Supercharging too expensive

[Lozza12]

In 2019, supercharging at Taupo etc used to cost around 30c/kWh. Now I see at some sites it is 81c/kWh, up from 52c/kWh just a few months ago.

I acknowledge fast charging is for road trips, but these rates are not at all competitive with petrol given we have to ‘fill up’ 1.5-2x more often on a journey.

What’s the story here? Is this Tesla price gouging us or is it the NZ energy retailers price gouging EVs? Wholesale electricity rates are rarely more than 15c/kWh.

 

[RobDickinson]

It was never 30c, it was about 45-50 afik, prices changed about a year ago

 

[Audietron]

at Auckland K'rd it's still $0.46/KWh... sylvia park it's like forex market - sometime 64 others 70-80... charge net are more consistent with $0.42 almost everywhere unless it's free...

charge time difference? super charger from 3% battery to 98% takes 1 hour 20 minutes... charge net 3% to 98% takes 1 hour 40 minutes. because supercharger is way slow once 80% compare to consistent charge sped at charge net.

No wonder most councils are against approving superchargers... serves only tesla cars and costs premium... so much for fancy looks.... even charger at Z gas stations (yup most Z got chargenet now) are way cheaper than Tesla - and comes with restroom, food/drink and other facilities to use when charging.

finally parking inside garage as some renovation is over at home... costs $0.08/KWh so way better than anyone out there.

 

[PLU6]

I drove from Kuratau to Wellington yesterday and charged at Mangaweka Supercharger at a whopping $0.81/kWh.

 

[RobDickinson]

The chargenet 300kw are 60c so worth using those instead if possible

 

[Audietron]

Pure greed.... Superchargers only serve Tesla cars, don't have their own facilities so tap into public infrastructure or nearby businesses... and charge almost 60% plus premium.
Tesla is overcharging Tesla users.... who would've thought

 

[m3lol]

Hopefully the pricing stabilises over time. Thank goodness i still have free kms valid til Sept 2022.

 

[Audietron]

Hopefully the pricing stabilises over time. Thank goodness i still have free kms valid til Sept 2022.

it's increased twice since I got my car in September.... pricing going down for charging is not likely.
Charging at home or Chargenet and only use supercharger for emergencies is the way to go.

 

[Ecoli]

I drove from Kuratau to Wellington yesterday and charged at Mangaweka Supercharger at a whopping $0.81/kWh.

ouch, I suppose easy not to notice the exorbitant pricing until it's to late

 

[Audietron]

ouch, I suppose easy not to notice the exorbitant pricing until it's to late

You can see right after charging starts, as car screen shows how much they charged for... It would've been more transparent when that it's displayed when we choose charging destination, as Chargenet shows.

 

[khayyam]

Even at 80c/kwh, that's about 12.8c/km (in a model 3 at least). At current $2.70/l for petrol, that's equivalent to about 5l/100km, so really not so bad. And of course charging at home is something like 4-10x cheaper. At our blend of mostly home charging plus a few road trip top ups, it's absolutely fine. (Not to mention that the sparse SC coverage means using chargnet more than superchargers even when travelling.)

 

[RobDickinson]

Not bad until RUC kicks in ..

 

[Ecoli]

RUC... the sword of damocles

 

[Audietron]

Even at 80c/kwh, that's about 12.8c/km (in a model 3 at least). At current $2.70/l for petrol, that's equivalent to about 5l/100km, so really not so bad. And of course charging at home is something like 4-10x cheaper. At our blend of mostly home charging plus a few road trip top ups, it's absolutely fine. (Not to mention that the sparse SC coverage means using chargnet more than superchargers even when travelling.)

The point is, Tesla overcharging and simply profiteering from it's own tesla users.. it's like Audi/BMW/Mercedes starting their own gas station and charging $4/litre for petrol - would you like that? all while taking away all the general facilities like washrooms and essentials (customer service).

Pack & Save and Mitre10 got dedicated Tesla charging parking spaces to charge for free... At present, It's unfair comparison between petrol and EV cars, because at present there are so many factors in favour of EV (including not paying any contribution towards infrastructure maintained from Petrol and RUC charges). It's Apple, Custard apple comparison.

When you factor in following, you get to comparison with petrol:

1. RUC
2. $0.11+GST Fuel surcharge per litre at Auckland
3. Government Taxes per litre

Potentially once clean car subsidy scheme is over, in short to long future eventually EV would get something similar and at that stage Tesla supercharger charges might get from $0.80/KW to $2/KW, chargenet charges might get from $0.44/KW to $1/KW.... making current 5l/100KM (not great as most model 3 class petrol sedan cars gives same fuel efficiency) into easy 8-13l/100KM.

 

[Matt_NZ]

The point is, Tesla overcharging and simply profiteering from it's own tesla users.. it's like Audi/BMW/Mercedes starting their own gas station and charging $4/litre for petrol - would you like that? all while taking away all the general facilities like washrooms and essentials (customer service).

Do you have any evidence that they're profiteering or are you just trying to create drama, as you always do?

 

[Matt_NZ]

It does suck that the costs have basically doubled in the last year, but I suspect it's to cover an expansion of the Supercharging network. They're currently advertising for two Supercharger related positions so it seems something is happening. Leases and getting nearly 1MW of power to a V3 Supercharger site isn't going to be cheap and needs to come from somewhere.

 

[Audietron]

Do you have any evidence that they're profiteering or are you just trying to create drama, as you always do?

Unit charges doesn't significantly change from any providers in auckland, but charging rates are quite different at different times and different locations from Tesla within Auckland.

When I used to charge at Tesla, charging full battery was costing me $28-35, depending on when, where and what level charging started (charged between $0.46-0.70 as you can see in attached image) .... $22-26 at ChargeNet based on starting the charge level but consistent $0.44 charges.... $4-5 at home with $0.08 I pay per unit to provider, but for many it could be as high as $10 for some if they are not on a good power deal. All charging from between 3-7% to 98%.

Reasonable charges would be considered either same as competition with extensive network (ChargeNet) or better because it's exclusive closed Tesla only charging network, like double or similar to home charging (as they might get bulk rate and lower charges for bulk deal from providers).... none of the supercharger are charity charging points like Mitre10 and other shops/supermarket have free chargers for customers.

Thanks for commenting on what you think of me... what you consider drama is voice of concern... I am not a Tesla fan boy blinded by either misleading claims from Tesla or driven by investment in Tesla shares - I am a Tesla car user who knowingly puts his life at risk everyday while driving Tesla, as Tesla is not transparent with most of the things they do with car I am driving (Software release notes, FSD accuracy, number of people facing Phantom Breaking issues, Number of bugs, Number of near miss accidents thanks to FSD, Number of cars delivered with major scratches or quality issues.... most companies in market do this, some due to requirements and others simply because it's the right thing to do.)

So I share real concerns and noticed real changes after raising concerns here...

Rest my case to save time.... enjoy paying high for underrated service, your money - your choice.

 

[Matt_NZ]

Thanks for commenting on what you think of me... what you consider drama is voice of concern... I am not a Tesla fan boy blinded by either misleading claims from Tesla or driven by investment in Tesla shares - I am a Tesla car user who knowingly puts his life at risk everyday while driving Tesla, as Tesla is not transparent with most of the things they do with car I am driving (Software release notes, FSD accuracy, number of people facing Phantom Breaking issues, Number of bugs, Number of near miss accidents thanks to FSD, Number of cars delivered with major scratches or quality issues.... most companies in market do this, some due to requirements and others simply because it's the right thing to do.)

So I share real concerns and noticed real changes after raising concerns here...

Rest my case to save time.... enjoy paying high for underrated service, your money - your choice.

Lol so you did choose drama then. "Putting your life at risk" - if you feel so unsafe in your Tesla, sell it and get a car that you do feel comfortable driver. Nothing worse than a person driving a car on the road that they can't control potentially causing a life threatening crash for an innocent driver on the road.

Tesla's Supercharging costs don't just cover the cost of electricity, it also covers costs for leasing the land the chargers are on, maintenance costs and future Supercharger sites. Getting almost 1MW of power to a Supercharger site is not cheap.

Even at 81c/kWh it's still significantly cheaper for me to "fill" my Tesla than a similar specced ICE vehicle with petrol being $2.60/L for 91 currently.

 

[moa999]

The point is, Tesla overcharging and simply profiteering from it's own tesla users..

Each site costs $500k+.
Your more than welcome to spend that and charge a lower amount.

Let's say your actual costs (electricity use, demand, maintenance, site rental) are say 50c/kWh and you charge 80c/kWh.

To cover that $500k investment over say 10 years you'd need to average 500kWh charging a day, which I suspect many sites won't reach for many years.

 

[Audietron]

Each site costs $500k+.
Your more than welcome to spend that and charge a lower amount.

Let's say your actual costs (electricity use, demand, maintenance, site rental) are say 50c/kWh and you charge 80c/kWh.

To cover that $500k investment over say 10 years you'd need to average 500kWh charging a day, which I suspect many sites won't reach for many years.

Each gas station costs few million dollars... does that mean Gull, Z, BP can charge you extra on gas until they collect their profit?

Lol so you did choose drama then. "Putting your life at risk" - if you feel so unsafe in your Tesla, sell it and get a car that you do feel comfortable driver. Nothing worse than a person driving a car on the road that they can't control potentially causing a life threatening crash for an innocent driver on the road.

Tesla's Supercharging costs don't just cover the cost of electricity, it also covers costs for leasing the land the chargers are on, maintenance costs and future Supercharger sites. Getting almost 1MW of power to a Supercharger site is not cheap.

Even at 81c/kWh it's still significantly cheaper for me to "fill" my Tesla than a similar specced ICE vehicle with petrol being $2.60/L for 91 currently.

I am driving a production car sold with paid FSD service on monthly subscription for premium connectivity... if I expect that car to be all about safety and accuracy in feature I paid for - It's not expecting too much....


Chargenet chargers are not placed for free, so can't put argument that Tesla need to cover the investment...

Tesla superchargers are value added service and one of the selling point for car, used exclusively by Tesla customers.... therefore, like any other value added service - they are expected to be serving customer at competitive pricing to customers, if not free (like they used to do).

Do we pay extra at gas station if petrol is filled faster? we actually pay less if no facilities are provided and site is self-service site.

Discussion is not about affordability compare to gas vehicles, it's about supercharger charging way too much compare to other chargers in market....