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Supercharging - free forever?
- Thread starter wayner
- Start date
Basically, the last. The $2000 cost of supercharging was included in the price of the car, except for S60 drivers. If you think of it, most people don't use the superchargers that much. The official word for the 3 is they haven't decided yet.
The last. I think Tesla would like to make it free for all their cars, and there's a good chance they'll do it - but that's not easy while turning a profit on a $35k 215 mile EV.
It may end up being like the car's cellular - free for a year or two (4 on the cell so far) and then they'll let you know once they have a handle on what the profits and costs look like.
It may end up being like the car's cellular - free for a year or two (4 on the cell so far) and then they'll let you know once they have a handle on what the profits and costs look like.
Boatguy
Active Member
Free for S and X for "long distance travel", though they have yet to really enforce this and "long distance" remains undefined.
The Bolt is the first real competitor for long distance travel, the Leaf, i3, etc. are not seeing a lot of road trips. My guess is that Tesla will let Chevy play their cards first, then follow up with a unified program for all Tesla owners that defines "long distance" and then implements enforcement of that program with the appropriate technology. They know where and when we drive, this is a marketing decision, not a technology problem. They know the existing network, even doubled in capacity in the next 24months (which they are not on track to do from looking at supercharge.info) cannot accommodate the number of cars they are saying they will ship in the next 24 months without some sort of enforcement of the "long distance" caveat.
From the design center today:
The Bolt is the first real competitor for long distance travel, the Leaf, i3, etc. are not seeing a lot of road trips. My guess is that Tesla will let Chevy play their cards first, then follow up with a unified program for all Tesla owners that defines "long distance" and then implements enforcement of that program with the appropriate technology. They know where and when we drive, this is a marketing decision, not a technology problem. They know the existing network, even doubled in capacity in the next 24months (which they are not on track to do from looking at supercharge.info) cannot accommodate the number of cars they are saying they will ship in the next 24 months without some sort of enforcement of the "long distance" caveat.
From the design center today:
- Free long distance travel using Tesla's Supercharger network
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It is "free for the life of the Model S/X". Break that statement down, and it gives Tesla wiggle room to eventually charge for SC.
Phone manufacturers often end support for their smartphones (i.e no more Android updates for example) after a certain number of years. Same with "lifetime guarantees" offered on many products. They aren't guaranteed for the duration of YOUR LIFE, but rather the life of the product, which is an arbitrary number the manufacturer comes up with.
A FOREVER guarantee (like Cutco knives) would indeed be forever, but Tesla doesn't offer that.
Phone manufacturers often end support for their smartphones (i.e no more Android updates for example) after a certain number of years. Same with "lifetime guarantees" offered on many products. They aren't guaranteed for the duration of YOUR LIFE, but rather the life of the product, which is an arbitrary number the manufacturer comes up with.
A FOREVER guarantee (like Cutco knives) would indeed be forever, but Tesla doesn't offer that.
habanero69
I Dont Need Cialis. I Drive an EV.
Having to pay to use a SC (for extended travel) sort of defeats the purpose of EV. Now instead of pumping gas, I'm inserting a credit card and being charged to charge? 
I just can't see that happening in the near future, at least for S/X owners. My ICE gas bill for BOTH wife and I was only about $100/month. Purchasing the S was not really to save on gas $, but to buy in to the technology, the awesomeness of the car in general, and maybe do the environment a small favor. If I have to pay to SC while traversing the country, I'm not sure I've bought my last ICE.
I just can't see that happening in the near future, at least for S/X owners. My ICE gas bill for BOTH wife and I was only about $100/month. Purchasing the S was not really to save on gas $, but to buy in to the technology, the awesomeness of the car in general, and maybe do the environment a small favor. If I have to pay to SC while traversing the country, I'm not sure I've bought my last ICE. 
BertL
Active Member
My HPWC and dual-chargers are my primary charge method. I'm OK with the little bit that costs me on my utility bill, or perhaps one day paying for a solar installation on my roof vs. handing over a lot more cash to the oil companies to use finite resources. Even with my lower annual mileage than the average, I still pay less for the "fuel" of my MS than I ever did with my ICE.
While I appreciate having "free SpC for life of my MS", it's cost was baked into the price I paid for my MS, and I use it infrequently only on road trips. As such, I'll likely will never get my money's worth out of that part of the transaction. If a future Tesla or EV made me pay for charging by unbundling it's cost from that of the vehicle, I'm OK with that -- I'm gonna pay for "fuel" one way or the other, so given a choice, I'll just do the analysis which is better for my situation.
What IS important to me though is AVAILABILITY of SpC (and backups to it) when I need to charge away from home. I purposely didn't order my MS until the SpC network was in place for longer road trips I have taken or anticipated going on one day -- I used EVTripPlanner and figured all that out before I purchased. Like many, I suspect, I'm spoiled by many years knowing a "gas station is on every corner" or "I can fill-up in the next town" even if their price may be higher than what I'm used to paying. For the most part I never considered 10 minute stops to fill-up with dino-fuel along the way when planning road trips or estimating arrival times at the other end. With my MS (or any EV), I DO have to plan where charging locations of what type are located. I DO have to plan for much longer charge ("refuel") time, even with a SpC. I DO have to be more concerned with the possibility a charger may be in use (or heaven-forbid, be down) when I need it -- especially on certain routes where workday or Friday night/Sunday afternoon travelers put a spike demand on dedicated charging needs in certain corridors, or when owners are inconsiderate of others by leaving their vehicle at the charging station longer than really necessary. Those things may not be a concern some times, but others it is. I must purposely consider those issues now that I own my MS, and generally start much earlier than most (normal) people to get ahead of the possible crunch, change days I travel more than I used to, and provide myself more buffer to ensure I reach my destination when I planned to.
All that to say, if it got to the point where Tesla or even another company offered SpC capability at additional convenient locations, or perhaps as a way to help with (or guarantee) improved availability when I need the charge along my route, putting a few bucks into the charger would be a huge plus from my POV. Sure, if it were "free", I'd take it, but IMHO I'd still be helping Mother Earth and probably save a few bucks overall for a little additional convenience and less stress owning my Tesla/EV along the way.
While I appreciate having "free SpC for life of my MS", it's cost was baked into the price I paid for my MS, and I use it infrequently only on road trips. As such, I'll likely will never get my money's worth out of that part of the transaction. If a future Tesla or EV made me pay for charging by unbundling it's cost from that of the vehicle, I'm OK with that -- I'm gonna pay for "fuel" one way or the other, so given a choice, I'll just do the analysis which is better for my situation.
What IS important to me though is AVAILABILITY of SpC (and backups to it) when I need to charge away from home. I purposely didn't order my MS until the SpC network was in place for longer road trips I have taken or anticipated going on one day -- I used EVTripPlanner and figured all that out before I purchased. Like many, I suspect, I'm spoiled by many years knowing a "gas station is on every corner" or "I can fill-up in the next town" even if their price may be higher than what I'm used to paying. For the most part I never considered 10 minute stops to fill-up with dino-fuel along the way when planning road trips or estimating arrival times at the other end. With my MS (or any EV), I DO have to plan where charging locations of what type are located. I DO have to plan for much longer charge ("refuel") time, even with a SpC. I DO have to be more concerned with the possibility a charger may be in use (or heaven-forbid, be down) when I need it -- especially on certain routes where workday or Friday night/Sunday afternoon travelers put a spike demand on dedicated charging needs in certain corridors, or when owners are inconsiderate of others by leaving their vehicle at the charging station longer than really necessary. Those things may not be a concern some times, but others it is. I must purposely consider those issues now that I own my MS, and generally start much earlier than most (normal) people to get ahead of the possible crunch, change days I travel more than I used to, and provide myself more buffer to ensure I reach my destination when I planned to.
All that to say, if it got to the point where Tesla or even another company offered SpC capability at additional convenient locations, or perhaps as a way to help with (or guarantee) improved availability when I need the charge along my route, putting a few bucks into the charger would be a huge plus from my POV. Sure, if it were "free", I'd take it, but IMHO I'd still be helping Mother Earth and probably save a few bucks overall for a little additional convenience and less stress owning my Tesla/EV along the way.
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It doesn't need to be free for all future model releases. Tesla could charge a nominal per kwh fee and it wouldn't really effect my purchase decision.
What DOES effect my purchase decision is simply being able to charge at all on long journys and not have it take much longer than typical ICE stops.
Currently, Tesla is the ONLY option for long distance EV travel that fits that criteria. From that standpoint Telsa has no competition at all and no other company appears to even be attempting to implement a charging network as vast and convenient.
When Tesla starts a "pay per use" Supercharging program for those Model 3 owners who do not buy the lifetime Supercharging option, no physical credit cards will be involved, in my opinion. You will have an account with Tesla. When you charge, your account will be debited. You will not have to do anything at a Supercharger that you don't do right now. Meaning, plug in, charge, leave.
habanero69
I Dont Need Cialis. I Drive an EV.
True. I didn't stop to think how old school CC's are, but then I'm getting old(er). Of course they know what car/account just plugged in and just bill your account accordingly. I have mixed feelings about even the 3's paying. I understand Tesla is footing the bill so they cannot do indefinitely nor expand as quickly as they need without revenue. I feel bad that the 3's would be picked on; BUT EV is cheaper than gas and by quite a fair amount. I guess we will all know if a few years when the 3's are out and other manufacturers have a lot more cars that need charging whether gas stations will become less the norm and charging stations are the norm...
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