New Tesla owners will have to pay to get their cars charged

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Tesla is done giving Tesla owners free access to its Supercharger network. Now, new Tesla owners will have to pay a “small fee”.

The free ride is over. Tesla just announced that new Tesla Model X or Model S owners will have to pay a “small fee” to fill up their car at a Supercharger station.

This applies to anyone who ordered or purchased a Tesla vehicle after January 1st, 2017. And if you purchased one before then, guess what, you’ll have to take delivery of the vehicle by April 1st, 2017. Tesla claims the fee will be “less than the price of filling up a comparable gas car.”

If you’re a current Tesla owner, don’t worry, you’ll still be able to use the stations free of charge until your vehicle shits the bed. According to Tesla, anyone who purchased a Tesla after the cutoff will be allotted 300 kWh of free Supercharging credits each year, which gets you about 1,000 miles. Tesla plans to release more details about things change later this year.

Here’s a portion of today’s Tesla announcement via a blog post on Tesla’s website:

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.

Keep in mind, Tesla suggests that the best way to charge your car is either at home or work and to use the Supercharging stations while traveling. If you’re someone who plans on purchasing a Tesla after the cutoff, just be sure to charge that sucker at home as opposed to one of their stations.

► The Verge via Tesla

Kevin Raposo

Kevin is KnowTechie's founder and executive editor. With over 15 years of blogging experience in the tech industry, Kevin has transformed what was once a passion project into a full-blown tech news publication. Shoot him an email at kevin@knowtechie.com or find him on Mastodon or Post.