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Tesla Lowers Charger Prices, After Removing Portable Chargers From Standard Equipment

Tesla's controversial decision to eliminate the portable chargers from the standard equipment of its electric cars led it to reduce the price of both the portable and the wall charger, which is now one of the cheapest on the market.

Tesla reduced the prices of its two home chargers, the portable and the wall charger, after removing the first from the standard equipment of all its electric cars. Two new equipment options now appear on the web configurator that allows you to select whether you want to include one or both of the proposed chargers.

The decision made by Tesla last week somehow sparked controversy among users and buyers, since this is the first time that a manufacturer has decided to dispense with an element that up until now no one doubted is absolutely necessary in an electric car. Tesla turned to its statistics to justify this decision, alluding to the fact that its use has been actually very limited so far.

Tesla Charger, courtesy of Tesla Inc.

This information has been questioned from many different media sources, since some data show that its use is in fact quite frequent: for instance, "Teslascope" collects data about Tesla vehicles to provide owners with services not directly provided by the company. They have access to this information from vehicles all over the world. Based on hundreds of thousands of charging sessions, this company claims that 61% of the charging sessions of the Tesla vehicle fleet around the world are carried out with this connector.

Whatever the actual situation is, Tesla doesn't seem ready to back down on its decision, but it does appear to be taking some steps to tone it down somehow. As Elon Musk announced, the company has already proceeded to reduce the price of this option so that now, in the United States, it can be purchased for $200, although the order sheet itself indicates that it will not be available until August-October 2022.

Tesla Charger, courtesy of Tesla Inc.

In addition, Tesla also offers the wall charger as an extra for a price of $400, which makes it one of the cheapest on the market considering the specifications and utilities it offers. Any 48-amp home charger with Wi-Fi connectivity would easily be well over $600.

As per Tesla website, the "… Wall Connector is the most convenient charging solution for houses, apartments, hospitality properties and workplaces. With up to 44 miles of range added per hour of charging, a 24 foot cable length, multiple power settings, and a versatile indoor/outdoor design, Wall Connector provides unparalleled convenience. Wall Connectors can power-share to maximize existing electrical capacity, automatically distributing power to charge multiple cars simultaneously… ".

All images courtesy of Tesla Inc.

Nico Caballero is the VP of Finance of Cogency Power, specializing in solar energy. He also holds a Diploma in Electric Cars from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, and enjoys doing research about Tesla and EV batteries. He can be reached at @NicoTorqueNews on Twitter. Nico covers Tesla and electric vehicle latest happenings at Torque News.