By Akshay Asija
Tesla Inc. has seen its share of highs and lows in 2017. The customer deliveries of the Model 3 sedan, announced early last year, did not go as it was initially planned, owing to production bottlenecks and issues. Problems with the production of the Model 3 had a negative impact on the sales and demand of almost all of Tesla’s products, with the Model S and X registering a $50 million decline in customer deposits. The manufacturing of the Model 3 has, so far, required the company to spend upwards of $1 billion each quarter.
To ease the unhealthy situation of Tesla’s finances, CEO Elon Musk’s plan is to raise funds by accepting bookings for vehicles that will be delivered as late as 2020. This strategy seems to have worked, and, coupled with the announcement of the Tesla Semi truck and the new Roadster sports car, investor confidence has been somewhat regained.
Keeping the money in check
Despite all of this, the company needs to have a stricter control over its finances, as well as assure its customers that it listens to them. Tesla has taken several steps in the past year to achieve that goal. For instance, newer owners of Tesla vehicles have to pay for using the solar-powered public charging stations (called the Supercharger stations) – a facility that was earlier free of cost. Also, those who park their vehicles at Supercharger stations even after completely charging them will now be charged an hourly fee. Not only do these rules cut costs for Tesla, but these also mitigate the problem of traffic jams at Tesla’s power stations.
The fair use policy
The latest of such policies was announced by Tesla on December 15. Called the “Supercharger Fair Use” policy, the new set of rules prohibits the use of Supercharger stations for vehicles that are being used as taxis, for ride sourcing or ridesharing, to commercially deliver or transport goods, for government purposes or for any other commercial venture. This policy is applicable to all Tesla vehicles purchased after December 15, 2017, and is meant to ease the load on Tesla’s Supercharger stations.
The company is expanding the number of Supercharger stations worldwide for enabling long-distance travel on its vehicles and to provide charging solutions to those who lack immediate access to home or workplace charging. Tesla’s management is of the opinion that by increasing the availability of Supercharger stations, the adoption of electric vehicles can be given a spurt. The use of Superchargers beyond their intended purpose, such as charging commercially used vehicles, “negatively impacts the availability of Supercharging services for others”, and in turn, defeats the purpose of publicly accessible Supercharger stations.
To enforce the Supercharger Fair Use policy effectively, Tesla tracks vehicle usage and driver behaviour and takes action against those who do not comply with the same – which may include limiting or blocking those people from using the stations. However, depending on the circumstances, the company may make exceptions to the policy.
The way ahead
Tesla has often come under fire in the past for making unrealistic predictions and then under delivering on these claims. Hopefully, by taking a pragmatic approach with measures like the Supercharger Fair Use policy, the company can finally live up to expectations.
Featured Image Source: Pexels
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