Tesla Rolls Back Charging Station Price Hikes

Last week, after Tesla ended their free Supercharging program, they raised charging prices around the world to "better reflect differences in local electricity costs and site usage." That change apparently caused quite a stir, as Elektrek's own article on the subject had over 1190 comments, while other arguments raged across social media. Now, thanks to the customer backlash, Tesla says it will "reduce the Supercharger price increase by 10% globally." The average Supercharger price in the U.S. is now $0.28 per kWh instead of $0.31 per kWh, while Norway saw a similar drop.

Nice to see that Tesla is listening to customer feedback and making this new price increase more reasonable. It is still a little high in some markets, but we explain why that can be the case in our last article about it, especially with demand charges, which can be extremely steep for charging station operators. Hopefully, Tesla can get those prices under control because they can’t keep going up at that rate without affecting the economic benefits of the Supercharger network.

Interesting to see the comments in the linked article arguing that prices should be higher to sustain the network of Superchargers, and I agree. This is not something you can sustain while only operating at cost.

Armenius said:

Interesting to see the comments in the linked article arguing that prices should be higher to sustain the network of Superchargers, and I agree. This is not something you can sustain while only operating at cost.

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Agreed and considering their customers are generally well off then can easily afford it.

Some also seem to think this is the only way to charge Teslas. It's not. Super chargers are for long trips. The vast majority of charging is at home which is cheap.

travisty said:

Some also seem to think this is the only way to charge Teslas. It's not. Super chargers are for long trips. The vast majority of charging is at home which is cheap.

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Exactly. If you're just running to the local store you shouldn't need to plug your car in at the store when it's a short round trip.

one thing i have been wondering is how long till this super charger network is mandated to allow ALL electrics to use it to recharge

travisty said:

Some also seem to think this is the only way to charge Teslas. It's not. Super chargers are for long trips. The vast majority of charging is at home which is cheap.

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Depending on your state, you're looking at $0.10-$0.20 per KWh for normal residential use. Teslas get something like 2.5-3.5 miles per KW, so 300 miles of range (which costs me a little less than $50 for 93 octane) will cost about $8.50-$24 for a home charge. But then you also need to amortize the cost of the charger, parts, electrician fees, and permits because charging those 60 to 100KW batteries on 120V would otherwise take a really long time.

So the charger seems to cost about $2,000 all in. A whopping 20 Megawatts of power represents 50,000 to 70,000 miles of charge, but still effectively adds an amortized 10 cents per KWh, for a per KWh cost of $0.20-$0.30 and raising the cost of 300 miles of range to $17-$36.

It seems that if you can't easily "trickle charge" overnight and need a home charger, then Tesla's public charger rates will cost the same as home charging with a fuel cost approximating that of a car that gets 40mpg on premium or 30mpg on regular.

Armenius said:

Interesting to see the comments in the linked article arguing that prices should be higher to sustain the network of Superchargers, and I agree. This is not something you can sustain while only operating at cost.

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They have to keep the stock price up till April 1st. No matter how much money is lost, all positive headlines from here on out.

Teenyman45 said:

Depending on your state, you're looking at $0.10-$0.20 per KWh for normal residential use. Teslas get something like 2.5-3.5 miles per KW, so 300 miles of range (which costs me a little less than $50 for 93 octane) will cost about $8.50-$24 for a home charge. But then you also need to amortize the cost of the charger, parts, electrician fees, and permits because charging those 60 to 100KW batteries on 120V would otherwise take a really long time.

So the charger seems to cost about $2,000 all in. A whopping 20 Megawatts of power represents 50,000 to 70,000 miles of charge, but still effectively adds an amortized 10 cents per KWh, for a per KWh cost of $0.20-$0.30 and raising the cost of 300 miles of range to $17-$36..

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Teslas come with a wall charger capable of both 120 and 240 volt/40 amp charging. Just need an electrician to come out and hook up a dryer plug in the garage. Cost me all of $200 for that (though that can go up, my electric box was just on the other side of the garage wall)

So a bunch of people who bought $100,000 cars were upset that charging costs were increasing?

Can I get one of those novelty pressed pennies out of the tight asses of everyone that complained?

Teenyman45 said:

So the charger seems to cost about $2,000 all in. A whopping 20 Megawatts of power represents 50,000 to 70,000 miles of charge, but still effectively adds an amortized 10 cents per KWh, for a per KWh cost of $0.20-$0.30 and raising the cost of 300 miles of range to $17-$36.

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I assume you read that some place? It's wrong for a lot of reasons. A fancy Tesla branded home charger is $500, which the vast majority of people don't buy. As your given a mobile charger when you buy their cards. It's about the size of a bottle of wine and recharges your car up to 35miles/hour.

Yes installing a drier plug can be expensive but in my case an electrician friend and IIwent to Home Depot, bought a bit of cable, a 60 amp breaker and the drier outlet receptical. So cost about $20.

Total cost 1/100th of your projected $2k.

Accursed said:

I assume you read that some place? It's wrong for a lot of reasons. A fancy Tesla branded home charger is $500, which the vast majority of people don't buy. As your given a mobile charger when you buy their cards. It's about the size of a bottle of wine and recharges your car up to 35miles/hour.

Yes installing a drier plug can be expensive but in my case an electrician friend and IIwent to Home Depot, bought a bit of cable, a 60 amp breaker and the drier outlet receptical. So cost about $20.

Total cost 1/100th of your projected $2k.

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So you had no official charger, no need for a sub-panel, no permits (presuming they weren't necessary in your case), parts at cost which also likely presumes your breaker box is already in the garage so you only maybe 10 feet or less of wiring, AND free labor...

Teenyman45 said:

So you had no official charger, no need for a sub-panel, no permits (presuming they weren't necessary in your case), parts at cost which also likely presumes your breaker box is already in the garage so you only maybe 10 feet or less of wiring, AND free labor...

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As others and myself keep stating 'official' charger came with the car for free.

Yes, I understand you're using the adapter cable rather than the dedicated home-install charger. I also note you're ignoring all the other aspects that made your home charging setup much cheaper.

Car repair is not very expensive if you get all your parts from a pick-n-pull type of place and do all your own labor versus going to a mechanic or the dealer's shop and buy OEM. Some people are in column A and a lot are also in columns B and C.