S60 Supercharger enabling changes after 2017?

[clyjr]

The thread title may not be great, but I was wondering if anyone has info on how enabling supercharging on a 2014 S 60 will work in 2017? Will it be $2500 for unlimited just like it is now, or are they going to change it to a Pay as you go deal like the 2017 models?

A little background, I just purchased a 2014 60 that has autopilot enabled but doesn't have supercharging enabled, so I'm trying to decide if I need to get supercharging enabled before 2017 or just wait. I would probably only be using it a maximum of a dozen times a year, and even then probably only to get an extra 80 miles of charge each time just for a buffer range.

Pay as you go would be preferred for me based on the number of times I'll be using it. But I don't want to wait until 2017 if it's going to be a $2500 fee to then get pay as you go instead of unlimited.

If anyone has info on what if anything will change as far as enabling supercharging on a used car let me know. thanks

 

[jelloslug]

I would ask Tesla....

 

[TexasEV]

The fee to enable supercharging on the original 60s was said to be for the hardware and software in the car. It was not "prepayment" for charging, so there is no reason to expect the fee would be lower if you wait until 2017 to activate the ability to supercharge. Why not activate now to ensure your access to unlimited supercharging, as well as increase the resale value of the car?

 

[croman]

He doesn't want to pay $2500 for something that will save him mere hundreds due to infrequent use. I think I'd email my owner advisor and ask them to ask Tesla for an answer in writing and share it on the forum so everyone in your situation can learn what Tesla intends. I think it would be very advantageous to you to just pay as you go. Resale value is likely not going to be very affected because there is only so much cost associated with SC use (unless you use it locally for regular juicing). If Tesla offered me a $2500 discount to not have supercharging for life, I'd take it because I rarely would use SC and would have the net present value of $2500 more appealing than the prospect of aggregating $2500 in electric use from SCers.

 

[clyjr]

FYI, I did ask my local advisor and they don't know anything. Of course they recommend going ahead and enabling it just in case. But $2500 is a hell of a "just in case" charge... Just throwing it out on the forum in case anyone else heard or knows anything different.

 

[animorph]

The original announcement said "We will release the details of the program later this year, and while prices may fluctuate over time and vary regionally based on the cost of electricity, our Supercharger Network will never be a profit center."

An Update to Our Supercharging Program

Not much left of this year, but I've been hoping to hear some details before the end of the year.

 

[TexasEV]

He doesn't want to pay $2500 for something that will save him mere hundreds due to infrequent use.

My point was he'll likely have to pay $2500 either way if he wants to have the capability to use superchargers. Pay it now and get unlimited supercharging, or pay it later and have to pay to charge beyond 400 kWh per year.

 

[clyjr]

If the only choice was pay $2500 and pay as you go, then I'll go without supercharging... Tough decision considering the cost vs usage. Ill likely only have the car 2-3 years so I'm contemplating not enabling it at all, and unless the public gets way more educated by then it wont make a difference on resale.
Also, the other reason I was asking is because I haven't gotten my registration yet, which means I can't get Tesla to register the car in my name, which also means that they won't enable supercharging yet even if I want to... So I may not have a choice unfortunately...

 

[MP3Mike]

My point was he'll likely have to pay $2500 either way if he wants to have the capability to use superchargers. Pay it now and get unlimited supercharging, or pay it later and have to pay to charge beyond 400 kWh per year.

Nah, it only costs $1,900 to enable the hardware for CHAdeMO charging, so they will probably have that enable Supercharging as well under the new 400kWh/year plan. So you save $600 but don't get free unlimited Supercharging.

 

[clyjr]

That's interesting info to have. Based on that, only saving $600 it would be worth enabling supercharging before unlimited goes away. That is of course if it goes away, I'm thinking they will probably leave it unlimited and pay as you go is only 2017+.

Hopefully I can get it registered and go ahead and have it enabled it before 2017...

 

[clyjr]

Finally got my registration in, to my surprise Tesla had the car switched to my account a few hours after emailing them the registration, license, etc...
So, now I have a decision to make about enabling the supercharging.
Trip 1 : The longest trip I normally take is 120 miles to visit family. Even with the S60 I can charge to 100% before leaving and have plenty of room for cold weather, etc... I have access to a 50A welder outlet while visiting so I use it to charge up overnight pretty easily, then I can make the 120 mile trip back with no range worries.

Trip 2 : The second longest trip is ~100 miles, but the only charging access I have there is a local Tesla charger that is open to the public a few miles from my friends house. Plug it up for a few hours at 29mi/hr charge, then I'm good to go for the trip back home.

Now here is the dilemma,
Trip 1 : My normal route is using backroads (120 miles), if I decide to take mostly interstate where I would be able to use autopilot and never lose cell reception, the route would be 160 miles but take very close to the same amount of time. 160 miles is probably pushing it on a S60 especially at interstate speeds in cold weather, but maybe doable on a single charge. Now, there is a supercharger at almost exactly 80 miles dead in the middle of the trip and immediately off an exit on my route.
Trip 2 : there is a supercharger about 5 miles past my friends house.

So, the dilemma I have is if it's worth it to enable supercharging before 2017 just to make sure I get the unlimited charging option, or if it's even worth enabling it at all and crossing my fingers that Tesla decides to let non-supercharge enabled S60s pay per charge like 2017 models without charging an enabling fee.

Obviously both trips are doable without supercharging, but I think supercharging would help at least on trip 2 since I think I could get the buffer range I need in 15-30 minutes instead of several hours.

Does anyone have any idea how long it would take to charge from say a 50% charge to a 80 or 90% charge on an S60 using a supercharger? I tried searching some but haven't found an answer yet. I know supercharging slows down at higher charge levels...

Sorry for the long post...

 

[TexasEV]

I can't imagine owning this car without the ability to supercharge. You don't know every possible trip you might make in the future. Don't try to figure it out. Just enable supercharging. You won't regret it.

 

[David_Cary]

There are always variables where SC helps.

Here is one I had. Memorial day weekend. Friend has condo at the beach and invites me down around noon on Saturday. Wasn't planning on going anywhere so I hadn't plugged in the night before. Thankfully the Warsaw charger had come on line a few months before so I trek to Warsaw and chow on McDonald's.

Use HPWC at Wrightsville to get enough to get back since condo had nothing. But if that wasn't there, I could have ran an extension cord out the condo door and gotten enough to get back to Warsaw.

Do you never go to the beach or the mountains? Or do you go to Boone and never Asheville?

When Hickory (or is it Statesville?) is done, our state is completely covered with lots of 150 mile trips to enjoy.

Not to mention Chademo's at BP in your area and Sheetz in the triangle. I've even used our local Nissan dealer when I needed a bump. Pay up.

 

[clyjr]

Decided to get it enabled just in case. Now I'll have to take the long route and hit the supercharger... I doubt I will use it enough to really make up the cost, maybe it'll help resale value. You can bet I'll be stopping at all superchargers to top off at least a little from now on...