Sections
Log in
Top News
U.S. News World News Featured Voices
Odd News
Entertainment
Movies Music TV
Sports
Soccer NFL NBA MLB NHL Golf Horse Racing Tennis Col. Football Col. Basketball
Photos
News Entertainment Sports Features Archives
More...
Defense Featured Science Health Archive Almanac
About Feedback
About Feedback
Search
Trending
9/11 fund
Payless
Theodore McCarrick
Jussie Smollett
Illinois shooting
Iran attack
Laurie Hernandez
'Alexa & Katie'
Nigeria election
Colin Kaepernick
Stephen Curry
YNW Melly
Business News
Dec. 18, 2016 / 3:19 PM

Tesla to fine drivers who hog Supercharger stations

By
Allen Cone
The latest Tesla cars are on display in the flagship Tesla showroom in Beijing on August 16. Tesla will begin imposing a 40 cents per minute fine on drivers who leave their cars parked at Supercharger stations more than five minutes after their vehicles finish charging. File photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo

PALO ALTO, Calif., Dec. 18 (UPI) -- Tesla Motors Inc. plans to fine drivers who leave their cars parked at Supercharger stations more than five minutes after their vehicles finish charging, the company announced.

The fine will be 40 cents per minute, the Tesla Team said Friday.

"We envision a future where cars move themselves once fully charged, enhancing network efficiency and the customer experience even further," the company said. "Until then, we ask that vehicles be moved from the Supercharger once fully charged. A customer would never leave a car parked by the pump at a gas station and the same thinking applies with Superchargers."

Tesla said it "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 all the spots."

RELATED Tesla's Elon Musk, Uber's Travis Kalanick join Trump's business adviser team

The Tesla app allows owners to remotely monitor their vehicle's charging.

"To be clear, this change is purely about increasing customer happiness and we hope to never make any money from it," the company said.

But the move could backfire.

RELATED Tesla microgrid powers entire island with solar in American Samoa

"What economics has missed is that adding an incentive -- a fine or a bonus -- may be subtracting something else, the individual's sense of responsibility, or obligation, or intrinsic pleasure," Samuel Bowles, a behavioral economist at the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico, wrote in an essay published last summer in partnership with The Christian Science Monitor.

Researchers did an experiment at 10 daycare centers in Haifa, Israel, from January to June 1998. Those that imposed the fine saw an immediate rise in tardiness that leveled out to about double the level of tardiness -- the same they saw before imposing the fine. Centers that didn't charge a late fee saw no change in tardiness.

Tesla plans to produce 80,000 to 90,000 electric cars this year after selling 50,580 in 2015.

RELATED Tesla's 'instant acceleration' saves stopped car from being rear-ended

RELATED Tesla to acquire German company to speed up electric car production
  • Topics
  • electric cars
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for more UPI news and photos.

Trending Stories

Tecolote awarded $38.8M for Space and Missile Systems Center operations
Saab to supply U.S. Army with Carl-Gustaf M4 weapon system
PAE awarded $27.6M contract for Afghanistan defense, security support
Navy to commission combat ship Tulsa on Saturday in San Francisco
Bell Boeing signs $10.7M contract for V-22 Osprey radar upgrades

Photo Gallery

 
Lunar New Year celebrations in Beijing

Latest News

Calif. governor accuses Trump of 'ignoring real emergency': Camp Fire
Three attending Hamilton performance in San Francisco injured amid panic
Baltimore judge overturns $38M award to family in police killing case
Canadian missionaries, nurses, tourists evacuated from Haiti
Uber sues New York City's capping of ride-hailing licenses
 
Back to Article
/
Back to top
About UPI Contact Feedback Advertisements Submit News Tips
Copyright © 2019 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Terms of UsePrivacy Policy