All New Teslas To Get "Only" 400 kWh Of Annual Free Supercharging Starting January 2017

at least they're up front, and not trying to take away from current owners. no pun intended.

 

DETROIT (AP) — Electric car maker Tesla Motors has decided to stop offering unlimited free use of its 734 fast charging stations worldwide, just months before it's scheduled to start selling a mass-market electric car.

Tesla Motors Inc. says cars ordered after Jan. 1, 2017 will get roughly 1,000 miles worth of credits each year for use at the Supercharger stations. But after the credits are used, owners will have to pay fees that Tesla didn't detail on Monday. Vehicles ordered or sold on or before Jan. 1 would still get unlimited free charging.

The move means that those who buy Tesla's mass-market $35,000 Model 3, which is due to go on sale in the second half of next year, won't get unlimited free charging. Tesla has more than 300,000 reservations for the cars, and if all those owners started using supercharger stations for free, that could get expensive for Tesla.

Tesla wouldn't say specifically how much its fees will be, but it said charging would cost less than the price of filling a comparable gasoline car. The company says it will release fee details later this year and that prices could fluctuate over time and vary by regional electricity costs.

Still, the move shouldn't hurt Tesla sales because the company remains the market leader for electric vehicles, and owners don't use the stations that often, said Tasha Keeney, analyst for the industrial innovation fund at ARK Invest. Tesla owners charge their cars at home more than 90 percent of the time, she said, using the Superchargers mainly for trips or when they need extra range.

At the average U.S. electricity price of 12.9 cents per kilowatt hour, it would cost $9.68 to fully recharge a Tesla Model S with a 275-mile battery at home.

"EVs are the way forward. Tesla is in a really good position with 30 percent of the market. We don't see that changing," said Keeney, whose fund has holdings in Palo Alto, California-based Tesla Motors Inc.

Buyers of new cars ordered or sold on or before Jan. 1 must take delivery before April 1 in order to get the unlimited free charging. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said previously that Model 3 owners would have to pay to use the charging stations.

Tesla's stations are used only 5 percent to 10 percent of the day, Keeney said, but many Tesla owners use them as a social gathering place to talk with other owners.

The Supercharger stations can give the cars 170 miles of range in a half hour. A 30-amp public charging station can only do 10 miles in a half hour, the company says on its website. In the U.S., charging stations are across the nation, but many are concentrated in population centers long the East and West Coasts.

The stations were set up to enable long-distance travel by Tesla electric cars. The company's Model S sedan can go between 219 and 302 miles per charge depending on battery and software configurations.

Tesla says the change will let it expand the supercharger network and it will not make a profit from the charging stations.



Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

Depending on the charge (as in $$), this could open up the market to other suppliers (eg Energy Companies) to provide other options, thus potentially having many more charge points in the country for the upcoming 2020 TOYOTA EV.

Here in Australia - there are almost none now, so it could maybe make it competitive for some to be installed.

 

Sounds like Tesla will only be charging enough to cover the charge and overhead for the stations. This will leave a charging company at a disadvantage for Tesla customers.

 

True - but we haven't heard what MUSK proposes with the Model 3 - I suspect it could be retail charge $$. A wait and see. I can't see TESLA keeping subsidising.

 

Source: Tesla Will Now Charge to Supercharge | TheDetroitBureau.com

The average price of electricity in the U.S. is $0.129 per kilowatt-hour. Recharging a Tesla Model S 70d would cost $9.03 if the battery were completely discharged. The maker’s longest-range Model S P100d, which gets slightly more than 300 miles, according to the EPA, would cost $12.90. That doesn’t account for the fact that many home chargers are timed to operate overnight using special lower electric rates. In some cases, that can be as little as $0.02 per kWh, or just $2.00 to recharge the P100d.​

So if I spend $12.90 on gas at $1.90/gallon regular (Huntsville):

• $12.90 / ($1.90 /gal) = 6.79 gallons
• 6.79 gallons @52 MPG (Gen-3 Prius) -> 353 miles (Gen-3 Prius)
• 300 miles (Tesla S P100d)

The Gen-4 Prius, Level 2 ECO, should get about 10% more than our Gen-3 Prius. Our used, 2014 BMW i3-REx during 89 octane gas would only get:

• $12.90 / ($2.10 /gal) = 6.14 gallons
• 6.14 gallons @40 MPG -> 245 miles (2014 BMW i3-REx)

On electrons paid for from my utility bill, the BMW i3-REx does better:

• 220 Wh/mi (at meter) @$0.10 / kWh
• $12.90 / ($0.10 / kWh) -> 129 kWh
• 129,000 Whr / 220 Wh/mi -> 586 miles (2014 BMW i3-REx)

Unlike the Prius, I don't have to warm-up the BMW i3-REx and there are four, 'free' L2 chargers in town ... about 1/4th to 1/3d local miles.

Bob Wilson

 

unfortunately, cost of driving means nothing to most people, and this is only a wake up call for model three reservation holders.

 

I expect that to be the standard option for the Model 3 once reservation holders can start building their cars. No free kWhs and highest rates for Supercharger use, with a level or two between that and what current Tesla's get. Whatever the highest price per charge ends up being, I don't expect it to be much greater than the cost of gasoline for the same range.

Tesla can keep subsidizing the Superchargers as long as they want. Luxury cars have higher profit margins, and the Supercharger network is a big advantage Tesla has over the competition. Any profits generated directly by the Superchargers will come from other companies buying in.

 

Not really.
Tesla has been saying for quite some time that they will need to move away from a "free for life" format.

 

then it's really a non story. although, i'm sure reservation holders are happy to see it defined concretely.

 

I think he is getting ready Model 3 as they suppost to sale a lot of them. Fully loader at 45,000. It is not going to be easy. I least here in Miami I see a lot of lease car . I don't even see a lot pip now any model at all. The free charging was to attract buyer.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

I wonder if the free supercharging is tied to current owner and vehicle as of the end of this year, or if it's tied to the vehicle solely, thus increasing the value of those originally sold by the end of this year.

 

A few, vocal reservation holders missed the message, but I don't see how you could expect free for life with the Model 3 if a person followed the company since the Model S was released.

 

And why Tesla is moving to limited free charging sooner than later.

 

Anyone that can afford a Model S or a Model 3 can afford to pay for their own fuel. If anyone thinks free supercharging will last forever, then this is their wake up call.

I'm more interested in those that are grandfathered in whether supercharging is tied to the car or the owner plus car. I'm still waiting to buy my 2012 Model S. I'd rather get a used Model S than a Model 3 for the same price. But at $55k used, there's quite a bit of depreciation left to go. I'd use up all my free credits on it's first road trip to San Diego.

 

Would you buy a used Model S without Autopilot over a new Model 3 with Autopilot 2.0 at the same price?

 

Tough call, I don't know what I'd choose. It's a moot question for me though. The budget I set aside is ~$30k for my next new vehicle. A Model 3 with Autopilot will exceed 40k. Maybe even 50k. And there will be no tax rebates leftover for Tesla in 2020 so I'll be staring at MSRP for a Model 3.