Tesla is bringing automatic payment to Level 2 wall chargers and here's why that's good
Paying for charging isn't that cool, but having way more places to charge definitely is.
Telsa is giving building managers and landlords incentive to install more Level 2 chargers.
Charging your Tesla at home is an integral part of the ownership experience for most people. Not only does it ensure that you have a full battery at the start of every day, but it cuts down on time spent twiddling your thumbs at a Supercharger station. Unfortunately, if you're a renter, overnight Level 2 charging is a slightly more complicated proposition.
That isn't to say that there aren't ways around it or that some apartment buildings don't have Tesla's Level 2 wall chargers installed already, but if you're a landlord, apart from the marketing benefits, there hasn't been a lot of motivation for you to install a Tesla charger. That's changing because now Tesla is enabling automatic payment for its Gen 3 wall chargers, according to a report Tuesday by Electrek.
What does that mean? It means no more free rides for people using the Tesla wall chargers in their building. It also means that other charger owners in the destination charging network can now get paid for their investment or recoup some of the electricity costs.
Now, if you're a Tesla owner, this might sound like kind of a bummer. Charging for free is cool, right? But if there's now an incentive for building owners and managers to install more chargers since they won't be a drain financially, then they're more likely to be installed in a wider variety of places.
Of course, Tesla isn't blazing any new trails here. ChargePoint has been offering apartment and condo charging systems with built-in payment processing for a while. Still, as Electrek points out, Teslas are among the best-selling EVs on the market, so opening this up to those owners without their needing adapters will further encourage EV ownership.
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