Tesla drivers are being slapped with eye-watering extra charges to park their cars in private garages across NYC with a “luxury” or “exotic” surcharges for certain models, sources told The Post.
The biggest parking garage management companies in the Big Apple charge drivers hundreds of dollars for monthly parking — but those who drive luxury, electric or oversized cars are increasingly subject to surcharges that can cost them up to an additional $1,000 per month.
And that doesn’t even include charging the batteries!
Wynne Parking President Kyle Halperin told The Post that the surcharge was really about covering insurance costs and described it as part of “a risk analysis”.
According to him, that’s why it is applied to some non-luxury cars, such as Teslas.
“There’s an industry wide standard for multiple garage management companies where [applying the surcharge] is based on things that affect insurance such as the value and weight — Tesla batteries weigh more,” than ordinary car batteries, he said.
“The luxury expense for a parking garage is focused on insurance costs and the amount of space that is required to protect a vehicle from any kind of significant or insignificant damage.
“So if a parking garage is paying additional insurance because it regularly houses a car worth $500k, the threshold for insurance is greater than it is if insuring a $50k car.”
While Teslas are marketed as non-luxury cars with prices starting at around $35,000 Halperin said it was the industry standard for parking garages to classify some models as “luxury” or “exotic” because, in part, their batteries make them “heavy”.
Those who drive a Tesla Cybertruck – the best-selling electric pickup on the market – will be slapped with an additional $1000 per month surcharge because Wynne considers it to be an “exotic” car that “requires an exotic vehicle surcharge”.
Wynne Parking charges Tesla drivers with the 3, X and Y models an additional $250 per month because they deem them “luxury” and say they require “more space or care.”
That’s on top of a minimum monthly fee of $475 per standard vehicle and a further $100 to include charging. Want to park on the main floor? Add on another $236.75.
The additional cost doesn’t buy added value, however.
“Wynne is in the business of providing the same love and care to every car whether it’s yours or mine or some super expensive luxury vehicle,” Halperin said.
However, many drivers claim the parking surcharge is unaffordable for the every-day Tesla driver.
One person wrote in a forum: “I was told … that my monthly parking was going from $400 to $700 because it is a Tesla. Size does not matter. This seems a bit discriminatory.”
“Further proof is now a gated community for the super rich,” another social media user wrote on a thread about the surcharge.
A third person added: “For that kind of cash, I’d expect the transit authority to provide a chauffeur to drive me around.”
Halperin offered a response to those who say the prices are too steep.
“It’s a tough business to be a driver in NYC or a garage in NYC,” he said.
“But New York is vibrant and we’ve all gone through many pain points in many business models. The city goes on and we all adjust. As inhabitants in NYC we all keep rolling.
“If you look around there’s pretty good options — SpotHero is a super service for the consumer. I love those aggregators.
Icon Parking Garages and Manhattan Parking Group (MPG) and iPark are among the many carpark companies in the city that also include the surcharge.
“Your monthly rate may be subject to change. i.e., if You subscribe with a standard vehicle and change to an SUV, Oversized, Electric, Exotic, or Luxury vehicle, a monthly surcharge will be added to your monthly subscription rate,” Icon Parking’s website states.
Icon Parking did not respond to questions from The Post regarding the matter.
GMC Parking representative told The Post that the company does not charge Tesla drivers a surcharge.
“We don’t consider Tesla as a luxury,” the source said.
“As long as they’re not doing the charging, it’s treated the same.”
Tesla is on shaky ground as CEO Elon Musk’s ties to President Trump as the face of his cost-cutting committee have hit the company’s stock.
Shares in Tesla soared last year after Musk started campaigning with Trump, endorsing his run for a second term – even as the carmaker suffered its worst sales year ever.
But the stock is now plunging, alongside other “Magnificent 7” tech stocks, as Trump’s threatened tariffs spook investors.
And Musk’s close ties to the president have also led to a breakout of protests at Tesla showrooms across the country.
Some Tesla cars have been set on fire, and a Colorado dealership has been vandalized with the words “Nazi cars” over Musk’s history of antisemitic social media posts.