Tesla extends free charging offer for Model S & X

In April the Tesla Model S and Model X received some improvements. Pre-produced vehicles without these improvements will be sold until the end of June with an added treat: free supercharging. There is also news regarding the pickup and roadster.

Tesla had already abolished free supercharging in 2017. But in the context of limited customer campaigns it came back again, and again. This was also the case in mid-May: pre-produced Model S and Model X, which did not yet have the improvements introduced in April, were to be sold off by the end of May – with free supercharging as an incentive. Tesla has now extended the campaign until the end of June, as the company announced on Twitter.

In 2012, Tesla had sold all its models on its own Supercharger network with a lifetime of free charging. Such vehicles are now in great demand as used cars because over the years Tesla has continued to restrict free supercharging – for a period of only six months or a certain mileage, for example. The current campaign is also subject to a restriction: free charging on superchargers is only valid for the first owner, with a resale the offer expires.

The promotion is a simple instrument to sell vehicles with little effort. In an interview over the weekend, Tesla CEO Elon Musk made it clear what the company’s current focus is the Model 3 and the upcoming Model Y. This has consequences for the other model series: The Roadster 2 announced for 2020 could be delayed.

Musk described the sports car as a “dessert” in a conversation with the podcast “Ride the Lighting”. “Do we really need the new roadster to accelerate our progress towards autonomous driving or electrification? No,” says Musk. Although he didn’t announce a delay directly, he didn’t confirm the start date announced in 2017 either. One thing is clear: the volume models have priority.

At the same time, it seems Musk does not want to rely exclusively on Model 3 and Model Y. In the conversation, he also gave some information about the Tesla pickup. “We don’t want it to be very expensive. I think it has to start at less than $50,000,” says Musk. But there will also be more expensive variants of the truck.

In terms of design, it won’t be a “normal” truck either, but much more futuristic. “It won’t be for everyone. Anyone who wants a truck that looks like trucks from the past 20 to 40 years will probably not be happy with it. Nevertheless, the design should not sacrifice functionality. “It will be a truck that is more powerful than other trucks. The goal is to be a better truck than a [Ford] F-150 in terms of truck functionality and a better sports car than a [Porsche] 911. That’s the claim,” says Musk.

insideevs.com (Supercharging), electrek.co (Roadster), electrek.co (Pickup)