Tesla Once Again Trying to Make Owners Give Up on Free Supercharging for Life

There was a time when battery-electric vehicle buyers were flooding forums, their friendly conversations, and their family gatherings with one simple yet peculiar piece of information – they were driving for free. It was sensational for early adopters to share that with people who didn't consider a Tesla until then. It felt great for them not to be considered a part of the polluting majority that was paying for dirty gas or diesel and not having to pay for electrons pulled from the grid at a faster rate than the one possible at home, at the office, or a shopping center.

But that excitement died off quickly after Tesla decided not to offer free Supercharging for life in the autumn of 2018. The offer returned for a limited time in 2019, but the renewed promotion was no longer transferable. If you were to sell your 2019 Tesla Model S or Model X, the new owner would not have enjoyed free Supercharging for life. The same cannot be said about the units manufactured between 2013 and 2018. Those older Model S and Model X can still be sold to someone else who will enjoy free Supercharging for life. It remains enabled until the vehicle completely dies or is written off.

This strategy was a bold one, and it worked for Tesla. It helped new customers enter the battery-electric vehicle universe with confidence. That's one of the reasons why the American EV maker went from selling 20,000 units per year in 2013 to 30,000 per month in early 2019.

However, it's now causing a dent in much-needed profits. Since the demand for new cars doesn't seem to cover the production output, the company is trying to rake in as much money as possible by making people spend more. And this latest idea is brilliant in three ways!

One, Tesla wants its buyers to give up on free unlimited Supercharging, so the company won't have to cover the charging costs for as long as the car can replenish its battery safely at a fast rate. Tesla is known for blacklisting specific models from tapping into its vast charging network, so that's a possibility one must consider.

Two, it entices these owners by giving them six years of unlimited free access to Superchargers, but only when they buy a new Model S or Model X. Customers can trade in a vehicle with this option ticked or choose to keep the car and remove the free Supercharging for life.

So, Tesla gets rid of buyers who can use Superchargers at no cost until their car dies and secures at least a couple of new orders that'll help with demand. In some cases, the automaker might also obtain new inventory for its cars which can be repurposed in other ways.

Limiting free Supercharging for only six years and solely for buyers of new Model X and Model S units will only happen if enough people join the scheme by June 30, 2023. But for someone who has a vehicle with free unlimited Supercharging enabled, knowing that you can get a spanking-new replacement that can be fast charged at no cost for 72 months might be an offer too good to pass on.

It's not the first time Tesla has tried to get rid of cars that come with unlimited free Supercharging, and it certainly won't be the last. Most recently, the automaker wanted to appease owners of eligible vehicles with a $5,000 discount in February. Considering an average charging fee of $0.25 per kWh, that sum could have theoretically covered 20,000 kWh of Supercharging or around 8,696 mi (13,995 km) for a Model X. But costs may differ for people living in states like California, so the discount may be good for fewer kWh in the end.

Now, if only Tesla would allow customers to transfer the Full Self-Driving they paid for onto another vehicle... That'd be great news for customers who are still sticking to their older units!