Free Super Charging for Model 3 customers?

[DanL3]

So what is going to happen is that Tesla will ramp up production to 5000 a week and start burning through reservations. Then ramp to 6000 week or 7 or even 10. But anyway at some point Tesla will keep building cars until they run out of Reservations and discover that they then have more capacity than sales. The cars will start to stack up and Tesla will need to increase sales. At that point the free supercharge benefit can help then sell more cars.

We will not see any free supercharging for Model 3's until all the reservations are filled.

 

[Fusion]

Free or not... they need to do something about the lines. They need to start painting "Line Starts Here" ... you got superchargers with some people thinking "their" waiting spot is the next in line.

 

[vadhris]

I agree all the above comments.

My view is still, neither X or S owners paid $1,000 and waited for 24-36 months like Model 3 prospects ... yes, we got a cheaper car and cannot ask for freebies - but, giving free charging for 1 year or 2 years, or some ### KW (MAX) could be a small incentive.

 

[liuping]

So what is going to happen is that Tesla will ramp up production to 5000 a week and start burning through reservations. Then ramp to 6000 week or 7 or even 10. But anyway at some point Tesla will keep building cars until they run out of Reservations and discover that they then have more capacity than sales. The cars will start to stack up and Tesla will need to increase sales. At that point the free supercharge benefit can help then sell more cars.

That is the worst time to make supercharging free. At that point there will be so many Model 3's, free charging would cause massive lines.

Keeping the cost of charging the same or slighting higher than home charging prevents unneeded charging and helps keep the superchargers available for those who really need them. It also help pay from more superchargers, which will be more an more important when 500,000 Model 3's are on the road.

 

[TT97]

I agree all the above comments.

My view is still, neither X or S owners paid $1,000 and waited for 24-36 months like Model 3 prospects ... yes, we got a cheaper car and cannot ask for freebies - but, giving free charging for 1 year or 2 years, or some ### KW (MAX) could be a small incentive.

No, Model X reservations put down $5000 or $40,000 and ended up waiting over 3½ years (now of course, they don't wait as long).

 

[giftedg]

We have 4 30 amp 208V chargers at my office. We have volt, leaf, tesla squatters at my office that charge /park all day . Everyone knows a volt only has a 17.5kwh battery and max needs 4.5 hrs but also has a gasoline tank. More and more people are adopting EVs and now we are now planning to ask people to only charge for 4 hours which will give 96 miles of charge and plenty for anyone’s commute. If the squatting continues, we will then assign bluetooth tokens to the meters and kick those other vehicles out of the program. Unfortunately some people abuse the nice office amenity and not acting like adults.

 

[Electroman]

We have 4 30 amp 208V chargers at my office. We have volt, leaf, tesla squatters at my office that charge /park all day . Everyone knows a volt only has a 17.5kwh battery and max needs 4.5 hrs but also has a gasoline tank. More and more people are adopting EVs and now we are now planning to ask people to only charge for 4 hours which will give 96 miles of charge and plenty for anyone’s commute. If the squatting continues, we will then assign bluetooth tokens to the meters and kick those other vehicles out of the program. Unfortunately some people abuse the nice office amenity and not acting like adults.

Love it.

Next logical step would be to kick out Teslas from office charging program. This program is only for the needy.

Chargers in office is NOT an enabler for someone to buy a Tesla, but it sure is for Leaf, Volt, i3 etc..

 

[roblab]

I'm afraid the problem is too complex for blanket solutions like "no supercharging within x miles of your home" or such. The solution is for people to be considerate and think of others and not take advantage of a good thing. This sort of thinking, however, is beyond the reach of too much of humanity, so the problem remains.

Yup. And you can't change selfish. We all are. That's why it's just better to not have free. All supercharging should cost, and probably more than charging at home, just because free is abused. On my first supercharging experience I was allowed to wait for charging and wandered around visiting with the owners. Most were locals, and at least one was shocked that I should question her "right" to free charging while I, traveling, had to wait for her to finish.

I think I've used supercharging about a half dozen times in 150K miles. My regular charging is at home, and it's NOT FREE! Why should Tesla's charging be free? It's a gimmick. And with the proposed increase in Tesla sales, it's not a needed gimmick, and will soon become a problem. And with a 300 mile range, it's hardly needed. Even the guy 70 miles from home at the mall needed to charge. Nor the guy who drove almost to zero because he wanted to reach the charger 15 miles from home. You folk needed to be around 5 years ago when there weren't superchargers and you HAD to make it home.

 

[TT97]

I have been asking our Landlords to install chargers in their garages and one finished the install yesterday. It is a Tellus system. 40 amp/240 VAC unit which I believe gets you 9.6 Kw charge rate - Cost is $2.00 per hour/2 hour limit. It comes out to about $0.21/KwH (slightly higher than home charging) and will get you 74 mile range on the 3 for 2 hours plugged in.

I think it is a great solution for people that need the range yet keeps squatters away.

 

[Electroman]

Only a Tesla can take all that 9.6Kw and give your 75 miles range in two hours. Leaf, Volt and other cars can't go above 6 Kw and will give you max of 21 miles per hour rate, or 40+ miles in two hours.

I believe Volt is only 3.3Kw charger so probably only 25 miles for Volt in two hours.

 

[SigNC]

I'll take the opposite stance. New S and X systems should not be able to get free supercharging even with a referral.

 

[mhan00]

Only a Tesla can take all that 9.6Kw and give your 75 miles range in two hours. Leaf, Volt and other cars can't go above 6 Kw and will give you max of 21 miles per hour rate, or 40+ miles in two hours.

I believe Volt is only 3.3Kw charger so probably only 25 miles for Volt in two hours.

That’s the most annoying thing about my Volt, which I otherwise love. They skimped on the charger, probably because they figured that the gas backup made faster charging unnecessary, but it’s super annoying to plug in for lunch or to run some errands and to come back out with barely any more range added to the battery.

 

[TT97]

Only a Tesla can take all that 9.6Kw and give your 75 miles range in two hours. Leaf, Volt and other cars can't go above 6 Kw and will give you max of 21 miles per hour rate, or 40+ miles in two hours.

I believe Volt is only 3.3Kw charger so probably only 25 miles for Volt in two hours.

I thought 11 hours to go 0% --> 100% on a Bolt doesn't sound ideal, so I looked it up. It has 7.2kW capacity so 50 miles in two hours - definitely need the DC Fast Charging system [which BTW is very close to what the 3 SR will be (7.68 kW)]

As the charge is by time, their kWh rate will be a little higher but should still give them enough extra range.

 

[drawfour]

I'll take the opposite stance. New S and X systems should not be able to get free supercharging even with a referral.

I think all supercharging for all Teslas should be free -- as long as you are more than some distance from home (e.g. 50 or 100 miles), or you can do one closer than that distance as long as your last supercharger visit was outside that range (makes sure you can still get a charge while heading back home, for example).

 

[cwerdna]

I believe Volt is only 3.3Kw charger

Yeah. Gen 1 Volt has a 3.3 kW OBC and at about 208 volts (common commercial voltage), they tend to pull about 3.1 kW at my work.

Gen 2 Volt (model year 2016 to current) has a 3.6 kW OBC and they seem to pull about 3.3 kW at ~208 volts.

 

[cwerdna]

I think all supercharging for all Teslas should be free -- as long as you are more than some distance from home (e.g. 50 or 100 miles), or you can do one closer than that distance as long as your last supercharger visit was outside that range (makes sure you can still get a charge while heading back home, for example).

I guess you haven't seen threads like 15 cars in line, 2 hour wait. The poster later said:

Sorry didn't out the location in the title, just in the message. After almost 4 hours of wait im charging now.

Corning, CA has a population of just over 7.5K. I don't believe that area is very densely populated (I never paid attention when I did my drives thru that area, as it was well before I had an EV). Its in Tehama County (which I'd never even heard of, until now), with a 63K population.

Or, (Reported on 12/26/2015) 11+ car wait at Tejon Ranch!. Tejon Ranch is basically out in the middle of nowhere. You'd pass it if you drive between Nor Cal and So Cal on I-5.

If curious, take a look at the satellite view at Google Maps. It looks like that SC is in Lebec, CA with a population of just under 1.5K.

 

[mhan00]

I think all supercharging for all Teslas should be free -- as long as you are more than some distance from home (e.g. 50 or 100 miles), or you can do one closer than that distance as long as your last supercharger visit was outside that range (makes sure you can still get a charge while heading back home, for example).

Why? It would cost Tesla a crap ton of money in the long run with little return, considering they’re not having demand issues as of yet. it also doesn’t make much sense for a car company to be providing free long distance travel. It’s not like ICE vehicles get free gas when they’re 50 or a 100 miles from home, why do BEVs need to?

 

[dhrivnak]

So, many of us who have ordered Model 3 with its premium package included (by default) should be treated like the Model S and X customers, I feel. They should be provided free access to Super Charging in its facilities - a small token of appreciation for buying Model 3 with all its premium package options

how do we make this happen, if you agree with this?

The SuperCharging is reasonable in costs and making people pay for it will keep them from abusing the service.

 

[Lasttoy]

I was in factory area last summer. The number locals super charging just amazed me. The lines were around the block at one place.
I read where Teslas electric bill was $4.5 MILLION LAST YEAR. That fee was built into the S and X cost for travelers, NOT locals, everyday.
I was in South Dakota, saw same lady there everytime i went. I asked her, oh i live a few miles away. I stop by here to top it off full.

 

[TT97]

I was in factory area last summer. The number locals super charging just amazed me. The lines were around the block at one place.
I read where Teslas electric bill was $4.5 MILLION LAST YEAR. That fee was built into the S and X cost for travelers, NOT locals, everyday.
I was in South Dakota, saw same lady there everytime i went. I asked her, oh i live a few miles away. I stop by here to top it off full.

One of the things I am looking forward to about getting the 3 is not needing to go to gas stations anymore - I can't imagine the desire to constantly go to the supercharger. BTW, filled up my car on Friday, lease expires on the 20th - I hope that is the last trip to the gas station!