An Update to Our Supercharging Program
tesla.com
tesla.com
This charge also changes the economics of rolling out Supercharger stations, to the point where they might actually become profitable (rather than being loss-leaders). This means that more of them will be built. That's a great thing.
That said, certainly earning something from supercharging stations helps the economics of expansion significantly.
https://pay.reddit.com/r/teslamotors/comments/5bgdp5/another...
Apparently they're getting hogged up by ride sharing companies. Some even have their cleaning crews scheduled to show up at the super chargers to clean while they're charging.
They could probably reduce that problem by opening fee based charging stations closer to the populations the cars serve. Time is money and all that.
The reddit post is merely a current iteration of a common complaint popping up on various forums and customer feedback tools for a while now.
Elon and Tesla likely are aware of commercial use of SC stations for a long time now.
The point of posting the most-current-iteration-reddit post isn't "Elon saw this and changed the program 12 hours later" but rather "here's today's discussion of last years problem that perhaps Elon is fixing today"
With the Model 3 coming, I imagine competition from Chevy and others will keep prices low, so that means a cooked in premium to pay for the Supercharger network isn't in the cards anymore. Personally, I prefer things this way. Whenever a resource is free, it means the average users are simply subsidizing the heaviest users, who are often abusing the service, like ride sharing and taxi services are now. Metered pricing with a lowered up-front makes a lot more sense.
I hope Tesla changes their system so that once a vehicle is fully charged, the user would be charged for the time that they remain hooked up beyond a full charge. Sort of like how Amazon AWS charges for reserved but unused public IPs. Much like an unused IP, being hooked up to the charger while not actually charging might not be "consuming anything", it is preventing others from using it.
This would discourage people from leaving their vehicles overnight or plugged in for hours on end. From my understanding the SC's are for quick charges so that travelers can get on their way quickly, preventing others from using them should incur a cost.
EDIT: Ah, there's still a cable plugged in the side!
Then what about reading signs on the parking lot, if it parks on a reserved or handicapped spot?
Tesla's self park at home (forgot what they called it) is basically meant to just drive straight into a garage. That's not going to do that job.
Yes.
And it's more of a concept video. I wouldn't be surprised if it was exaggerated with assumptions (like say Tesla knowing the maps layout + sign placements on the roads+lot), because the real problem is far from being solved. Even google uses high resolution maps for it's cars.
I guess it isn't really that surprising, it doesn't make sense to have to worry about future electricity costs when setting prices for the vehicles.
This way they add a cost to supercharging and people get to control their allotted free charge capacity as they see fit.
When something usually goes from paid to free, it's an indicator the product fit isn't working. In this case it's the opposite.
Now we're seeing the free incentive to buy being given a marginal cost to help ensure the spread of the service. This is likely because of increased usage and/or projected demand. So basically, it's a sign Tesla is doing ok.
Once they're charging to charge, it makes sense to come to agreements with other manufacturers of EVs to use each other's charger networks. In the long run it makes no sense to have multiple networks of vehicle chargers, just like it makes no sense to have gas stations that only fill Fords.
Tesla's allowance seems pretty weak by comparison. In fact, their allowance is only 35% of what Ecotricity offer.
A Tesla could charge at either 22kW using the Type 2 Mennekes connector, or if the owner has a CHAdeMO connector (about £250 from Tesla) at 50kW. Both a lot slower than a supercharger's 120kW.
> our Supercharger Network will never be a profit center.
Also, I wonder how they will be tracking usage? In the car or the supercharger network? I would assume the supercharger network, but does that mean that when you plug in, your car sends a unique identifier? I'm curious how that all works.
If your car < 2017, free supercharge on some models. If your car > 2017, there'll be a fee after some use (1,000 miles, more or less).
What will be the price of the cars > 2017? What will be the fee? It might be fair (if the price reduces enought so that the fee is compensated during the car's lifetime). It might be tricky (no price redution and a fee that just annoys those who travel and count on supercharge).
It will be very interesting how they handle people who park overnight or groups which hog existing sites. They probably need to set a limit for existing cars, high enough to not annoy non commercial owners.
Plus, it might be a subtle way to increase sales last quarter.
I'd bet that the dominant economic thing is how annoying it is to rent land and construct lots of little facilities. Reducing supercharging from free-for-all to mainly long distance charging is a way to minimize the annoyance while keeping most of the benefit to car owners.
Four years ago, Tesla introduced the Supercharger Network – the world’s fastest charging solution – to enable convenient long distance travel. Today, more than 4,600 Superchargers allow over 160,000 Tesla owners to drive across the continental U.S., from the Arctic Circle to the south of Spain, and across all of the population centers in China and Japan, among many other places. Supercharging has even helped owners drive their Teslas around the world.
We’ve designed our network so that all customers have access to a seamless and convenient charging experience when they’re away from home, as our intention has always been for Supercharging to enable long distance travel. That’s why today we’re announcing a change to the economics of Supercharging – one that allows us to reinvest in the network, accelerate its growth and bring all owners, current and future, the best Supercharging experience.
Ensuring Use for Long-Distance Travel For Teslas ordered after January 1, 2017, 400 kWh of free Supercharging credits (roughly 1,000 miles) will be included annually so that all owners can continue to enjoy free Supercharging during travel. Beyond that, there will be a small fee to Supercharge which will be charged incrementally and cost less than the price of filling up a comparable gas car. All cars will continue to come standard with the onboard hardware required for Supercharging.
We will release the details of the program later this year, and while prices may fluctuate over time and vary regionally based on the cost of electricity, our Supercharger Network will never be a profit center.
These changes will not impact current owners or any new Teslas ordered before January 1, 2017, as long as delivery is taken before April 1, 2017.
The Road Ahead Just as you would charge your cell phone, we believe the best way to charge your car is either at home or at work, during the hours you’re not using it. For travelers, the Supercharger Network has become a powerful, unique benefit of Tesla ownership. As we approach the launch of Model 3, this update will enable us to greatly expand our Supercharger Network, providing customers with the best possible user experience and bringing sustainable transport to even more people.
For the largest Model S battery (100 kw-h), the math is real easy, ~$7 to ~$20. They say 300 miles range for that battery.
I think using what is basically a penalty rate that an electric vehicle owner agrees to in order to get cheap overnight rates as the max would also be a mistake. Those customers pay ~$0.12 to charge overnight.
http://teslaliving.net/2014/07/07/measuring-ev-charging-effi...
(bumps the numbers to ~$8 and ~$24)
So maybe $1,200 saved annually compared to gas for average use.
> fee to Supercharge which will be charged incrementally and cost less than the price of filling up a comparable gas car.
Electric cars should be much cheaper to run. Local wholesale electricity price + X% would seem more fair.
If Tesla is charging more than you think fair, set up super-charger stations next to theirs, and charge wholesale electricity + X%; you'll make a killing.