Tesla Supercharging Won’t Be “Free” With Tesla Model 3, So What Are The Options?
Editor’s Note: Alongside 23 other notable statements from Tesla’s annual shareholder meeting, I highlighted Elon’s admission that unlimited, free Supercharging would not be available on the base Tesla Model 3. Rather, you’ll have to “get that package” to get that. That was one of the big highlights of the night, so I’m reposting this article from Gas2 to delve into that a little more.
The Tesla Motors annual meeting took place in Mountain View, California, on May 31. Elon Musk and crew spoke for more than 2 hours, and they had a lot to say. First and foremost, he announced that buyers of the Model 3 would not get the same “free Supercharging for life” that has been part of the Tesla experience up to this point.
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Some may quibble about whether current Tesla owners can actually charge their cars for free. Originally, Supercharger access was a $2,000 option. Now, that fee has simply been rolled into the selling price. Tesla changed its policies last year to excluded free charging for daily driving needs. It now says its Supercharger locations are for the convenience of those travelling away from home, not for everyday use. It also is aggressively expanding the number of destination chargers available to Tesla drivers.
Musk had this to say at the annual meeting about Superchargers and Model 3 owners: “Obviously, [free Supercharging] fundamentally has a cost…..The obvious thing to do is decouple that from the cost of the Model 3. So it will still be very cheap, and far cheaper than gasoline, to drive long distance with the Model 3, but it will not be free long distance for life unless you purchase that package. I wish we could, but in order to achieve the economics, it has to be something like that.”
How will Model 3 owners pay for using Superchargers? That remains to be seen. Most likely, there will be an app tied to a credit card. Whether the company will assess a flat fee for each use or charge for the amount of electricity actually used is unknown. [Editor’s Note: there’s also the chance that you simply have to purchase the package to use Superchargers at all — an “all or nothing” approach; and there’s the possibility that everyone could have an allotted number of free Supercharges a year or a month, and if you want more than that, you have to buy the unlimited-for-life package.]
Musk had other things on his mind, too. According to the Los Angeles Times, he took full responsibility for the technological glitches that have plagued the Model X. Customers have a long list of complaints about touchscreens that fail repeatedly and doors that won’t operate properly. Musk used the word “hubris” repeatedly, acknowledging that the Model X was not quite ready for prime time initially.
“I particularly need to fault myself for … putting too much technology all at once into a product. We have these great ideas. The smart move would have been to table those for version 2 or version 3.” He went on to promise that the iconic falcon-wing doors that are the hallmark of the car will function correctly soon. “If you order a Model X now, or soon, trust me, you will love the doors,” he said. “Because the software will actually be right.”
The company lawyers defending Tesla against suits filed by unhappy customers won’t like it that the boss has basically admitted the cars built so far are all lemons in need of extensive repairs and revisions. However, it is refreshing to hear a car company admit its failures and step up to the plate to fix them. In the car business, that attitude is a rarity and one that other top executives would do well to emulate.
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