Elon Musk has some angry Tesla customers on his hands. On Wednesday, he tweeted that the carmaker was happy to let owners of competing electric vehicles use Teslas charging stationswhere Tesla owners are often frustrated by wait times already.
Meanwhile some Tesla owners are still fuming about the price cuts made last month to certain models, whether because they had recently paid the previous higher price or because they will now get less for their used Tesla.
Government incentives played a role in Tesla deciding to open its charging stations. The White House announced on Wednesday that Tesla will for the first time open part of its network to non-Tesla EVs, making at least 7,500 chargers available for all EVs by the end of 2024. The Biden administration said its actions on EVs have spurred network operators to accelerate the buildout of coast-to-coast EV charging networks.
For Tesla, the move means it qualifies for a share of billions of federal dollars on offer to help build an EV charger network nationwide. For Tesla owners, it could very well mean longer wait times at charging stations. As Tesla owner John Sergeant told the Wall Street Journal, noting stations in his Seattle area are already overrun, Thats the one thing that concerns mewhether it might add to congestion.
Another noted to the Journal that different EVs have charging ports in different spots, leading to his concern that non-Teslas could take up two spaces while recharging, further adding to wait times.
As for Tesla lowering prices last month in various countries, the movemade partly to boost sales after disappointing deliveries over several quarterssparked anger in existing Tesla owners. Among them was Marianne Simmons, a self-professed Tesla fan girl. Simmons told Bloomberg she bought a Model Y in September for more than $77,000, only to realize that she could have bought the same car months later for $13,000 less.
I feel like I got duped, she told Bloomberg. I feel like I got taken advantage of as a consumer.
Meanwhile, Tesla will recall more than 360,000 vehicles equipped with its Full Self-Driving Beta feature, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced Thursday. The U.S. agency said that in some circumstances the feature could cause Teslas to violate local traffic rules, potentially increasing the risk of a collision should a driver not intervene.
Musk yesterday took issue with the word recall, since the fix to address the regulators concerns will be applied via an over-the-air software update.
Tesla did not immediately respond to Fortunes request for comment.
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