Payment Method now on Tesla's My Tesla Page [Since Removed]

[xmetal]

I think this is fantastic news, if it means what we think. I might only need a supercharger a couple times a year and would never use it enough to justify a $2000-3000 upfront cost. If I can have my CC on file (just like I do now with Chargepoint) and just get dinged for a few bucks on the extremely rare occasions I use a supercharger, that would be totally perfect.

 

[ohmman]

And interesting the code was added to the Model S pages as well, apparently

Perhaps a global change. They may introduce the lifetime supercharging "upgrade" before the 3 is announced. New Model S vehicles would have to choose that option, and it would give Tesla some time to work on their pay-per-use schema before the 3 comes out en masse.

All ramblings, obviously. But this could get very interesting.

 

[Panu]

This commented section makes me think it's kWh based charging. It even looks like you have to purchace your kWhs in advance:

<!-- div class="credit-text card-info-container cc-credits">
<span>Supercharger Credits</span>
<span> kWh</span>
</div -->

 

[MiamiNole]

It would depend on how often you take them and how long your trips are. I would assume there will be premium on the pay as you go option if for no other reason than the processing fee and increased need for customer service.

I'd have to agree with this. When I see most people bringing up the $2000 presumptive cost of the SC option, they try to justify it using cost of electricity. However, in all likelihood, Tesla would probably charge some sort of flat rate, especially considering processing and customer service. I've seen people throw out numbers from $5-$15 per charge. I don't think it would be that hard to rack up costs greater than the presumed SC option, even with "intended" use. I travel to Memphis twice a year, and also make several trips to Miami, Tampa, and Tallahassee. If I use the conservative number of $5 per charge, and compare it to the nominal $2000 SC option cost, that would mean 400 charges before I hit the "break even" point. Doing a quick estimate using the expected range of the base Model 3, I would probably be using SCs over 40 times per year just based on the amount of driving I do now. That's not even taking into account the fact that the convenience of driving a long range EV with auto-pilot enabled will likely entice me to take even more road trips than I do right now. So even using the conservative number of $5 per charge, I definitely would not want to use the PAYG model, let alone if it costs more per charge.

And I know there are many users on this forum that take more and longer road trips then I do, and that would be using SCs for their "intended" use. Would a lot of people benefit from PAYG? Sure, if they don't take many road trips or plan on taking many road trips in their Model 3. But there are still many more that would benefit from and rather prefer paying for the SC option up front.

 

[commasign]

Perhaps a global change. They may introduce the lifetime supercharging "upgrade" before the 3 is announced. New Model S vehicles would have to choose that option, and it would give Tesla some time to work on their pay-per-use schema before the 3 comes out en masse.

All ramblings, obviously. But this could get very interesting.

Agree. Most likely they will be unbundling the unlimited supercharging from the price of the car. Prepare for a $2500 drop in the base price which means a Model S 60 will start at $63500, or $52500 after referral discount and incentives (in California at least) and a Model X 60D will start at $71500, or $60500 after discount and incentives. A nice new price point especially for those who rarely use the superchargers.

 

[T3slaTulips]

I find it interesting that this code is in the page source already. I mean, we're over a year out at this point.

We're a year out from the vehicle release, yes, but likely only a few-to-7 months from Reveal part 2.

 

[Az_Rael]

Agree. Most likely they will be unbundling the unlimited supercharging from the price of the car. Prepare for a $2500 drop in the base price which means a Model S 60 will start at $63500, or $52500 after referral discount and incentives (in California at least) and a Model X 60D will start at $71500, or $60500 after discount and incentives. A nice new price point especially for those who rarely use the superchargers.

If they are unbundling, I wonder how this would affect CPO/used cars. Could be you may have to buy access to the network when you get a used Model S.

From an investor standpoint, thats great! From a potential CPO buyer standpoint, that stinks! I am a bit torn here with a foot in both categories

 

[Pando]

I have a feeling that by building out an easy-to-use credit-based PPKWh (pay-per-kilowatthour) system, Tesla can accommodate SCs to eventually charge other non-Tesla vehicles as well. The SCs are turning into a global standard which cannot easily be dislodged by competitors, which have been asleep at the wheel so far. Getting unlimited and faster charging and/or better energy pricing for Tesla owners of course will encourage people to buy vehicles from Tesla and not from competitors.

It's very likely that in the future Tesla will make more money selling energy than selling vehicles, which may even be heavily subsidized from energy sales, similar to HP selling printers cheap and then selling ink at the premium.

Interesting times indeed.

 

[commasign]

If they are unbundling, I wonder how this would affect CPO/used cars. Could be you may have to buy access to the network when you get a used Model S.

From an investor standpoint, thats great! From a potential CPO buyer standpoint, that stinks! I am a bit torn here with a foot in both categories

I think unlimited supercharging should be forever grandfathered on existing cars even if sold or transferred. It should be for the life of the car, not life of the owner (like TiVo).

 

[ohmman]

I'm wondering if the upcoming 8.0 release has anything to do with this. That is, maybe it contains a better measuring/reporting mechanism for Supercharging consumption. It also may include a way to disable Supercharging if there are no credits. This would be a comprehensive change to the existing binary flag methodology (and a much better idea regardless).

What I'm trying to say is that 8.0 could be the firmware version that makes decoupling possible.

 

[trils0n]

I wonder if Tesla would consider different types of supercharger access plans: perhaps include personal use like done now, but for commercial use charging is billed.

 

[Gregkeys]

That must be for the model 3, Elon has publicly said it won't be free to super charge because of the 35k price.

Truth be told, after reading this thread I thought maybe I had been lied to, i was concerned the MX we just ordered would cost me to supercharge even though i was told it would be free for life.

I did a quick google search and found that the MS and MX have free SC built into the price, but the M3 does not.

Thinking about it now, it makes sense to build SC into the price of the initial vehicles, if for no other reason than to cover the cost of building the SC network.

Once the SC network is built though, they can lower the cost of building cars by making that cost optional to cover maintenance and improvements of the increased use from the mass market vehicles.

 

[commasign]

I wonder if Tesla would consider different types of supercharger access plans: perhaps include personal use like done now, but for commercial use charging is billed.

Or... even a plan for distance charging only and a different plan for local and distance charging.

 

[dandurston]

I could see Tesla coming out with an even cheaper Model S that does not include free supercharging.

 

[Az_Rael]

I'm wondering if the upcoming 8.0 release has anything to do with this. That is, maybe it contains a better measuring/reporting mechanism for Supercharging consumption. It also may include a way to disable Supercharging if there are no credits. This would be a comprehensive change to the existing binary flag methodology (and a much better idea regardless).

What I'm trying to say is that 8.0 could be the firmware version that makes decoupling possible.

Very good point. I wonder if September 13 will be the 8.0 announcement (based on the end date of the current lease special)

 

[mindsweeper]

And this is what the page would look like if they had not hidden that code:

http://harnebbenesaapnet.com/supercharger.html

 

[bluesolarflare]

One better,

There is a commented out div after the card text class. If you remove the comment and format properly, you will get this;

 

[bluesolarflare]

Sorry image broken. Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet

 

[apacheguy]

I'm wondering if the upcoming 8.0 release has anything to do with this. That is, maybe it contains a better measuring/reporting mechanism for Supercharging consumption. It also may include a way to disable Supercharging if there are no credits. This would be a comprehensive change to the existing binary flag methodology (and a much better idea regardless).

What I'm trying to say is that 8.0 could be the firmware version that makes decoupling possible.

Client side is not the way to go IMO. SpC should have a blacklisted VIN databases updated regularly. Much better and more secure.

 

[CmdrThor]

I do wonder how they are going to sell electricity by the kWh in the ~35 states that do not allow that by law.