The solution is far simpler. Tesla simply needs to produce enough to keep them in stock
Agreed. I assume that Tesla sub-contracts this work out to a supplier? Or do you think they build all their charging accessories themselves somewhere (e.g., Fremont, CA, USA)?
I highly doubt that people are buying the $450 CHaDeMo adapter for resale
Hmm. I'm not sure that's completely true. I think at least some people are doing exactly that. For example, check out this online sale:
BRAND NEW USA TESLA CHAdeMO ADAPTER (1036392-10-D) JUST BOUGHT SEALED | eBay
- The online sale started just recently (at the end of February, 2020) and says they were "JUST BOUGHT" from Tesla.
- After a relatively lengthy "drought" Tesla only just recently (2/25/20) offered some more CHAdeMO adapters for sale (for just a few hours).
- The seller has two CHAdeMO adapters for sale.
- Tesla only allows two adapters to be sold per online transaction.
- The new price from Tesla is $450 (w/free shipping).
- The online sale asking price is $700.
- Taken all together, coincidence? I don't think so.
I may be wrong, but I would say that the (circumstantial) evidence is pretty strong that this seller bought two CHAdeMO adapters directly from Tesla
specifically and
intentionally in order to make a sizable profit online once Tesla was "Sold Out" again. And Tesla was only too happy to oblige (by selling out almost immediately.) So one could surmise that two people who may have wanted or needed these adapters are out of luck (at the retail price, at least). Who knows whether this hypothetical pair will be desperate enough to fork over $700? (I hope not.)
and demand can't be that high
Now I have no data, so what follows is just speculation. But let's assume there are a few categories of CHAdeMO adapter owners:
- People who live in outlying supercharger deserts (areas without SCs), but where there are aftermarket CHAdeMO charging facilities.
- People in well-traveled (more SC-rich) areas who nonetheless have a touch of "range anxiety" and who otherwise just feel better having all the adapters in the frunk, so to speak.
- People who just happen to end up with one (e.g., as a gift).
What do you think? At $450 (or more) maybe one percent or less of Tesla drivers have a CHAdeMO adapter? How many would that be? (More now, with Model 3 sales, I guess.)
So I would agree that demand is probably not that high, But as long as demand is not zero and supplies are correspondingly low, you
still have a problem, even though it is a smaller problem than if demand is higher (as it probably is for, say, Gen 2 NEMA 14-50 adapters).
I just hate to think that people who really need these (CHAdeMO) things can't get them (at a fair price) because of gougers.
If no one was purchasing these <14-50 adapters> for resale, I have zero confidence that Tesla would be able to keep them in stock. That's ultimately the issue that needs to be solved. Tesla used to be able to produce one of these for every car sold - they certainly have the production capacity.
I am not sure I completely follow. But as to Gen 2 NEMA 14-50 adapters, I believe that certain nefarious people are doing the same thing--i.e., buying up 14-50 adapters for anticipated profitable resale online. Just look at some of the asking prices online today (3/1/20) for new adapters (an otherwise $35 item from Tesla):
and so forth. I would guess that at least some of these sales are (like the CHAdeMO example, above) pre-planned. Product is bought up on Tesla and offered for much higher prices when the item is "Sold Out," as it is now.
But what you are saying is very true. Tesla used to supply one (14-50 adapter) with every Model S and X, I believe. That stopped (2017?), probably to save money (say a saving of, what, $20 per car for Tesla?--every little bit helps). But also because Tesla wanted to encourage people charging at home to
please use a Tesla wall connector--probably for several reasons. To make money, I assume, on a $500 item, for sure. But also to help ensure that customers would be installing and charging at home properly and safely. (Something that Tesla had less control over when all it offered was a connector cable and a NEMA 14-50 adapter.) Allowing customers to electrocute themselves or burn down the garage are not particularly helpful elements for a successful business model. Plus, aftermarket companies were starting to make money selling Tesla drivers wall connectors.
The nerve!
So, yes, Tesla could do everyone (except the gougers) a favor by simply making enough charging accessories to meet demand, whether that demand is relatively small or relative large. These frequent outages are a little perplexing (to me, being still naive to the ways of Tesla). Could a new charging adapter be on the horizon...?