Tesla introduces time-of-day Supercharger rates at select locations

[Mrbrock]

Thanks for sharing that information. Since we just bought a second Tesla we both have referral miles now so I will check at our next session and see what the correlation is. Hopefully it is the 400kwh you calculated from your experience.

 

[loquitur]

This is the current Supercharger rate in Oxnard, California as of July 1, 2020. Is this the highest of anywhere at $0.39 per kWh?View attachment 559475




;

The time-of-use (TOU) structure reflected in this photo from near Oxnard, CA (and the earlier one from Santa Clarita, CA) also applied, until very recently to the San Francisco Bay Area.

It was cut rate, about 1/2 price from 4-9 pm. This aligned with TOU changes about to be applied regionally by PG&E, who are starting to advertise the 4-9pm peak rate slot on billboards. *However*, the latest peak rates for Tesla around here now go all day 10 a.m. -> 7 p.m. ($.42 per kWh) yielding to $.21 at other times.

It was $.20 per kWh uniformly just two years ago. At the time, Tesla said they were not intending to make supercharging a "profit center". Maybe that is changing, but now a "fill-up" during the day is up to $30 per "tank".

 

[loquitur]

This is the current Supercharger rate in Oxnard, California as of July 1, 2020. Is this the highest of anywhere at $0.39 per kWh?View attachment 559475




;

The time-of-use (TOU) structure reflected in this photo from near Oxnard, CA (and the earlier one from Santa Clarita, CA) also applied, until very recently to the San Francisco Bay Area.

It was cut rate, about 1/2 price from 4-9 pm. This aligned with TOU changes about to be applied regionally by PG&E, who are starting to advertise the 4-9pm peak rate slot on billboards. *However*, the latest peak rates for Tesla around here now go all day 10 a.m. -> 7 p.m. ($.42 per kWh) yielding to $.21 at other times.

It was $.20 per kWh uniformly just two years ago. At the time, Tesla said they were not intending to make supercharging a "profit center". Maybe that is changing, but now a "fill-up" during the day is up to $30 per "tank".

 

[FlatSix911]

S

The time-of-use (TOU) structure reflected in this photo from near Oxnard, CA (and the earlier one from Santa Clarita, CA) also applied, until very recently to the San Francisco Bay Area.

It was cut rate, about 1/2 price from 4-9 pm. This aligned with TOU changes about to be applied regionally by PG&E, who are starting to advertise the 4-9pm peak rate slot on billboards. *However*, the latest peak rates for Tesla around here now go all day 10 a.m. -> 7 p.m. ($.42 per kWh) yielding to $.21 at other times.

It was $.20 per kWh uniformly just two years ago. At the time, Tesla said they were not intending to make supercharging a "profit center". Maybe that is changing, but now a "fill-up" during the day is up to $30 per "tank".

Wow, I think Tesla has now changed their thinking on profit centers... the more the better. I'm fortunate to have free SC for the life of the vehicle.

 

[SageBrush]

I was thinking about CA TOU Supercharging rates from the POV of a road trip. I can imagine each day including one Supercharger visit at off-peak rates and one visit during on-peak rates, for a combined average 30¢ a kWh, or about 7.5¢ a mile for slower drivers and up to 10¢ a mile for fast drivers.

No complaint from me.

 

[mociaf9]

At the time, Tesla said they were not intending to make supercharging a "profit center". Maybe that is changing, but now a "fill-up" during the day is up to $30 per "tank".

S

Wow, I think Tesla has now changed their thinking on profit centers... the more the better. I'm fortunate to have free SC for the life of the vehicle.

Like many statements from Tesla/Elon, you have to be really careful how you parse them. My interpretation has always been that Tesla doesn't intend for supercharging as a whole to be a profit center. But this doesn't mean that individual locations or even entire state's worth of supercharger locations can't turn a profit on their own, with those profits being used to support the many, many supercharger locations that run a loss. I.e. the statement was about the network not turning a profit, not about individual superchargers.

 

[SageBrush]

Like many statements from Tesla/Elon, you have to be really careful how you parse them. My interpretation has always been that Tesla doesn't intend for supercharging as a whole to be a profit center. But this doesn't mean that individual locations or even entire state's worth of supercharger locations can't turn a profit on their own, with those profits being used to support the many, many supercharger locations that run a loss. I.e. the statement was about the network not turning a profit, not about individual superchargers.

Indeed.

Elon has also left himself quite a bit of wiggle room since he does not clarify if profits mean revenue greater than operational cost, revenue greater than O&M, or revenue greater than O&M + R&D+installation+planning+permitting+financing ...

The latter makes sense to me since an expense is an expense.

 

[kishkaru]

Tesla supercharger prices have increased again. Looks like this happened sometime last week (looking at my charging history), but I only noticed today.
Now its $0.42/kWh peak, $0.21/kWh off-peak:

My guess is that they'll continue to raise the rates until at least $0.50/kWh peak, $0.25/kWh off-peak. This will match the "old" off-peak rate of $0.25/kWh from just a month ago when they introduced the "discounts". Is it a coincidence that the rates were increased exactly 1 month after the last change?

A great publicity stunt by Tesla. They get to claim "50% discount off-peak!", but still get to keep the old off-peak rates AND get to charge way more for on-peak than the old rates. Win-win for Tesla. This is probably want they wanted (to raise the on-peak rates, which is understandable), but raising from $0.34/kWh to $0.50/kWh immediately would've raised eyebrows. Offering the "discount" and then slowly raising the rates (both on and off-peak) probably fly under the radar with most people.

 

[kishkaru]

Saw this in the Tesla app today:

Or in other words: "we're enabling TOU rates at all CA superchargers".
(beyond just the ones in metro areas)

I can only speculate the price for these will be the same as the metro TOU prices ($0.42/kWh peak, $0.21/kWh off peak).

 

[Kingoglow]

No changes in rates in my state.
Could be a result of local politics.

 

[swaltner]

No changes in rates in my state.
Could be a result of local politics.

Or instead of being something political, it could just be a business decision to try and avoid long lines during peak times over the busy Memorial Day weekend by financially encouraging people to charge during off-peak times. Basically, what this whole thread is about. It’s not needed outside of California because there aren’t enough Tesla’s outside of California to cause congestion at Supercharger sites, except for rare situations like the Sound of Silence rally last weekend in Custer, SD or some similar event that draws a bunch of Tesla owners together.