Tesla Lowers Charging Threshold Before Congestion Penalty

Bad news for customers recharging at Tesla’s Superchargers: congestion fees are going up!

Without fanfare, Tesla has lowered the battery recharge threshold before triggering “congestion fees” at its Supercharger network. And it’s a significant drop.

The forgetful will thus face a very unpleasant surprise. Indeed, the recharge limit for Tesla has just dropped from 90% to 80% this summer to prevent congestion at the charging stations.

Historically, these congestion fees were triggered when a customer reached 100% charge and their car was “sleeping” at a station. Then it became 90%… and now it’s 80%.

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Tesla claims that charging to 80% is optimal for battery performance and lifespan. It also states that beyond this threshold, the recharge loses power and thus extends exponentially. Both arguments are valid, but still.

Does TotalEnergies (for example) prohibit its customers from filling up their fuel tanks completely? Encouraging quick turnover at a charging station, sure. But penalizing the customer…?

Because the congestion fees are downright outrageous! They are now 50 cents per minute starting from 80% recharge. When compared to the price of kWh (minimum of 0.29 euros), which is added during the recharge, the final bill literally skyrockets.

These congestion fees double and rise to 1 euro per minute when the car reaches 100% charge! The unpleasant surprise affects hundreds of customers, as the warning is written in very small text on their car’s central screen.

Now, recharging your Tesla at a Supercharger becomes a source of stress, as you must keep your eyes glued to the screen. And at 79%, you need to quickly unplug and get out of there.

We’ve had better customer experiences, haven’t we?

READ ALSO: Tesla relaunches super discounts on the old Model Y!