Tesla has instituted a new policy this week for vehicles that are delivered with a low state of charge (SOC) in which the new owners will receive a 150km Supercharger credit. The new policy was instituted this week, and appears to need some fine tuning as customers are still receiving the credit even if their battery SOC isn’t low.
UPDATE 2:00pm PT: According to one of our sources this policy is not just for when vehicles are delivered with a low SOC, but for all new customers.
According to a screenshot of a message received by a new owner shared on Reddit, the automaker says a “new industry policy” means their vehicle “must be shipped with a max 50% charge.” As a result Tesla says their vehicle’s SOC “may be lower than our usual standard at your delivery appointment.” To compensate them for the inconvenience, Tesla is going to provide the new owner with a 150km (93 miles) Supercharger credit, but those credits will only appear in the Loot Box “a few days after delivery.”
Several Reddit users commented on the post saying they too had received the message, and that they had also received the Supercharger credits even though their car, in one example, was delivered with a 83% SOC.
Others commented on the reasoning behind the new policy, and it appears to be related to making electric vehicles (EVs) safer for shipping as a lower SOC reduces the risk of battery fires. There are existing requirements for other EVs, like e-bikes, with are required to have a 30% SOC when shipping.
Whatever the reason is, Tesla didn’t have to provide customers with free Supercharger credits, but they are doing the right thing by doing so. However in many cases your new car should be delivered with a higher SOC, even if it was shipped under these requirements, as there is usually time for the Delivery Center to plug your car in before handing you the key card.
The original poster on Reddit says he is receiving a Model 3 Rear-Wheel Drive (RWD) from China, but they appear to be located somewhere in Europe. If anyone in Canada has received this same message, let us know in the comments below.
Battery charged at max 50% when picked up from delivery center
by u/W-001 in teslamotors
