Supercharger Station Price Increases

[swaltner]

I always laughed at the people that complained about per-minute billing at the Supercharger stations. As noted, the per-minute rates were MUCH lower than the per-kWh rates, at least if you didn’t try to do a 100% charge. Oh well, people got what they asked for, higher costs at the Supercharger stations. While still cheaper than driving a gas car, the rates are no longer the same or lower than regional retail rates (in the MidWest at least).

 

[Texas Flood]

Yes, it's no longer fun. Often hear about how there's to be no profit but doubling in price is ridiculous. Where about in Clear Lake? I'm near the end of Hickory Knoll usually cleaning one of the Teslas

I’m in Northfork near CLC Blvd and Space Center.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

As more EV's hit the roads, electric rates will go up at charging stations. Then the cost to fill up an EV compared to an ICE will be the same. But you'd still have less maintenance, better torque and cleaner vehicle. Even as more homes get solar, no doubt state electric rates will increase because the power companies don't want to lose money.

More EVs would likely more higher utiliization at DCFCs, and that lowers the cost.

More charges per month means demand charges are spread across more charging sessions.
More charges per month means faster return on investment.
Battery cost decreases are likely to lower the cost of handling variable demand.
More ubiquitous DCFC infrastructure makes owning an EV more attractive for people who can't charge at home.

The future potential for cost rises are:
- increase in charging speeds making chargers more expensive
- ubiquity of EVs leads to more workplace and destination charging, lowering DCFC utilization rates
- ubiquity of EVs leads to more charging at MDUs and on street, lowering DCFC utiliization rates.

 

[Charliek]

folks has anyone compiled a list anywhere of prices for super chargers us-wide. I know there is a lot of variability but was wondering . if I have choice to charge in a particular state it might be different? ( like gas prices)

 

[Vic_F]

I am sure states like CA will be adding taxes soon which they will claim will be for roads but spent elsewhere

 

[bradknit]

I was charged $3.61 for 5 minutes of charging at a 250 Supercharger this past weekend. The rate was running 550mph at the time. If my math is correct, that's equivalent to ICE cars getting around 28 mpg with today's fuel prices.

The last minute I was charged $1.05! Is that normal?

 

[jsmay311]

I was charged $3.61 for 5 minutes of charging at a 250 Supercharger this past weekend. The rate was running 550mph at the time. If my math is correct, that's equivalent to ICE cars getting around 28 mpg with today's fuel prices.

The last minute I was charged $1.05! Is that normal?

Sounds like you were over 180kW for that last minute (although that doesn’t jibe with the reported 550mph rate).

$1.05/min is actually on the cheap end for 180-250kW speeds. The cheapest I’ve seen scrolling around the Nav map is $0.90/min (at one in Louisiana) and the most expensive $1.45/min (at a few in Michigan). Most V3 SC’s top out at at least $1.10/min.

You can check the exact prices for each Supercharger on the Nav screen.

 

[Viktorelite]

Yeah these price increases are brutal. I thought it was a glitch for sure like no way the price is that much. What’s normally $4 for me was $16 today. Real bummer honestly considering gas in Wisconsin would have cost me $15 in gas.

 

[Larry in TN]

How are the per-minute SuCing rates prorated as your charging speed ramps up then back down again during a single session? Is it per minute?

I've only SuCed twice but don't see any details as I'm using free referral-code miles. Once those are gone, is there a breakdown on the time at each price point?

Thanks.

 

[jsmay311]

How are the per-minute SuCing rates prorated as your charging speed ramps up then back down again during a single session? Is it per minute?

Yes, it is billed by the minute. There is no prorating within individual minutes. Whole minutes are billed at a specific tier.

I’ve never kept track closely enough of the second to see how Tesla determines precisely when the crossover between tiers happens. I’d guess they go with the average kW in a given minute, but idk for sure. (Up until recently, this level of detail was trivial, as it could never cost you more than $0.17 per crossover between tiers — the biggest price difference between Tier 1 and Tier 2. But now with higher prices and more tiers, I suppose it could add up to over a dollar difference for a single charge.)

I've only SuCed twice but don't see any details as I'm using free referral-code miles. Once those are gone, is there a breakdown on the time at each price point?

Yes. After a charge, you can check your charging history in your Tesla account to see a detailed billing breakdown for each charge. (Number of minutes at each tier and the price at each tier.) There’s also a PDF receipt that you can download if you like.

Example:

 

[jsmay311]

folks has anyone compiled a list anywhere of prices for super chargers us-wide. I know there is a lot of variability but was wondering . if I have choice to charge in a particular state it might be different? ( like gas prices)

I tried my darndest to do this last month after a long road trip opened my eyes to how wide the pricing variations were between states. (I determined average prices by state and also collected pricing info from a majority of individual Superchargers and plotted the results on maps of the US.) But the recent changes to the per-minute pricing has invalidated much of the underlying data.

If you’re still curious even though the data is now outdated, I posted about it here: Supercharger Pricing Map?

 

[mociaf9]

How are the per-minute SuCing rates prorated as your charging speed ramps up then back down again during a single session? Is it per minute?

Yes, it is billed by the minute. There is no prorating within individual minutes. Whole minutes are billed at a specific tier.

I’ve never kept track closely enough of the second to see how Tesla determines precisely when the crossover between tiers happens. I’d guess they go with the average kW in a given minute, but idk for sure.

In places where Tesla sets billing rates on a Time of Use schedule (i.e. peak and off peak prices are different and are based on time of the day), they bill at whatever rate you started the charging session at. So, for example, if you start the charging session a minute or two before the switch from off-peak to peak, you'll be billed for the electricity at the off-peak rate for the entire session. That leads me to guess that Tesla won't be billing based on average kW as jsmay311 guessed, but rather that they'll measure the kW at the start of each minute and use that power value to set the pricing tier for that minute of charging. This would also be consistent with Tesla billing for whole minutes only and not a weighted/prorated amount for partial minutes, e.g. billing you for 15 minutes if your session lasted 14 minutes and ten seconds. Though maybe they're only billing for 14 minutes and waiving the cost of any partial minutes.

 

[kayak1]

It's not just at charging stations that electric prices are going up:
"The Maine Public Utilities Commission approved an 83% rate increase effective Jan. 1 based on a competitive bidding process."

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/maine/articles/2021-11-17/cmp-residential-customers-to-see-a-big-increase-on-jan-1

 

[Aellinsar]

I was charged $3.61 for 5 minutes of charging at a 250 Supercharger this past weekend. The rate was running 550mph at the time. If my math is correct, that's equivalent to ICE cars getting around 28 mpg with today's fuel prices.

(550 miles per hour)(1/12 hours) = 45.8 miles of range. Around here $3.61 is lower than the price of a gallon of premium fuel, a bit higher than 87 octane. So that would be close to 46 mpg equivalent.

 

[jsmay311]

Another tidbit:
If you find yourself navigating to a supercharger and the battery is being preconditioned, you can always tap on the screen and the preconditioning will stop if you don't want to waist the power.

Is this true?

I always assumed that tapping on the preconditioning message simply minimized the message so it wasn’t taking up valuable real estate on the screen, and that preconditioning would continue unaffected.

I tried searching the owners manual for any mention of this and found nothing.

FYI... I just wanted to circle back and confirm that tapping on and hiding the preconditioning message does not stop or prevent battery preconditioning when en route to a Supercharger.

I was able to confirm in TeslaFi that my Model 3 continues heating the battery irrespective of whether or not I tapped on that message and hid it.