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Tesla Model 3 Supercharging
By Jason Cobb Jun 2 2016 - 9:15am

Free Supercharging for the Model 3, Not So Fast

Elon Musk confirmed Supercharging will not be free for the Tesla Model 3.

Tesla held its annual shareholder meeting this week. After about 5 minutes of official business Elon Musk and JB Straubel got on stage and went through a not so brief history of the company. The full video is here and well worth the time going through the early trials and tribulations of Tesla.

Fast forward to present day and the interesting bit of information from Musk was about Supercharging capabilities in the Model 3. Since the Model 3 launch in March there has been rampant speculation on rather supercharging will be free or come at a cost. Musk finally confirmed that Supercharging for the Model 3 will come at a cost.

Free supercharging fundamentally has a cost. The obvious thing to do is decouple that from the cost of the Model 3. So it will still be very cheap, and far cheaper than gasoline, to drive long-distance with the Model 3, but it will not be free long distance for life unless you purchase that package.

This decision is not without precedent as Tesla once upon a time charged a fee to enable Supercharging for the Model S. They have since bundled it into the price of the vehicle.

This all well and good but the issue still remains with 500,000 additional vehicles (Model S, X, and 3) on the road will there be enough Superchargers to satisfy demand? There are already reports of lines and issues charging at many of the popular southern California Superchargers. Will this spread to other areas of the country as the popularity of Tesla increases?

What do you think will Tesla be able to rollout additional Superchargers to meet demand?

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Comments

Alex20058 wrote on June 2, 2016 - 9:47am
People want the superchargers to be free, but there must have been a catch for that price of the Model 3. Some people even say the only reason they wanted a Tesla is because of the all the perks. Now many Tesla buyers and owners may be disappointed. I would like to know how the other readers feel about this.
mike w wrote on June 3, 2016 - 6:57pm
Tesla's super charger network is a big leg up on the Chevy Bolt. super charger access at a reasonable price, be it up front or per visit will help drive sales. I hope Tesla comes up with a good price structure for the model 3s when it comes to supercharging.