An Update to our Supercharging Program

[jgs]

If Tesla needs to stop abuse of local supercharging

Why are so many people assuming this is the goal? It's not what the plain English of the blog post says. They list "reinvest in the network, accelerate its growth and bring all owners, current and future, the best Supercharging experience" as their purpose. I guess the last clause might include "stop abuse" (abuse I've never witnessed, BTW), but the first two obviously don't.

 

[Az_Rael]

I wonder if 8.1 will add the flag (or whatever) that will allow this to be implemented.

 

[jgs]

Imagine if the unit cost of gasoline changed based on the MSRP of the vehicle. Instead, the unit cost stays the same and the incentive is towards efficiency.

Perhaps the Superchargers will dispense premium electrons to Models S and X.

 

[RogerHScott]

You get a megawatt, for 24 minutes.

Touche'! As an electrical engineer, I should be more careful with my units. Those are going to be an exciting 24 minutes, though

 

[GTIceman]

The question I have is: I am leasing my car if I buy it after the 2 years are up (Sept 2018) do I still get free suppercharging?

I was thinking that as well but Tesla would likely consider a new purchase

 

[RogerHScott]

I am doubtful that Tesla will drop the price, but if they do, I'd be shocked if it were $2000.

A delayed and/or reduced increase in the price seems more likely, if anything.

 

[RubberToe]

The whole world is not California, shocking as it may seem. Sigh.

Yes, the whole world is indeed California, and California is the whole world !

RT

 

[sigmo32]

If i am understanding this correctly current owners still have free charging for the life of the car? Just want to make sure

That certainly seems to be the case. Given the car can already exchange data with the superchargers over the Tesla connector, it stands to reason they can easily grandfather in existing vehicles and limit newer vehicles.

 

[RogerHScott]

Yes, the whole world is indeed California, and California is the whole world !

RT

And, be honest, do you really consider Barstow and Chino to be parts of "the whole world"? Doesn't the world really stop about 30 miles
inland from the coast?

 

[AMPd]

An Update to Our Supercharging Program

"our Supercharger Network will never be a profit center"

Which is different from "not a revenue source" but that's probably what @AMPd meant.

Yes that's what I meant, thank you.

 

[WannabeOwner]

As they move to a model where they do cost recovery at time of service, it's not irrational to suppose they could remove that (presumed to be) $2000 from the up-front cost.

Unless ... the average SuperCharger annual usage, across the whole fleet, is exactly 400 KWh ... if that is the case then $2,000 up-front payment would be right for 400 KWH per year.

Are my sums right that $0.20 per KWh (my guess on price) would be about $0.07 per mile? - is that a lot for "fuel" in USA?

 

[RubberToe]

And, be honest, do you really consider Barstow and Chino to be parts of "the whole world"? Doesn't the world really stop about 30 miles
inland from the coast?

Bumper sticker from 1980's: There is no intelligent life East of Pacific Coast Highway

RT

 

[stopcrazypp]

Unless ... the average SuperCharger annual usage, across the whole fleet, is exactly 400 KWh ... if that is the case then $2,000 up-front payment would be right for 400 KWH per year.

Are my sums right that $0.20 per KWh (my guess on price) would be about $0.07 per mile? - is that a lot for "fuel" in USA?

You beat me to a similar comment. I pointed out elsewhere that Tesla's supercharger usage did not go past 10% of total miles (at least for last year). This move is to prepare for the point when it reaches past that (it may have already passed that).

So there will not be any price drop whatsoever (putting aside the oft quoted $2000 number is very outdated, technically only paid for the hardware/software on S60, and does not represent the actual set-aside Tesla used per vehicle according to their SEC filings, which was $500 per vehicle for ongoing costs). The included 400kWh annually, is the level that Tesla planned for in their cost model.

 

[jgs]

Unless ... the average SuperCharger annual usage, across the whole fleet, is exactly 400 KWh ... if that is the case then $2,000 up-front payment would be right for 400 KWH per year.

Sure.

Are my sums right that $0.20 per KWh (my guess on price) would be about $0.07 per mile? -

That's about right.

is that a lot for "fuel" in USA?

Well, gas in my area is currently running ~$2.15/gallon or so, and Tesla likes to compare their efficiency to lux vehicles getting something like 25 mpg, so $0.09 or so per mile. (Just BTW, I pay about $0.08/kWh to charge at home, off-hours EV rate, so even in the era of cheap gas I'm still easily beating the odds.)

 

[Cloxxki]

Touche'! As an electrical engineer, I should be more careful with my units. Those are going to be an exciting 24 minutes, though

I can alternatively offer you 1.44 Gigajoules, if you'd prefer that ;-)

 

[nativewolf]

Touche'! As an electrical engineer, I should be more careful with my units. Those are going to be an exciting 24 minutes, though

I was thinking shocking 24 minutes but ok...exciting as well.

 

[spentan]

I'm thinking that I'll place an order for a Model X by Dec 31 2016. That way, it can be delivered before April 2017, and it'll hopefully have Enhanced Autopilot active by then.

 

[brkaus]

Overall, I think this is a good thing. Free just doesn't work well.

I have a loaner test drive Tesla. It fried my 50A circuit breaker (ouch), so I went to the local Whole Foods to pickup some charge. Same Tesla I notice plugged in there every day. Anything from 30 min to 4 hours. Yesterday it was there from 6pm-9pm. Again there today from 10am-11am.

 

[RobertF]

Don't like it. For me in Orange County, CA 1000kwh is going to San Francisco touring Napa Valley etc. and coming home on the coast route. Traveling across country, a real trip, is 6+ thousand miles. How about free, or reduced charging cost 500 miles beyond home. I own a S but also have a 3 reserved.

 

[Canuck]

Tesla needs to stop abuse of local supercharging

Why are so many people assuming this is the goal? It's not what the plain English of the blog post says. They list "reinvest in the network, accelerate its growth and bring all owners, current and future, the best Supercharging experience" as their purpose. I guess the last clause might include "stop abuse" (abuse I've never witnessed, BTW), but the first two obviously don't.

Plain English from the Blog Post - before the words you quote:

We’ve designed our network so that all customers have access to a seamless and convenient charging experience when they’re away from home, as our intention has always been for Supercharging to enable long distance travel.

It certainly seems to me that the goal of this move by Tesla is to stop local supercharging. Even before the words you quote, they say their intention has always been for long distance travel. There would be no need to say that if local supercharging was not a concern.

I think we all knew this was coming. "Free" doesn't work because people abuse it.