rate is still nearly double the supercharger rate for the UK....

image_mmndkd.jpg
 
Hi all,
Very sorry for not having replied to any comments here. I've not seen any notifications and haven't been back in a while. Since posting the video, someone from 'Tesla Executive Care' in the US got in touch and eventually re-enabled CHADEMO charging but handed me back to AU/NZ for the Supercharging issue. So I took them to the disputes tribunal (used to be known as small claims court) here in NZ. I've had two sessions there and am awaiting a decision by post.
In case you have some interest still, here's my best attempts at answers:
ozz93666 said:
I've watch the video Niall , I am in confusion as to the meaning of the term "supported"
Click to expand...
I am too and I've had two court sessions with the director of Tesla NZ on speakerphone and am no closer to properly understanding. I think it means that Tesla are willing to have the car in their workshop and do work on it. They presume that any damaged car is instantly a dangerous liability.
ozz93666 said:
Does this mean that tesla have the ability to block supercharging on any car they do not "support" ,that the car can be supercharged by they just won't allow this ?????
Click to expand...
Yes.

completelycharged said:
Tesla will redeem the Unsupported Vehicle and "re-enable support" - so they support it but will not allow supercharging as in over the air software updates...
Click to expand...
Yes. See above for support definition.
completelycharged said:
Tesla will possibly consider some structural damage as a potential issue for the battery pack due to the G force involved during the accident. With supercharging any weakened conductors/joints could set fire to the vehicle so I would have thought it is a reasonable precaution and high acceleration is only a short duration high current discharge. Not sure if this is the reason, it would be very interesting if it is and why they could not check this in the service center.

Tesla seem reasonable compared to some Apple products..
Click to expand...
I'd expect the myriad temperature probes, internal resistance meaurements and several other systems should be able to detect, report and protect against this. No statements were made about this by Tesla during the hearing.



ozz93666 said:
completelycharged said:
Tesla will redeem the Unsupported Vehicle and "re-enable support" - so they support it but will not allow supercharging as in over the air software updates...
Click to expand...

So this means anyone buying a second hand tesla is vulnerable to losing supercharging? ..... when known this will reduce the value of second hand teslas , buyers of new teslas should be informed of this ....

Complainant should inform tesla he has already made a video , and contacted forums ...and if he does not have supercharging enabled he will make it his life's mission to inform potential tesla customers they may not be able to get a good price if latter they wish to sell, or if the car is scrapped.
Click to expand...

This is only on repaired cars.

DarkRaven said:
I think we have to get the terms straight here. What exactly does "supported" mean in this case? I guess you're not complaining about supercharging not being free but that it is not possible at all for you car even if you wanted to pay for supercharging?
Click to expand...

Supported.. See above.
Yes, its the total lack of supercharging or (at the time) even any kind of fast charging that I feel is unreasonable. Free or otherwise is a different question and not what I was complaining about.

I think that about covers it. Thanks for your responses. Now to figure out how to enable notifications :)
 
Have you asked Tesla what they require (testing or certification etc) that will enable them to allow you to rapid or fast charge ?
 
Sean said:
Have you asked Tesla what they require (testing or certification etc) that will enable them to allow you to rapid or fast charge ?
Click to expand...

Thanks for the question.

The whole point of my argument with Tesla began with your question and at the time they had also blocked CHadeMO. The answer I have found after a lot of pain is:
  • CHadeMO: Give up on polite, private questions and answers which went nowhere. Instead publicly call them out on every channel you can think of. Eventually Tesla US begins damage limitation and orders Tesla AU/NZ to re-enable this.
  • Supercharging: Nothing so far will get them to re-enable this. The car has had the 'Tesla recertification inspection' which basically provides zero value other than the 'valuable' fact that they will allow their technicians to work on the car. (ie it enables you to rack up service bills with them)
 
So any non structural bodywork repair will result in them (Tesla) disabling the vehicles ability to function as originally advertised, even though they themselves have fully accepted the vehicle is now safe for public road usage ?

As I understand, that's your presentsituation ?
 
Sean said:
So any non structural bodywork repair will result in them (Tesla) disabling the vehicles ability to function as originally advertised, even though they themselves have fully accepted the vehicle is now safe for public road usage ?

As I understand, that's your presentsituation ?
Click to expand...

The car was classed as a 'write off'. They disable vehicles in this category.

Yes, they now accept the vehicle is correctly repaired and safe but will not enable the original functions.
 
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