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Tesla updates Supercharger pricing structure, rolls out in-car payment feature
Tesla has updated the pricing structure for its Supercharger network, including terms for its existing idle fee policy. The idle fee update will impact all Model S, Model X, and Model 3 drivers that utilize the company’s high-powered, global charging network, regardless of whether they are enrolled in free unlimited Supercharging or not.
Supercharger idle fees, first introduced in late 2016 as a means to deter vehicle owners from occupying a charging stall when the vehicle has already met its intended state of charge, have been updated to further encourage owners to move their vehicles from stalls and improve the Supercharging experience for all drivers. Tesla has updated the flat idle fee of $0.40/minute to take into account station occupancy, as follows:
Supercharger Idle Fee
(updated September 19, 2018)
- Supercharger 50% occupied: $0.50/minute idle fee
- Supercharger 100% occupied: $1.00/minute idle fee
Tesla notes in its Supercharger FAQ that drivers will be granted a 5-minute grace period during which time a fee will not be incurred. Once this grace period passes, the driver will be charged for the 5-minutes and each additional minute after that. Vehicle owners will continue to receive reminders through Tesla’s app when the vehicle is nearing its intended state of charge.
In-car Payment
Additionally, Tesla has begun to roll out an over-the-air software update (not Version 9) that will include a new in-car payment feature. The new functionality will provide Model S, Model X, and Model 3 owners who leverage pay-per-use Supercharging with the ability to pay from within their vehicle, by inputting credit card information directly into the center touchscreen. The feature will also enable drivers to pay for any incurred idle fees.
The in-car payment functionality is an extension of the credit card section within an owner’s Tesla Account page, or previously known as the MyTesla page. Credit card information entered through the in-car payment feature will automatically be registered to the vehicle owner’s Tesla account and also serve as payment for any incurred idle fees or Supercharger use fees.
Also introduced in today’s Supercharger pricing structure update is a $50.00 cap wherein Supercharger access will automatically be disabled if there’s an outstanding balance due for Supercharger fees, either incurred through idle fees or Pay Per Use, and when a credit card is not on file. Supercharger access will instantly re-enable once the balance is paid. Tesla will also have the ability to grant Supercharger access to a vehicle, remotely, in the event of an emergency.
The pricing update and software release are being implemented in North America first, followed by a global rollout.
It’s About the Greater Good
Although the latest Supercharger update may be unwelcomed by some Tesla owners that have previously benefitted from the company’s good faith gesture to extend its charging network, largely unenforced, to its drivers, the change is an improvement to its policy that has a significant benefit to the overall community.
When the Silicon Valley-based electric carmaker first created its Supercharger network, the intention was to make long-distance travel an enjoyable and seamless experience for all drivers. But as Supercharger abuse became more rampant, combined with a massive increase in the number of Model S, Model X and Model 3 on the roads, being able to institute some sort of Supercharger fair-use enforcement policy became desperately needed. This is in spite of Tesla’s continued global scale out of its Supercharger and Destination charging network.
A Model X spotted occupying three Supercharger stalls at the Newark, DE Supercharger station went viral in 2016 after sparking outrage across the Tesla community.
Related: Calling all Tesla Supercharger abusers: Don’t ruin it for the rest of us
Today’s update to Tesla’s Supercharger policy will undoubtedly be one of many in the years to come, as the company continues to adjust and iterate toward a customer experience-focused model that’s also financially feasible.
A Tesla spokesperson tells Teslarati, “Based on feedback from the Tesla owner community, we are adjusting the idle fees associated with our Supercharging program to continue providing the best Supercharging experience as the size of our fleet grows. As has always been the case, our Supercharging and associated fees charged on the network are not meant to be a profit center for Tesla, and we hope to never need to bill for idle fees.”
More information can be found on Tesla’s Supercharger page.
Tesla AI lead Ashok Elluswamy said this week that 24-hour Robotaxi service is close. Replying on X to a rider who wanted Cybercab trips all night, he wrote that the capability would arrive “next month or so” once “the next tech to merge on the v15 plan” is ready.
The comment landed on September 4, one day after Tesla opened public Cybercab rides in Austin. It is the clearest near-term timeline yet for overnight unsupervised operation. Tesla’s paid Robotaxi network currently runs from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week across Austin, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Orlando, and Tampa.
next month or so. the next tech to merge on the v15 plan will enable it.
— Ashok Elluswamy (@aelluswamy) September 4, 2026
That 16-hour window is shorter than the 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. schedule the company used for much of the prior year.
Elluswamy did not name the specific feature or say whether the change would apply first to purpose-built Cybercabs, the existing Model Y fleet, or both. He also offered no city-by-city rollout list. The link to Full Self-Driving v15 is nevertheless significant.
Tesla has described v15 as a step-change architecture with seven parallel improvement tracks and roughly ten times more parameters than earlier builds. Early versions of that software already operate on the Robotaxi fleet and contain about 40 percent of the planned gains.
By July 2026, the unsupervised fleet had logged more than 380,000 miles across six cities in two states with what the company called an impeccable safety record and no notable incidents caused by the vehicles themselves. Tesla has repeatedly argued that camera-based end-to-end neural networks, rather than extra sensors, are the core of the solution.
Overnight service would test that claim in lower-light conditions and would also raise vehicle utilization, a key variable for Robotaxi unit economics. The company has already begun using public Superchargers at night and is building dedicated Robotaxi charging sites.
Riders have asked why software must change if the cars already drive in the dark. The practical answer appears to be reliability and scale: Tesla has held back mass expansion until more of the v15 stack is merged, citing the need for higher confidence before putting thousands of unoccupied vehicles on streets around the clock.
If the next module arrives on the timetable Elluswamy sketched, 24-hour service could begin in October 2026 in at least some markets.
That would mark a shift from a daytime-bounded pilot to a service that can run whenever demand exists, including the late-night hours that have so far remained out of reach.
Tesla is beginning to roll out Full Self-Driving Supervised v14.3.9 with a new active safety layer that can take control even when the driver is operating the car manually.
Tesla AI said the software can activate FSD on the driver’s behalf when an imminent collision is detected and Automatic Emergency Braking may not be enough. It may also engage if the system detects heavy distraction or an accidental FSD disengagement.
FSD Supervised v14.3.9 starting to roll out shortly
This release includes a new active safety feature set: FSD Supervised can now activate on your behalf when an imminent collision is detected and Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) may not be enough.
It may also engage if we…
— Tesla AI (@Tesla_AI) September 4, 2026
The capability is essentially Automatic Collision Evasion. However, unlike conventional AEB, which mainly applies the brakes in a straight line, this feature can use steering, braking, and acceleration together if the car calculates that stopping alone will not prevent impact and a safer path exists. The system may change lanes or move toward a shoulder when conditions allow, then continue driving after the immediate threat is handled rather than simply coming to a stop.
The intervention is meant as a last-resort safety net, not a replacement for attentive driving.
Tesla Full Self-Driving v14.3.7 early review: FSD saved me from an accident
Tesla’s own description still frames FSD as supervised assistance. Secondary reports on internal release notes say the feature can fire while the car is being driven manually if cabin-camera monitoring suggests the driver is not sufficiently attentive, such as reaching toward the back seat, or if FSD appears to have been turned off unintentionally.
After the emergency maneuver, the car is expected to alert the driver and request a return to manual control.
The safety case is straightforward. Many collisions happen in the last second because a driver is looking away, fumbles a control, or faces an obstacle that braking cannot fully solve. A system that can both recognize that AEB is insufficient and execute a coordinated evasive path can reduce those remaining high-severity events.
Re-engaging after accidental disengagement also addresses a practical failure mode: a small steering nudge that drops FSD at the worst moment. The advantage is a background safety net that uses the same vision stack already running in v14, instead of leaving the car solely to emergency braking once the driver is no longer in command.
The feature still depends on FSD being enabled and, according to reports, an active FSD purchase or subscription. It does not make the vehicle unsupervised. Drivers remain responsible, and Tesla has not published how often the system is expected to intervene or how it will handle false positives.
If the rollout is conservative and the false-alarm rate stays low, the update is a meaningful step: FSD is no longer only a feature the driver turns on. In the rare moments when disaster is already forming, it can step in.
Tesla launched the all-electric, steering wheel-less, and pedal-less Cybercab last night at a quiet and small event in downtown Austin, Texas.
The launch, which marked the beginning of unsupervised ride-hailing for Tesla’s Robotaxi platform with Cybercab, has already caught the attention of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) who has more questions.
NHTSA opened an Audit Query (AQ) into the Cybercab’s Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) certification that Tesla gave the vehicle. Manufacturers self-certify vehicles much of the time to avoid excessive regulatory delays.
Tesla Cybercab interior, note the lack of steering wheel and pedals. (Credit: @niccruzpatane/X< /a>)
However, the agency needs more information; it said in a summary:
“On September 3, 2026, Tesla began commercial deployment with a small number of its Cybercab vehicles in Austin, Texas. Tesla notified the Agency that it certified those Cybercab vehicles as compliant with all applicable Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS). Tesla also notified the Agency that it plans to gradually expand commercial deployment of the Cybercab to include additional vehicles and locations.”
It also went on to state that the Cybercab lacks traditional automotive controls, which is a groundbreaking move. The process is entirely new to the NHTSA, which gives the agency some leverage to put Tesla’s launch under a microscope:
“The vehicles lack permanently attached, conventional manual controls, such as a brake pedal, gas pedal, steering wheel, and mirrors. NHTSA is opening this AQ to examine the process and technical data on which Tesla relied when certifying the Cybercab and related issues. Among other things, NHTSA will consider the extent to which Tesla’s certification depended on determinations that certain FMVSS are inapplicable to the Cybercab.”
Tesla has added 45 Cybercab units to its fleet of Robotaxi-enabled cars in Austin, according to public documents the company submitted to the State of Texas over the past week. Enabling this level of self-driving is something Tesla has worked toward for many years, and now that it is finally here, it seems more than reasonable that regulatory agencies will have some questions.
Many outlets might try to frame this as a negative, but it is truly an agency looking to gain more information about groundbreaking tech that Tesla has been developing for years.
In an effort to keep riders, pedestrians, and property safe, any and all data accumulated from these first days, weeks, and months of rides will likely be shared with the NHTSA to enable broader rollout strategies across the United States and more in the future.
Tesla Robotaxi will be a 24/7 service: here’s when
Tesla Full Self-Driving will now overtake manual driving to avoid disaster
