Tesla charges a congestion surcharge in the US if EV at Supercharger is almost full

Tesla now charges a ‘congestion surcharge’ at some charging stations in the United States when EVs with a 90 percent battery charge occupy a Supercharger charging station. The car company charges one dollar per minute, replacing the inactivity fee that is already charged.

Source: Tesla

Vehicles in the United States that occupy a Supercharger ‘at certain locations’ with a battery charge greater than 90 percent must do this pay extra rate when it is ‘busy’ at the station. This rate replaces the current inactivity surcharge, which is charged at a 100 percent battery charge. In the latter case, the driver pays 50 cents per minute when the Superchargers of a station are at least half occupied and one dollar when all charging stations are occupied. In practice, Tesla will now charge the full rate for the Superchargers in question.

When a vehicle qualifies for this rate, a notification will appear in the Tesla app, after which the user will have five minutes to disconnect the charger. The company writes: “This surcharge should encourage drivers to charge only as much as they need, rather than charging their vehicle to 100 percent. This makes Superchargers more available so everyone has access when they need it.”

In the Benelux, Tesla also charges an inactivity rate, which amounts to 50 euro cents or one euro per minute, depending on how busy a charging station is. Tesla has not confirmed before the publication of this article whether the new congestion rate will also be applied in the Benelux.