The end of a lifetime of free Supercharging

Tesla has ended the offer of free charging at Superchargers for a lifetime for new buyers. Those getting their hands on a Model 3 or S or X must pay extra for charging from now on. That is, if they get their car at all as CEO Elon Musk has found Tesla to be in “delivery logistics hell” for the time being.

Charging really fast for a lifetime – it is a promise matched only by the Golden Ticket of a time when American Airlines offered unlimited first class flights – for a very short time. Tesla too has now revoked the appealing incentive in light of a growing queue of electric cars in front of their Superchargers.

The move had been expected for some time and already buyers of the Model 3 had never been offered the option. Instead, the new model Tesla introduced is based on pay-per-use or PAYG. This means paying per kWh charged from a Supercharger station or per minute of using a station at locations where Tesla may not officially “sell” electricity due to local restrictions. This means prices depend on location.

While this may appear like a stick, Tesla has also been working on offering the carrot as the EV maker is introducing other options such as Tesla’s workplace or urban charging. They follow a similar model as Tesla’s Destination chargers, that is slower charging, where standing times are implied anyway.

Talking about slow – the Model 3 has hit another bottleneck. This time is not the production floor causing delays but deliveries. Elon Musk on Twitter called the situation “delivery logistics hell” but hopes that this time, the issue will be resolved more quickly than the last “production hell”.

Sorry, we’ve gone from production hell to delivery logistics hell, but this problem is far more tractable. We’re making rapid progress. Should be solved shortly.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 17, 2018

Yet, there were some good news too for those already owning a Tesla. Musk has been thinking aloud to bring “most collision repairs in-house” as he blames third-party garages for delays.

Tesla is bringing most collision repairs in-house, as outside firms take weeks to months for repairs, driving Tesla owners (and us) crazy
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 16, 2018