Photo: Tesla
Tesla used to pride itself on offering free Supercharger access for life to all new owners, but things had to be changed to make sure that people were not hogging the charging points.
Last Friday, the automaker introduced a referral program, which allows customers who buy a new Model X or Model S to get free and unlimited access to the Supercharger network.
The twist is that those clients will have to buy their cars using a referral code, which must be sourced from an existing owner who must be an acquaintance. Elon Musk wants to "shut down" any referrals that are not made to friends of owners.
Meanwhile, any existing client can give a code like that to up to five friends, and they can win a limited-edition Powerwall, which is finished in red.
Tesla was courteous enough to allow the clients who bought a new car without a referral code when the policy was introduced to claim the benefit after purchase. They still need a code from a friend.
The Supercharger network has a new plan starting January 2017, when any new client would get 1,000 miles of free credits before the pay-per-use system is activated.
Evidently, it is too late for those who bought a car in January, February, April, or March to gain access to the new client side of the referral program.
The Supercharger network is undergoing an expansion process this year, and Tesla will also focus on installing more destination recharging posts. The latter are similar to the system imagined by Elon Musk, but are placed in the particular POIs like hotels, restaurants, and other venues where Tesla customers are expected to drive to benefit from a suitable recharging station.
As Business Insider remarks, the American company’s previous program used to be one of the sweet perks of buying a Tesla Model S or Model X.
Just like every cool thing in the world, people started abusing it by leaving their cars parked more than they should in the charging points, leading to annoying queues for other customers.
The twist is that those clients will have to buy their cars using a referral code, which must be sourced from an existing owner who must be an acquaintance. Elon Musk wants to "shut down" any referrals that are not made to friends of owners.
Meanwhile, any existing client can give a code like that to up to five friends, and they can win a limited-edition Powerwall, which is finished in red.
Tesla was courteous enough to allow the clients who bought a new car without a referral code when the policy was introduced to claim the benefit after purchase. They still need a code from a friend.
The Supercharger network has a new plan starting January 2017, when any new client would get 1,000 miles of free credits before the pay-per-use system is activated.
Evidently, it is too late for those who bought a car in January, February, April, or March to gain access to the new client side of the referral program.
The Supercharger network is undergoing an expansion process this year, and Tesla will also focus on installing more destination recharging posts. The latter are similar to the system imagined by Elon Musk, but are placed in the particular POIs like hotels, restaurants, and other venues where Tesla customers are expected to drive to benefit from a suitable recharging station.
As Business Insider remarks, the American company’s previous program used to be one of the sweet perks of buying a Tesla Model S or Model X.
Just like every cool thing in the world, people started abusing it by leaving their cars parked more than they should in the charging points, leading to annoying queues for other customers.
@station2stat @TeslaMotors Will shut that down. The point is to provide something special that only existing owners can give to friends and it is limited to 5 people.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 24, 2017
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