Elon about Model 3: "free long distance" Supercharging "not free local"

[smartypnz]

Elon Quote: "Model 3, from the beginning we said free charging is not included in the Model 3 – free unlimited charging is not included, so, free long distance is, but not free local. It becomes really unwieldy for people to use the gas station approach for electric cars, like, cars should really be charged where you charge your phone

So that means charging sitting on the floor in an airport?

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

I had the video on in the background and heard when he mentioned tile roofs. Did he ever mention how it would compare to asphalt shingles?

Asphalt shingles are cheap. Not a chance of matching them. But if people have asphalt shingles, they're not likely to balk at the aesthetics of conventional solar panels.

They're going directly for the market that spends money on their roofs and chooses not to have PV for aesthetic reasons.

 

[ecarfan]

To me this just reinforces his previous statement about a free bucket (400kwh). This is intended to cover the long distance charging, making it free for the average person. He doesn't specifically say long distance charging will be unlimited, he says superchargers solve that problem

I've been thinking about this, and I have come to believe that the analysis that I stated in my OP starting this thread may be incorrect and that you and others who have posted in this thread could be correct: what Elon said is not different from what Tesla announced in a blog post on Nov 7th at An Update to Our Supercharging Program .

To quote Elon again: "Model 3, from the beginning we said free charging is not included in the Model 3 – free unlimited charging is not included, so, free long distance is, but not free local."

That is a transcript from the video and the punctuation was added by by Fred Lambert or someone at electrek.co, the site that I copied that quote from. How the statement is punctuated can change its meaning.

Elon's statement can certainly be interpreted to be in line with Tesla's recent announcement that, quote: "For Teslas ordered after January 1, 2017, 400 kWh of free Supercharging credits (roughly 1,000 miles) will be included annually so that all owners can continue to enjoy free Supercharging during travel. Beyond that, there will be a small fee to Supercharge..."

Elon did not say "free unlimited long distance", he said "free long distance" and the Tesla blog post specifies that Teslas will still include "free Supercharging credits...during travel" (Is that "long distance" travel only? We don't know.).

But it is interesting that Elon's statement specifically said "not free local" whereas the blog post said nothing about "local charging", though it did state "...our intention has always been for Supercharging to enable long distance travel."

So why did Elon say "not free local" when the blog post doesn't talk about "local" charging? I don't know. But now I am more uncertain than when I started composing this post.

The only thing I am sure of is that Tesla's new Supercharging plan is designed to discourage local charging without necessarily eliminating it because local charging will still be possible it just won't be free as it has been in the past.

 

[ModelNforNerd]

Wouldn't penalizing larger batteries with a tighter radius (after already paying a premium for the larger battery) put a dent in future large battery sales? The large batteries already reduce congestion since they can skip SCs at drivers discretion. Whether one decides to stop at mile 175 (so they can skip 2 SCs straight to mile 425) is a function of individual route planning and purpose.

Although we don't know the magnitude of battery sizes for the M3 yet, distinguishing between them for SC usage, seems like a bad idea.

Here in the Northern states, you have to factor in the cold and/or headwinds. Your range in December won't match your range in July.

 

[ModelNforNerd]

Asphalt shingles are cheap. Not a chance of matching them. But if people have asphalt shingles, they're not likely to balk at the aesthetics of conventional solar panels.

They're going directly for the market that spends money on their roofs and chooses not to have PV for aesthetic reasons.

They're cheap, but apparently heavier than Tesla Roof panels, and therefor more expensive to ship. Elon was quoted as saying that's where he expects a significant chunk of the savings to come from: shipping costs.

Side benefit: If you have a Tesla Roof as compared to asphalt shingles, it may end up weighing significantly less on top of your home. Not as big a deal in some places, but if you're dealing with 2 feet of wet snow on top of it, you may end up appreciating the weight savings.

 

[ohmman]

Asphalt shingles are cheap. Not a chance of matching them. But if people have asphalt shingles, they're not likely to balk at the aesthetics of conventional solar panels.

They're going directly for the market that spends money on their roofs and chooses not to have PV for aesthetic reasons.

It's possible (probable?) that the Tesla roof website will show the cash price after energy savings/ROI vs. composition, tile, shingle, etc. roofs in the same way the do it for vehicles after gas savings. The true comparison would be composition/asphalt with traditional panels but that is unlikely to compare favorably. Even so, I would guess that at least some people looking to replace their roof could be moved to go solar when they weren't considering it before.

For the rest, as you well know, it's not about the money.

 

[melindav]

But it is interesting that Elon's statement specifically said "not free local" whereas the blog post said nothing about "local charging", though it did state "...our intention has always been for Supercharging to enable long distance travel."

So why did Elon say "not free local" when the blog post doesn't talk about "local" charging? I don't know. But now I am more uncertain than when I started composing this post.

My thought is he expects if one has 400kwh available to use in a year, they would ration them for future trips and not blow thru them all on local charging in the first month of the year.

 

[ecarfan]

My thought is he expects if one has 400kwh available to use in a year, they would ration them for future trips and not blow thru them all on local charging in the first month of the year.

Yes that seems likely, but on the other hand it doesn't really matter when or where you use your free 400kWh of annual charging if the kWh pricing is the same wherever you go. So that leads me to speculate that Tesla could charge an owner more for local charging compared to charging far from home so as to encourage owners to save their free chargin quota for road trips.

 

[kaj102wiu]

I don't understand Elons words and how this is going to work. Its almost like he's speaking English...but has some words missing in his sentences. Maybe its me. I don't know.

What is a city Supercharger? How would it differ from the city Supercharger?

The way it's worded is so awkward it is open to lots of interpretation.[/QU

Elon's comments are cryptic in nature. I think he doese this on purpose to get people speculating. I posted this on another thread but He's increasingly doing this more and more and my trust in what he says is slowly going down over time. I think he's got to be careful. especially over time as the company grows

 

[Jason S]

I believe he is referring to the 400Kwh/year allowed by each car. Time will tell when the announcement rules are published at the end of the year.

While a geofence arrangement is possible, I think Lloyd is correct. Elon just rephrases existing items a lot of the time. He's just trying to get people to see the possibilities, imho.

 

[gregd]

Yes that seems likely, but on the other hand it doesn't really matter when or where you use your free 400kWh of annual charging if the kWh pricing is the same wherever you go. So that leads me to speculate that Tesla could charge an owner more for local charging compared to charging far from home so as to encourage owners to save their free chargin quota for road trips.

Or, perhaps what he was trying to say was that long distance travel will be enabled for free, as the supercharging capability (hardware) is included in the base vehicle. Long distance travel and supercharging are basically the same "feature" from Tesla's perspective.

 

[SageBrush]

It seems to me wildly implausible that Tesla would formally come out with their 400 kWh a year SC gratuity arrangement, only to have Elon turn it on it's ear a month later in an informal talk.

People who cannot charge at home will have to wait to hear how much local charging is going to cost. I imagine less than petrol per mile, but not much less.

 

[FlatSix911]

This debate will be settled next year when the complete SC details are announced ... glad I have a grandfathered car