Tesla and their free unlimited supercharging teases.

[MXWing]

So now its only until the end of this year for free unlimited super charging on any S and X.

Tesla adds a deadline to its ‘free Supercharging’ on future car purchases by owners

Nothing stops Tesla from pulling this lever again in Feb of 2018, or Oct of 2018 or March of 2019 as they see fit right?

 

[DiamondHands]

Nothing stops Tesla from pulling this lever again in Feb of 2018, or Oct of 2018 or March of 2019 as they see fit right?

Yep, I was thinking the same thing. I figured it was too good to be true that as a current owner, I'd enjoy free unlimited supercharging on all my future Tesla purchases (unless I had this point wrong the whole time).

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

So now its only until the end of this year for free unlimited super charging on any S and X.

Tesla adds a deadline to its ‘free Supercharging’ on future car purchases by owners

Nothing stops Tesla from pulling this lever again in Feb of 2018, or Oct of 2018 or March of 2019 as they see fit right?

It's really all about Model 3. It's a significant discount, it's something they don't really want, but they're willing to discount to keep the sales on the S and X going.

 

[ps004ynos]

Yep, we pulled the trigger on a 90D because of the supercharger "deadline" instead of waiting for the 100D only to see the rules change.

I wouldn't doubt they change it again prn.

 

[Skipdd]

I agree this is a lever they are pulling to keep sales higher until Model 3 is fully in play. But they can also get too cute with their behavior and start to turn people off as well. At some point when it's on/off/on and they are doing other things it will just get tiresome, or, worse, people will say, I will wait till next quarter, or wait until there is an issue (production #s down), because Tesla will offer something else.

As I write this, I am evaluating trading my S85D for an S100D. Originally I was thinking I would do it in Aug, but then I decided Sept is better because it is quarter close, and now I'm thinking maybe I will wait longer to see if they are running late on Model 3. Case in point..

 

[DiamondHands]

Yep, we pulled the trigger on a 90D because of the supercharger "deadline" instead of waiting for the 100D only to see the rules change.

I wouldn't doubt they change it again prn.

Totally agree!

 

[MXWing]

Fire Aim Ready is the modus operandi here. I'm pretty forgiving on the software side since its so cutting edge but this sales side marketing is amateur hour stuff.

They really should just keep free super charging as a perk for the expensive S and X cars. Find a way to limit the abusers and keep this stuff consistent.

 

[Quick2Judge]

but this sales side marketing is amateur hour stuff.

Reminds me of them swearing they never discount...then they started waiving the document and destination fees last August. Followed by the inventory fire sale in September 2016. Elon claimed he wasn't aware discounts were going on (for 2 straight months!). How could probably 10,000's of people on TMC know about something and Elon have no clue? Amateur hour marketing exactly.

It turned me off so badly I walked away. I guess time heals all wounds as I finally bought a couple of weeks ago - so maybe I m the fool after all.

 

[MXWing]

Reminds me of them swearing they never discount...then they started waiving the document and destination fees last August. Followed by the inventory fire sale in September 2016. Elon claimed he wasn't aware discounts were going on (for 2 straight months!). How could probably 10,000's of people on TMC know about something and Elon have no clue? Amateur hour marketing exactly.

It turned me off so badly I walked away. I guess time heals all wounds as I finally bought a couple of weeks ago - so maybe I m the fool after all.

That my friend is what's called the hot crazy matrix. It's so hot you put up with the crazy.

It's not like my next car will be a non Tesla but it's not good to create a cloud of uncertainty and bad feelings for the loyal base.

 

[AnxietyRanger]

I can not believe anyone really believes in the "amateur hour stuff" or similar excuses anymore, be it software or be it marketing. The old text was there for a month. A month of end-of-quarter sales. This can not have been unintentional or an oversight. No, that is not likely.

This seems likely cultural and it seems quite possibly intentional. They seem to massively overpromise, underdeliver and bait and switch as such a routine that explaining it out by simple incompetence is no longer cutting mustard IMO.

It seems possible Tesla just has no scruples about this stuff. They seem to give and take away, create and pull levers as need be, and change commitments later unilaterally if issues arise etc. Be it the countergates or the peak rate throttling or toying with quarterly games levers, free Supercharging policies and whatnot...

Here's a better theory: Maybe they got a bunch of orders in with the forever-Supercharging clause, now they can take it away when Q2 is saved (enough). Just like the Q3/2016 discounts suddenly "being found out" at the end of the quarter and only then taken away... and of course how EAP/AEB/etc. will do stuff beyond AP1 in December 2016 pending just a bit of reg-approval...

Oh and remember how they sold the P100D upgrade to a bunch of people willing to take P90DL deliveries... and now it seems possible that is not available either: 100KW battery upgrade now available $20k

I guess the shame is on me, though, I actually once again was stupid enough to take Tesla at their word at the previous Supercharging reversal! How dumb is that!

What a company... what a company...

I just did not see an infinity turning into six months. My only defence is that Tesla is usually know for the opposite.

 

[johnnyS]

I should have kept a copy of the text that said I have free supercharging on any model S or X purchased in the future for life! I knew when I first saw it that it was likely to be short lived.

 

[TexasEV]

I doubt this is the last change we'll see to the supercharging policy. Any bets on when we'll see free supercharging back "for a limited time" when Tesla wants to increase S or X sales near the end of a quarter? Oh how I wish this wasn't a publicly traded company that needs to be concerned about quarterly numbers, and we wouldn't have all this nonsense.

 

[MXWing]

I should have kept a copy of the text that said I have free supercharging on any model S or X purchased in the future for life! I knew when I first saw it that it was likely to be short lived.

There are many screenshots floating on the Internet so that won't be an issue.

So essentially, there is no difference for "grandfathered" owners who beat the original deadline or anyone who gets a Tesla by end of this year. Everyone is on the same footing.

 

[Peteybabes]

They really should just keep free super charging as a perk for the expensive S and X cars...

This should be the demographic that could afford it most...right?

i don't want to sound like an idiot, but the supercharging rates will still be very reasonable and far less than filling an ICE car, no reason to whine over a couple bucks here and there. this should only be for long distance driving (I've only used 3 superchargers since i got my car, and i used like 4-5 of them on a trip to NJ and back when i had a loaner car before my X arrived)

this has to be done to encourage people to charge at home in densely populated areas as well instead of just running down the road and grabbing a charge.

 

[DiamondHands]

This should be the demographic that could afford it most...right?

Likely true- I suppose the free supercharging for life was appealing in terms of retaining a better resale value.

 

[DiamondHands]

There are many screenshots floating on the Internet so that won't be an issue.

So essentially, there is no difference for "grandfathered" owners who beat the original deadline or anyone who gets a Tesla by end of this year. Everyone is on the same footing.

Yep. I LOVE my X, been driving it everyday the past 6 months, but had I been given the opportunity, I of course would have opted for the 100D. Is this something one should be butthurt about? I think not.

 

[MXWing]

This should be the demographic that could afford it most...right?

i don't want to sound like an idiot, but the supercharging rates will still be very reasonable and far less than filling an ICE car, no reason to whine over a couple bucks here and there. this should only be for long distance driving (I've only used 3 superchargers since i got my car, and i used like 4-5 of them on a trip to NJ and back when i had a loaner car before my X arrived)

this has to be done to encourage people to charge at home in densely populated areas as well instead of just running down the road and grabbing a charge.

Six figure software engineers routinely stand in line for an hour for free ice cream giveaways. There is a extrinsic value to the perk that is coveted, regardless of the minimal monetary worth for the majority of drivers.

I don't know if Tesla calculated there is a real cost to offering this or using it as psychological levers to create/take away as demand is necessitated.

They can do some other exclusive perk like access to order exclusive paint colors or something.

 

[Zero CO2]

I guess they figured out we are all locked into Tesla eco-system for life ..... so no need to give away free supercharging for future vehicle purchases .....in fact superchargers will become a profit center ......you will buy a Tesla until infinity and beyond.....I really got duped by the future purchases line in the old language (the future was not very far out in this case ).... but I am still a newbie to the Tesla Sales/Mktg schema .... shame on you veterans out there

 

[TJtv]

So essentially, there is no difference for "grandfathered" owners who beat the original deadline or anyone who gets a Tesla by end of this year. Everyone is on the same footing.

Not true. Those who purchased before the January deadline have free supercharging for the life of the vehicle. So when they sell that car the new owner also gets free supercharging. Folks who purchased after the January deadline now have unlimited free supercharging only for as long as they own the vehicle, once they sell it the supercharging is gone.

 

[NikeWings]

Soooooooo, did we miss a personal notification from Tesla to all of its valued owners explaing the change? Or was this only leaked to Elektrek? I did get an email from Tesla today touting their new AP release, but that was it.