Tesla Will Start Charging Customers 'A Small Fee' For Heavy Users Of Its Supercharging Station
12:42 pm ET January 13, 2017 (Benzinga) Print
One of the key selling points of a fully-electric Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) was the fact that it comes with free and unlimited use to charging stations for life.
However, in late 2016, the company updated its policy and said changes will be forthcoming in 2017.
According to a Bloomberg report, Tesla announced its new policies for its supercharging stations Thursday. The company said every vehicle ordered by customers after this coming Sunday will receive around 400 kilowatt-hour of free Supercharging credits per year, or the equivalence of around 1,000 miles.
Tesla's network of Superchargers are located at malls, hotels, rest stops on highways and other convenient locations aimed at easing car owner's concerns of running out of power.
"Tesla created the Supercharger network to make long-distance travel a seamless experience for drivers," Tesla said in its blog post. "Cars have always represented independence and the freedom to travel wherever and whenever people want to go. To enable this freedom, building a charging network that provides quick, convenient, and long-distance travel is critical to the adoption of electric vehicles. One of our top priorities this year is to significantly increase capacity of our Supercharger network."
Consumers that exceed their limit will be charged a "small fee," and the pricing structure will be fixed within each state, province or country.
The "small fee" would set a rider around $15 for a road trip from San Francisco to Los Angeles. Tesla owners looking to take their car cross country can expect a trip from Los Angeles to New York to set them back just $120.
Analyst: Tesla's Supercharger Will Generate $2.62 Billion In Revenue
Trip Chowdhry of Global Equities Research commented in a research report that Tesla will realize $2.62 billion in revenue from its Supercharger in fiscal 2020 — the majority of which will flow directly to Tesla's bottom line.
Here is how the analyst reached his findings:
Assumption: 2017
Average time at Supercharger = 30 minutes
Number of vehicles (estimated for 2017) = 100,000
Days in a year = 365
Average price per minute (Average of Tier 1 and Tier2 across the whole country) = $0.16
Revenues to Tesla = $175 million; which goes directly to the bottom line.
Assumption: 2018
Average time at Supercharger = 30 minutes
Number of vehicles (total estimate for 2018 includes Model S, X and S, and vehicles in 2017 and 2018) = 400,000
Days in a year = 365
Average price per minute = $0.16
Revenues to Tesla = $700 million
Assumption: 2020
Average time at Supercharger = 30 minutes
Number of vehicles (estimate for 2020 includes vehicles from 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020) = 1,500,000.
Days in the year = 365
Average price per minute = $0.16
Revenues to Tesla = $2.62 billion
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