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Tesla finally announced what happens to referral supercharging after 9/16/18
- Thread starter MelaniainLA
- Start date
whitex
Well-Known Member
While it sounds like a good idea, the devil is always in the details. Lifetime supercharging tied to a person has many pitfalls. For example, accounting - a person lives longer than a car. Estimating liability for this model could create problems when recognizing revenue and such. For a car its much simpler, 300,000 miles max, average 150k miles, so 50MWh of energy and average person charges less than 10% of the time, so ~5KWh of energy per lifetime car supercharging. Program details, tied to a person means I can rent a Tesla and use my supercharging? If my wife drives my car does she not get supercharging because it's tied to me? What if I die, my cars lose supercharging? Or is on all cars which I purchased? If I buy 20 teslas and run a courier service, is that ok? What if I move to Germany where energy is more expensive, I didn't bring my car but supercharging is tied to me, right?
Bottom line is that lifetime supercharging tied to a person is probably too complicated to administer and too much trouble for the company to have such long term liabilities.
henderrj
Active Member
JohnnyG
Weee!
Isn't it sorta, kinda, like that right now, to a lesser extent?
If memory serves me right, anyone who purchased a new car during the period of time that did not require a referral code for Free Unlimited Lifetime Supercharging, is able to purchase a new car to replace their old car, and still get Free Unlimited Lifetime Supercharger on the new car, with no hoops to jump through.
I'll try to find the original memo on this....
EDIT: I found an image of the verbiage from Tesla's site in May 2017.
This changed in June 2017, to the following:
Last edited:
FlatSix911
Porsche 918 Hybrid
Sandollars
I bleed Cardinal
Ummm, 5% of 50MWh is 2.5MWh but who's counting 
Especially since it doesn't matter.
Step out of the box and read on:
1. The person buys a free supercharging account and then buys a car.
2. The car dies or gets sold secondhand after a while but the PERSON still has a supercharging account that they can attach to a new car.
3. Person shells out another $125 grand and gets free supercharging on their new purchase.
4. That car eventually dies or gets sold secondhand and they spend ANOTHER 125 grand for another car that to which the supercharging gets transferred.
5. Repeat until the PERSON runs out of money, gets sick of Tesla's, or dies..
Why give the free supercharging to a secondhand buyer of an old Tesla? That never made sense to me. Well, it did in the beginning when the objective was Brand Recognition, but not anymore. These things are expensive new. Second hand BMW owners tend to buy second hand BMWs over and over again. Tesla needs to target NEW sales of NEW cars.
So far, the PERSON has shelled out $375,000.00 over a 5 to 10 year period on Tesla's plus the initial cost of the Supercharging account. It would have to be enough money to make it valuable to the person, thusly retaining them as a customer.
It doesn't matter who visits the supercharger, it matters that it's THE CAR that is currently owned by the person who bought the supercharging account.
Brand loyalty would be created because the PERSON bought a supercharging-for-life account. It's essentially no different than what Tesla has been doing to date with all Model S and X cars with the exception of the initial purchase price of the supercharging account (MORE MONEY) and the motivation the account instills in the person to remain brand loyal because of the purchased perk.
Your math is not relevant because you forgot to put in the revenues of the subsequent vehicles needed to be purchased to utilize the Free supercharging account.
It would definitely work.
The question is; would it be an adequate incentive to retain loyal customers above and beyond current brand loyalty? It would for me, I think and here's why:
If, within 10 years, Porsche comes out with an amazing E-Panamera (or equivalent) and they put down (or partner up with others) a good travel network of fast chargers, what incentive would an existing Tesla owner have to be given to remain loyal to the brand? Porsche has a history of building sexy, quality automobiles and has about 100 years of automotive refinements over Tesla. I suggest a perk like described above might tip the scales.
This is all academic right now because there are so many other factors that need to be ironed out before the real competition enters the scene. Take Service. Case in point: I have been waiting 4 MONTHS on a part so I can have reliable Air conditioning in my car. The part gets put in every single Model S that comes off the assembly line but they won't send one to my SC because they need it to pump out one more car for one more sale and they already sold me one.... Oh, AND it has been in the SC 55 days since the day I bought it on March 21st, 2018 over other issues unrelated to the AC. Most of the time waiting for parts.... Porsche, Lexus, Mercedes, BMW would never do this But I digress....
I DO NOT want to see Tesla go the way of Tucker and end up being taught to Business school Grad students as perfect examples of what NOT to do if you want to scale a great idea.
Before the flaming begins I want it known that I LOVE MOST OF MY CAR! This is why I still have it and it's not up for sale as a lemon law buyback.
I have such high hopes for this company but it CAN NOT BE RUN BY A DREAMER. It should be LED by a dreamer and Elon is among the best of dreamers. He needs to hire a COO so that he can do what he does best: Innovate. Leave the all-nighters to the COO.
OOPS! there I go again. It's easy to manage a business from a lazy boy...
Especially since it doesn't matter. Step out of the box and read on:
1. The person buys a free supercharging account and then buys a car.
2. The car dies or gets sold secondhand after a while but the PERSON still has a supercharging account that they can attach to a new car.
3. Person shells out another $125 grand and gets free supercharging on their new purchase.
4. That car eventually dies or gets sold secondhand and they spend ANOTHER 125 grand for another car that to which the supercharging gets transferred.
5. Repeat until the PERSON runs out of money, gets sick of Tesla's, or dies..
Why give the free supercharging to a secondhand buyer of an old Tesla? That never made sense to me. Well, it did in the beginning when the objective was Brand Recognition, but not anymore. These things are expensive new. Second hand BMW owners tend to buy second hand BMWs over and over again. Tesla needs to target NEW sales of NEW cars.
So far, the PERSON has shelled out $375,000.00 over a 5 to 10 year period on Tesla's plus the initial cost of the Supercharging account. It would have to be enough money to make it valuable to the person, thusly retaining them as a customer.
It doesn't matter who visits the supercharger, it matters that it's THE CAR that is currently owned by the person who bought the supercharging account.
Brand loyalty would be created because the PERSON bought a supercharging-for-life account. It's essentially no different than what Tesla has been doing to date with all Model S and X cars with the exception of the initial purchase price of the supercharging account (MORE MONEY) and the motivation the account instills in the person to remain brand loyal because of the purchased perk.
Your math is not relevant because you forgot to put in the revenues of the subsequent vehicles needed to be purchased to utilize the Free supercharging account.
It would definitely work.
The question is; would it be an adequate incentive to retain loyal customers above and beyond current brand loyalty? It would for me, I think and here's why:
If, within 10 years, Porsche comes out with an amazing E-Panamera (or equivalent) and they put down (or partner up with others) a good travel network of fast chargers, what incentive would an existing Tesla owner have to be given to remain loyal to the brand? Porsche has a history of building sexy, quality automobiles and has about 100 years of automotive refinements over Tesla. I suggest a perk like described above might tip the scales.
This is all academic right now because there are so many other factors that need to be ironed out before the real competition enters the scene. Take Service. Case in point: I have been waiting 4 MONTHS on a part so I can have reliable Air conditioning in my car. The part gets put in every single Model S that comes off the assembly line but they won't send one to my SC because they need it to pump out one more car for one more sale and they already sold me one.... Oh, AND it has been in the SC 55 days since the day I bought it on March 21st, 2018 over other issues unrelated to the AC. Most of the time waiting for parts.... Porsche, Lexus, Mercedes, BMW would never do this But I digress....
I DO NOT want to see Tesla go the way of Tucker and end up being taught to Business school Grad students as perfect examples of what NOT to do if you want to scale a great idea.
Before the flaming begins I want it known that I LOVE MOST OF MY CAR! This is why I still have it and it's not up for sale as a lemon law buyback.
I have such high hopes for this company but it CAN NOT BE RUN BY A DREAMER. It should be LED by a dreamer and Elon is among the best of dreamers. He needs to hire a COO so that he can do what he does best: Innovate. Leave the all-nighters to the COO.
OOPS! there I go again. It's easy to manage a business from a lazy boy...
Sandollars
I bleed Cardinal
LOL!
SEE? If validated, It's not even an original thought AND IT WORKED! LOL! I am relatively new to the Tesla Scene...
whitex
Well-Known Member
Yep, if you die this month then yes, you might have gotten a lifetime supercharging tied to a person. If however you live and buy another Tesla, you lose your free supercharging, so not tied to a person for those who don't die this month.
So now that the "Supercharging" section of the Tesla Account page is gone, here's the situation:
- I still have free, unlimited supercharging with my current car (though if they choose to remove it, I've got nothing to argue with, since this isn't mentioned anywhere anymore)
- If I'm buying a new Tesla, I loose my free unlimited supercharging.
Not a very smart move, IMO.
- I still have free, unlimited supercharging with my current car (though if they choose to remove it, I've got nothing to argue with, since this isn't mentioned anywhere anymore)
- If I'm buying a new Tesla, I loose my free unlimited supercharging.
Not a very smart move, IMO.
whitex
Well-Known Member
Lifetime supercharging could be easily tied to a persons account. Think of it like your cell number, when you get a new cell you transfer the number to the new device.
Owners with supercharging should be able to transfer lifetime supercharging to their new purchase, removing it from the old car.
Also what happens to a owners supercharging if their car is totaled, they should be able to get a new replacement with unlimited supercharging.
.
Reeler
Decade of Pure EV Driving
They should reward the early fans who got Tesla off the ground with lifetime Supercharging tied to them personally. Tesla has sucked several hundred thousand out of my wallet and something special for early evangelists would be nice. Plus, it will keep us loyal influencers as the other brands flood the market with competing product. It is especially hard to differentiate in the EV space when design is wind tunnel driven and performance was optimized long ago for electric propulsion.
JohnnyG
Weee!
This is exactly what I was saying up above (#24). I'm not sure what whitex was getting at, in his reply to me.
It was said (and written at one point) that if you purchased a new car that included Unlimited Lifetime Supercharging by default (not including those that received it as a referral perk), you could purchase a new car to replace your old one, and still receive Unlimited Lifetime Supercharging, without any hurdles (referrals) to jump.
pedriscoll
Active Member
I am trading in my 2015 85D on an inventory 2018 100D, taking delivery next week. I was able to refer to myself and get free unlimited supercharging on the new car, because the order was placed before 9/16/18.
Reeler
Decade of Pure EV Driving
You can refer yourself. The code needs to be entered before you confirm your order generally. Ask your Tesla contact to entere it and see what happens.
mknox
Well-Known Member
Isn't it sorta, kinda, like that right now, to a lesser extent?
If memory serves me right, anyone who purchased a new car during the period of time that did not require a referral code for Free Unlimited Lifetime Supercharging, is able to purchase a new car to replace their old car, and still get Free Unlimited Lifetime Supercharger on the new car, with no hoops to jump through.
I'll try to find the original memo on this....
EDIT: I found an image of the verbiage from Tesla's site in May 2017.
This changed in June 2017, to the following:
So I bought my first Tesla when the earlier statement was in effect. Does this constitute a contract? Is Tesla obligated to give me free unlimited Supercharging for any new Model S or X I purchase because that was part of the deal when I bought my earlier car?
I remember discussion of this situation when that text was first on the website. While it sounded like a great deal, many speculated that they could change the name of the car models so that the buyer would no longer able to buy a "Model S" or "Model X".
You could use the Wayback Machine and find an earlier version of the website with the language:
Internet Archive: Wayback Machine
FlatSix911
Porsche 918 Hybrid
70 year
Great commentary... I agree with your line of reasoning except... Porsche was founded in 1948 and is only 70 years old.
Ummm, 5% of 50MWh is 2.5MWh but who's counting
Step out of the box and read on:
1. The person buys a free supercharging account and then buys a car.
2. The car dies or gets sold secondhand after a while but the PERSON still has a supercharging account that they can attach to a new car.
3. Person shells out another $125 grand and gets free supercharging on their new purchase.
4. That car eventually dies or gets sold secondhand and they spend ANOTHER 125 grand for another car that to which the supercharging gets transferred.
5. Repeat until the PERSON runs out of money, gets sick of Tesla's, or dies..
Why give the free supercharging to a secondhand buyer of an old Tesla? That never made sense to me. Well, it did in the beginning when the objective was Brand Recognition, but not anymore. These things are expensive new. Second hand BMW owners tend to buy second-hand BMWs over and over again. Tesla needs to target NEW sales of NEW cars.
So far, the PERSON has shelled out $375,000.00 over a 5 to 10 year period on Tesla's plus the initial cost of the Supercharging account. It would have to be enough money to make it valuable to the person, thusly retaining them as a customer.
It doesn't matter who visits the supercharger, it matters that it's THE CAR that is currently owned by the person who bought the supercharging account.
Brand loyalty would be created because the PERSON bought a supercharging-for-life account. It's essentially no different than what Tesla has been doing to date with all Model S and X cars with the exception of the initial purchase price of the supercharging account (MORE MONEY) and the motivation the account instills in the person to remain brand loyal because of the purchased perk.
Your math is not relevant because you forgot to put in the revenues of the subsequent vehicles needed to be purchased to utilize the Free supercharging account.
It would definitely work.
The question is; would it be an adequate incentive to retain loyal customers above and beyond current brand loyalty? It would for me, I think and here's why:
If, within 10 years, Porsche comes out with an amazing E-Panamera (or equivalent) and they put down (or partner up with others) a good travel network of fast chargers, what incentive would an existing Tesla owner have to be given to remain loyal to the brand? Porsche has a history of building sexy, quality automobiles and has about 100 years of automotive refinements over Tesla. I suggest a perk like described above might tip the scales.
This is all academic right now because there are so many other factors that need to be ironed out before the real competition enters the scene. Take Service. Case in point: I have been waiting 4 MONTHS on a part so I can have reliable Air conditioning in my car. The part gets put in every single Model S that comes off the assembly line but they won't send one to my SC because they need it to pump out one more car for one more sale and they already sold me one.... Oh, AND it has been in the SC 55 days since the day I bought it on March 21st, 2018 over other issues unrelated to the AC. Most of the time waiting for parts.... Porsche, Lexus, Mercedes, BMW would never do this But I digress....
I DO NOT want to see Tesla go the way of Tucker and end up being taught to Business school Grad students as perfect examples of what NOT to do if you want to scale a great idea.
Before the flaming begins, I want it known that I LOVE MOST OF MY CAR! This is why I still have it and it's not up for sale as a lemon law buyback.
I have such high hopes for this company but it CAN NOT BE RUN BY A DREAMER. It should be LED by a dreamer and Elon is among the best of dreamers. He needs to hire a COO so that he can do what he does best: Innovate. Leave the all-nighters to the COO.
OOPS! there I go again. It's easy to manage a business from a lazy boy...
Great commentary... I agree with your line of reasoning except... Porsche was founded in 1948 and is only 70 years old.
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