Tesla Supercharger stations are no longer free, and will become paid

Recently, Tesla announced an adjustment to the operation mode of its Supercharger stations: Tesla cars ordered after January 1, 2017 can charge 400 kWh of electricity at Supercharger stations for free each year, and Tesla will charge a certain fee for the excess. This adjustment applies to the world.

This means that for future new Tesla owners, the era of free supercharging has come to an end.

Currently, all Tesla models can enjoy free charging at supercharging stations. Earlier, when buying certain Tesla models, you also had to pay to activate the supercharging service, and the optional price in China was around 20,000 yuan. Later, the supercharging service became standard for all models.

To some extent, paying for supercharging is inevitable. Take Beijing as an example. Supercharging stations are already very busy. When Model 3 is delivered in large numbers in the future, the situation of too many cars and insufficient supercharging will be very obvious.

It is worth noting that this adjustment in operating strategy only applies to new car owners who purchased the car after January 1, 2017. Existing car owners can continue to use Supercharger for free without limit. Therefore, in the next month or so, Tesla is likely to usher in a sales peak.

In the new operating strategy, the 400 kWh limit is more of a symbol, which is only enough to fully charge the P100D model four times.

Tesla will announce the charging standards within this year. They said that the charging standards are "far lower than the energy cost of fuel vehicles" and "will never be for profit."

An update on Tesla Supercharger operations

Four years ago, Tesla introduced the Supercharger network to the global market. As the world's fastest charging solution, (Superchargers) can provide great convenience for car owners on long-distance trips. Today, Tesla has more than 4,600 Superchargers around the world, and more than 160,000 Tesla owners can drive across the American continent, the Arctic Circle to southern Spain, China, Japan's densely populated cities and more. Thanks to this, more car owners are driving Tesla models around the world.

The original intention of designing our charging network is to provide a continuous and convenient charging experience for car owners on the go to meet the needs of car owners for long-distance self-driving trips. For this reason, in order to increase the investment in the construction of the Tesla Supercharger station network, to accelerate the development of the Tesla Supercharger network, and to provide the best Supercharging experience to all car owners - whether they are existing Tesla owners or about to become Tesla owners, we are announcing a change to the Supercharging project operation model today.

Meet the needs of long-distance self-driving travel

Tesla cars ordered after January 1, 2017 can charge 400 kWh (about 1,600 kilometers) at Supercharger stations for free each year. For the portion exceeding 400 kWh, we will charge a small fee - much lower than the energy cost of fuel vehicles. At the same time, every Tesla car will be equipped with Supercharger hardware as always.

We will release details about this fee adjustment within the year. Due to different electricity prices, the price of charging will vary from time to time and from region to region. However, we can guarantee that Tesla's Supercharger network will never be for profit.

Existing Tesla owners and Tesla owners who completed their orders before January 1, 2017 and completed delivery before April 1, 2017 will not be affected by this fee adjustment.

Outlook

The best place to charge a Tesla car is near home or work (when you don’t need to drive yourself) – just like you always charge your phone at home or in the office. In order to meet the charging needs during long journeys, the Tesla Supercharger network came into being. On the eve of the launch of Model 3, this fee adjustment will make it possible to quickly develop the Supercharger network, provide the best user experience for car owners, and enable more and more people to accept sustainable energy transportation.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.