Free supercharging is never coming back. It was never a sustainable business model. It did exactly what it needed to do though, at the time. Thank goodness Tesla had the foresight and balls to step up to the plate and build their own charging network. No one else would have done that.
However, I'd say that at some point within the next 10 years, Tesla will probably stop mentioning any concept of "supercharging" - it'll be entirely irrelevant.
The current energy giants will have retrofitted "hyperchargers" into all of their gas stations. The batteries in the cars will charge faster and go farther, so people will be charging less. Maybe there'll be wireless charging at most car parks. Most homes, hotels, shopping centres, car parks etc will have fast chargers. There'll be loads of options. Supercharging will be a distant memory.
In the nearer future, I'm guessing the next-gen superchargers will probably focus on automatic connections. This way, the car can charge itself rather than requiring a human. I'd be amazed if they stick with the stalls design though... surely, if it's designed for automatic connection, you'd just have a connector rise out of the ground, plug itself into the bottom of the car and pump in a casual 1000 kW.... so many things are solved that way.
Personally, I'm hoping that will all happen within the next 10 months, as it'll be nigh-on impossible to find a supercharger when the Model 3 comes out.
However, I'd say that at some point within the next 10 years, Tesla will probably stop mentioning any concept of "supercharging" - it'll be entirely irrelevant.
The current energy giants will have retrofitted "hyperchargers" into all of their gas stations. The batteries in the cars will charge faster and go farther, so people will be charging less. Maybe there'll be wireless charging at most car parks. Most homes, hotels, shopping centres, car parks etc will have fast chargers. There'll be loads of options. Supercharging will be a distant memory.
In the nearer future, I'm guessing the next-gen superchargers will probably focus on automatic connections. This way, the car can charge itself rather than requiring a human. I'd be amazed if they stick with the stalls design though... surely, if it's designed for automatic connection, you'd just have a connector rise out of the ground, plug itself into the bottom of the car and pump in a casual 1000 kW.... so many things are solved that way.
Personally, I'm hoping that will all happen within the next 10 months, as it'll be nigh-on impossible to find a supercharger when the Model 3 comes out.
