Free Tesla Supercharging for new owners to end in 2017
New Teslas sold from 2017 onwards will no longer come with free lifetime usage of the Supercharger charging network
Tesla has announced plans to drop lifetime free usage of its Supercharger stations for new customers. From 1 January 2017, free Supercharging will not be offered on new Teslas.
Instead, buyers will get around 400kWh free Supercharging credits, which Tesla says is around 1,000 miles of range. Drivers will pay to use the stations once their free 400kWh is up, and will be charged a small, incremental fee.
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Tesla says that topping up at a Supercharger station will still “cost less than the price of filling up a comparable gas powered car” and that new cars will continue to be Supercharger ready as standard.
The changes will only apply for 2017 orders onwards. Current owners and those who order their cars before the end of 2016 won’t face the charges, providing their Tesla is delivered before 1 April 2017.
The electric car company began constructing free Supercharger stations in 2012. The latest count puts the global network at 734 locations strong, with 4,605 individual chargers.
Tesla claims that the move to charge customers to use the service is not designed to boost profits, and will instead pay for vital investment in the network.
In late 2017, Tesla will release the Model 3, and with a starting price of roughly £35,000 it will be the most affordable Tesla yet. It will be built at the company’s new Gigafactory – a facility that will be capable of producing 500,000 cars a year once fully operational. Tesla currently has around 400,000 pre-orders for the Model 3, so demand for Supercharger stations is set to skyrocket once the car launches.
Full details of the Supercharger changes including pricing will be revealed before the end of the year, though costs won’t be completely fixed - they will fluctuate over time and vary regionally, based on the cost of electricity.
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