An Update to our Supercharging Program

[MorrisonHiker]

What happens to the incentive structure for partner locations like Ruby Tuesday restaurants? My nearby RT-SC has a sign which says "power supported by RT". The ploy was to attract diners with free charging, next year the carrot will be just a parking space (not an issue at RT usually?) but there might also also be a disincentive if the diner is charged for power at a rate more than they would get at their neighborhood home.

I was wondering that as well. Perhaps RT will still pay the charge? It would be a great way for businesses to draw in new customers it it would only cost them a few bucks to gain business. Even if they didn't cover it all, they could subsidize the cost. Perhaps they could provide a code for a block of kWh time with each purchase?

 

[gearchruncher]

I live in Seattle where the nearest Supercharger is about 70 miles away. I'm going to sue because I can't use my 400 KWh as easily as some guy in the bay area or NYC.

 

[Buddy]

Doesn't this make late 2016 models extremely valuable on resale market, if free supercharging for life transfers to new owners?

I wouldn't say "extremely valuable" but the value would be dependent on the prospective buyer. If they supercharge all the time it would save them a lot.

Speaking in averages I don't think the general population will find the unlimited free supercharging extremely more valuable than the limited free supercharging.

As an owner currently though I wouldn't mind being wrong (not that I ever plan to sell).

 

[mattwhite]

No one is taking away the capability to use Supercharging, so the flexibility is still there for any road trips or, for that matter, local recharging.

I think you misread the point of my post. I was responding to someone who suggested that very thing - barring anyone from supercharging within 100 miles from home. My point was that taking away the capability to supercharge was not a good idea.

 

[Cloxxki]

People living in California's Central Valley and commuting nearly that far into the Bay Area to work every day?

For you it's perhaps smarter to buy an ICE car which can't be topped off at home, and still costs more when you spend you precious time (if you spend such crazy long times and distances commuting) topping it off at a no-service station. The Teslas will still get relatively cheaper as you drive them more. Cheaper maintenance, cheaper cost per mile (or in your case, million miles).
Just order a Tesla now. Get the AP2.0 which others cry to not have and will lose resale value on. And the free unlimited supercharging which will soon be on less than half the Teslas on the road. 8 weeks to buy thebest deal in EV's ever. Pretty sweet!

 

[BluestarE3]

I think you misread the point of my post. I was responding to someone who suggested that very thing - barring anyone from supercharging within 100 miles from home. My point was that taking away the capability to supercharge was not a good idea.

Ah, I just reread your post and see what you mean. Sorry for misreading that last paragraph out of context.

 

[MikeC]

ISTR someone (Elon probably, it's always Elon even when it's not, he's kind of like Mark Twain that way) from Tesla saying (tweeting, etc) quite early on in the history of Supercharging that their current model was free-for-life but that they expected to reevaluate after they had X00,000 or maybe X,000,000 cars on the road. Assuming I'm remembering accurately and that the quote was O(10^5) and not O(10^6), that's not "failure", it's "executing to [announced] plan".

Unfortunately I can't put my finger on the quote, but maybe someone else can. (The thread is snowballing fast, maybe someone already has. :-/)

JB had said earlier this year it would make sense to charge when they are on the order of 1,000,000 cars.

 

[Max*]

and early adopters are lucky to be grandfathered in.

I don't think that word means what you think it means.

 

[brianman]

People living in California's Central Valley and commuting nearly that far into the Bay Area to work every day?

From an Eco standpoint, maybe this is something that Elon should put some brainpower into. Excessive daily transit by the average CA dweller.

 

[Johan]

This is a good step, in the right direction. Supercharging is intended for long distance travel, and they need to do what they can to stop locals from leeching of the network. I don't mean to seem condecending at all, this is a factual statement: With the Model 3 Tesla is targeting a new demographic, one that is much more price sensitive than the Model S/X demographic and it's best to get in front of the problem (more price sensitive buyers would have a bigger tendency to value their time lower and use it to qeue and charge at a local supercharger).

 

[jgs]

JB had said earlier this year it would make sense to charge when they are on the order of 1,000,000 cars.

That was it. Thanks. Well, for very small values of 1,000,000 I suppose.

 

[RogerHScott]

For you it's perhaps smarter to buy an ICE car which can't be topped off at home, and still costs more when you spend you precious time (if you spend such crazy long times and distances commuting) topping it off at a no-service station. The Teslas will still get relatively cheaper as you drive them more. Cheaper maintenance, cheaper cost per mile (or in your case, million miles).
Just order a Tesla now. Get the AP2.0 which others cry to not have and will lose resale value on. And the free unlimited supercharging which will soon be on less than half the Teslas on the road. 8 weeks to buy thebest deal in EV's ever. Pretty sweet!

There in der Nederlands you might not be expected to know that Indiana is nowhere near California and thus that I was not speaking
about myself. I already have my Tesla, which I (don't) use for my zero-length commute.

 

[Dwdnjck]

I think the only way to make up for this aggregious increase in my travel cost is to go to Denny's instead of Starbuck's while my car is supercharging.

 

[dgpcolorado]

...This will also likely lead to a HUGE Q4 as everyone tries to get in on the last "free" supercharging cars...

And, perhaps, a big drop in sales in 2017 Q1, although the production of the cars ordered the previous quarter will continue to be rapid for awhile.

 

[thegruf]

I used a supercharger once this last year.

Does this mean with a 2017 car I have 340KWH for sale?

 

[auger]

I think it would have been better if they said no free supercharging (or an more even more radical no supercharging access at all) within 100 miles of home?

Honestly, I do not think this will make the superchargers any less congested as people who can afford Teslas can definitely afford a full charge for the convenience of charging so quickly.

Then you just eliminated the possibility of Tesla ever selling another car to condo and apt dwellers, which in many parts of the country (and world) are the majority of the population.

 

[Chopr147]

barring anyone from supercharging within 100 miles from home. My point was that taking away the capability to supercharge was not a good idea.

Agree. Barring location SC'ers is a bad idea. There are many reasons for using a SC near home and I could probably make a long list. I have done it myself with valid reasons. Just get home from a long trip but no time to park at home for a 5-6 hour charge.

 

[Max*]

Then you just eliminated the possibility of Tesla ever selling another car to condo and apt dwellers, which in many parts of the country (and world) are the majority of the population.

I wouldn't go that far, you can still charge at local L2 chargers.

That being said, I 100% disagree with that idea in the first place.

 

[sorka]

This supercharger announcement was inevitable but I think Tesla just increased the resale value of all our "legacy" cars. I will keep mine as long as possible!

Hopefully they won't pull something like nuking unlimited for legacy cars when they change owners cause that would lower resale value.

 

[DIL]

Except for 100D bump, fully enabled AP 2, and on and on. Haven't we seen this movie before?

And, perhaps, a big drop in sales in 2017 Q1, although the production of the cars ordered the previous quarter will continue to be rapid for awhile.