Tesla Model 3 won't get free Supercharger access, Musk says
One of the benefits of being a current Tesla owner is free access to the company’s network of Superchargers. Turns out, though, the Model 3 won’t be granted such access — at least, not for free anyway.
At the Tesla annual shareholders meeting on Tuesday evening, Elon Musk revealed the company’s forthcoming, mass-market Model 3 will not granted unlimited free access to the fast-charging Supercharger network, according to Automotive News.
“Free supercharging fundamentally has a cost,” Musk said. “The obvious thing to do is decouple that from the cost of the Model 3.”
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This stands in stark contrast to the Model S and Model X that enjoy mostly unfettered access to the 632 Supercharger stations in the U.S. The only other Tesla that isn't granted carte blanche Supercharger use is the Roadster, which is only excluded because its batteries can't handle fast charging.
Although Musk didn't offer any indication of what Supercharging might cost Model 3 owners, he did suggest a charging solution for them. "The best thing to do is to charge your car where you charge your phone: at home and at work,” Musk said.
I am sure this comes as a surprise to at least a few of the 400,000-some Model 3 pre-orderers. The next surprise they'll be hit with, I suspect, is the cost of installing fast charging in their homes. That or the fact few companies offer free charging.
No matter how you slice it, though, the Model 3 is probably going to cost people more than they initially anticipated.
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