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Supercharger costs for Florida

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J

jbcarioca

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The new tesla pricing shows $0.13 for Florida. I was slightly surprised since that is my total cost for electricity per kWh at my Coral Gables residence. At my person life average cost per mile I will pay $.043 per mile for fuel, if I switch to a new car. That seems totally fine to me, in fact pretty conservative of Tesla.

I did check several other states/provinces/countries which make me speculate that:

1. Tesla indeed prices electricity below their own total cost;
2. The denser the Tesla population the cheaper the price, until in areas with near-saturation (i.e. California) where the pricing seems less aggressively priced.

Comprehensive precise and accurate evaluation will soon be forthcoming. I'll enjoy learning more.
What do other Floridians think?
 
I agree 100%. So much has been made of this; but, with 400kw free and pricing that is virtually the same as charging at home this new policy should only affect a very small subset of tesla drivers that were taking advantage of (or planning to take advantage of) super chargers for free daily charging.

For my situation this would not make me at all hesitant to buy or upgrade. The cost difference per year would be so small compared to the price of the car.
 
I agree 100%. So much has been made of this; but, with 400kw free and pricing that is virtually the same as charging at home this new policy should only affect a very small subset of tesla drivers that were taking advantage of (or planning to take advantage of) super chargers for free daily charging.

For my situation this would not make me at all hesitant to buy or upgrade. The cost difference per year would be so small compared to the price of the car.
while your comment about those who use the SpCs bearing the brunt of these new fees is correct it also affects people like me who take road trips.
My current car has 14k+ miles on it, almost half of those miles were put on the car while on long distance road trips where I made use of the SpCs along the way. these fees would penalize me for using the car and the SpCs as they were intended to be used.
 
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while your comment about those who use the SpCs bearing the brunt of these new fees is correct it also affects people like me who take road trips.
My current car has 14k+ miles on it, almost half of those miles were put on the car while on long distance road trips where I made use of the SpCs along the way. these fees would penalize me for using the car and the SpCs as they were intended to be used.
That is precisely my situation. It would have cost me a trifle less that $1,000 to have paid at FL rates for my 28,000 miles thus far. That is significant, enough so to supplant tires as my latest operating expense and more than doubling my cost/mi for operations. It still is not very high and is a bargain. As a shareholder I'm glad Tesla has done it. As a frequent California driver I am beyond thrilled, realizing that the overwhelming saturation from locals charging will gradually diminish. This is a sustainable model, lifetime single price without limit probably was not. It was a crucial first step, no doubt, but it is now time to move on towards maturity.

Sad, a little. It was great fun to have zero direct cost for long trips other than tire wear.
 
The new tesla pricing shows $0.13 for Florida. I was slightly surprised since that is my total cost for electricity per kWh at my Coral Gables residence. At my person life average cost per mile I will pay $.043 per mile for fuel, if I switch to a new car. That seems totally fine to me, in fact pretty conservative of Tesla.

I did check several other states/provinces/countries which make me speculate that:

1. Tesla indeed prices electricity below their own total cost;
2. The denser the Tesla population the cheaper the price, until in areas with near-saturation (i.e. California) where the pricing seems less aggressively priced.

Comprehensive precise and accurate evaluation will soon be forthcoming. I'll enjoy learning more.
What do other Floridians think?
Hi JC,

This was a necessary and predictable policy change on the part of Tesla. With the advent of hundreds of thousands of Model 3s hitting the roads in a few years its in all Tesla owners' enlightened self-interest to have some reasonable measure to moderate the incidents of Supercharger misuse. A simple and effective means of adding rationality to Supercharger usage behavior is to implement a policy that puts a value on Supercharging.

Even those owners with "free Supercharging, forever" would be facing a longer wait at Supercharging Stations without a means of putting a reasonable governor on Supercharger usage. We need to appreciate the fact of that Supercharger expansion, in addition to construction time, requires a number of lengthy permitting and regulatory hurdles. Therefore, in the future, despite Tesla's best efforts, it is likely that the growth of Superchargers will begin to lag behind the increase in production of Tesla vehicles when vehicle production increases by more than an order of magnitude.

Like you I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Tesla was only charging basically the same cost to charge at home. In other words, Tesla continues to absorb the very significant demand charges incurred by delivering so much power in so little time.

Larry
 
I had not thought about the demand aspect. This would have a major impact especially at larger stations. In FL the demand charge is based on the highest 30 minute demand in the billing cycle. Im sure a big supercharger would have substantial demand charges.

Ultimately I'm sure they plan to use batteries and solar on site to demand shift... etc.
 
I had not thought about the demand aspect. This would have a major impact especially at larger stations. In FL the demand charge is based on the highest 30 minute demand in the billing cycle. Im sure a big supercharger would have substantial demand charges.

Ultimately I'm sure they plan to use batteries and solar on site to demand shift... etc.
Hi Steve,

True, especially in the "Sunshine State", I expect Tesla to eventually install battery storage to mitigate demand charges, and photovoltaics to offset energy costs. Nevertheless, those installations do cost additional money and there are real costs for Tesla to absorb during the pay-back period.

Larry
 
[...]Like you I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Tesla was only charging basically the same cost to charge at home. In other words, Tesla continues to absorb the very significant demand charges incurred by delivering so much power in so little time.

Larry

Just guessing that Coral Gables electric rates may be on the low end of the scale for the entire state (not necessarily the lowest). The charge by Tesla of 0.13 is most likely an average of charges in Florida.

Tesla is charging a few cents more than it would cost most Floridians to charge at home, but it is still a great deal.

Most Florida residents are served by Florida Power & Light's (FPL). It's rates are usually one of the lowest, if not the lowest in the state. In November 2016, the Florida Municipal Electric Association rated FPL the lowest cost utility in the state.

The original poster lives in Coral Gables. It is a town in FPL's service territory. All FPL residential customers throughout the state receive the same residential rate. So for example, although I live on the other side of the state in Sarasota and I am also served by FPL at the same residential rates.

FPL's rate structure charges their lowest residential rate for total usage of less than 1000 kWh. FPL states that their cost for the first 1000 kWh is $99.02 or an average of 9.9 cents per kWh.

So technically Tesla's 13 cents per kWh is a few cents more than the lowest rate to charge at home. (Total usage of over 1000 kWh would be at a slightly higher average rate.) However, as I mentioned earlier, Tesla is not passing on the demand charges that they are incurring which are substantial so 13 cents per kWh is still a great deal.

Larry
 
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