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Comment by greglindahl | Hacker News Reader

Some Tesla features are written into contracts and some are not. For example, Tesla is not charging anyone for cellphone service for the car. That's not written into the contract, but they kinda have to provide it for free: they need access to vehicle logs for roadside service, and the car needs software updates for safety reasons.

As an owner, I have absolutely no idea what the contract ever said about supercharging. I also know that this change doesn't affect me, other than making it more likely that I can supercharge without waiting.

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Until 2016, Tesla vehicles were marketed and sold with "unlimited, free for life" supercharging, with "life" meaning the lifetime of the car.

Obviously Tesla can change change their terms however they like on new vehicles that they sell.

However, to now go and retroactively remove/restrict this benefit when pre-2016 vehicles are resold seems wrong.

At least in Norway I suspect that it is also illegal.

Unlikely. I very much doubt any country would forcibly allow any parties to a contract sell their side of a contractual arrangement to any other third party.

And even if they were, I very much doubt Tesla's supercharging service T&Cs explicitly guarantee anything to anyone.

Teslas in Norway were until recently sold with free supercharging for the life of the car. It follows the car not the owner. It is presented in the documentation as a feature of the car along the same lines as the fact that it is four wheel drive not as a contract term. I'm not a lawyer but I suspect the courts here would take a dim view of that being unilaterally removed.

Selling an iPhone does not entail selling of the sim card and carrier service previously associated with it.

The supercharging is a service, not a product.

The people doing this are abusing the system and trying to take their benefit and sell it for profit.

This is something nearly every entrepreneur does.

I think you said "abusing" when you meant "using".

They've always been clear that the intention was to help people on longer journies, not provide free power. There's been all sorts of stories about them challenging perceived abuse of the system and I'd assume they have some small print from day 1 to support them in enforcing this.

"They've always been clear that the intention was to help people on longer journies, not provide free power."

That's right. And I think that most people would agree that if you're frequently "supercharging locally" instead of using your own chargers, then that's against the spirit of the supercharger network.

But this ban isn't directed just at those who are using local superchargers excessively when they have a valid alternative. It's a ban on the use of superchargers by any Tesla vehicle that is operated for any commercial use!

A blanket ban on "any other commercial use" is extremely far reaching:

- Rental car companies can no longer add Tesla vehicles to their fleets, as it will be impractical for renters to drive long distances.

- Taxi companies that sometimes get long-distance fares can no longer consider Tesla vehicles, because they could get stranded far away from their "home base" without access to the supercharger network.

- Businesses and government agencies who operate fleet vehicles will not be able to consider Tesla vehicles, because it will not be practical to drive long distances.

I believe this is a very short-sighted policy. A far better solution would be to simply charge fees to commercial users of the supercharger network. This would prevent excessive supercharger use, while still making long distance travel practical when necessary.

It hurts your resale value.

It might increase my resale value, if most buyers are like me (not commercial owners who always supercharge.) Which they are.

And? For those nothing changes, but overall there will be less demand.

Less congestion at superchargers == more value.

That's irrelevant, legally speaking.

Car companies can do plenty of things that hurt your resale value which are completely legal. They do it every time they lower the price, or bundle in more standard features. They do it every time they release the next model. They do it when hidden engineering short-cuts mean expensive repairs are necessary a few years after the warranty expires...

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