Tesla’s electric cars may cost significantly more than their gasoline-powered counterparts, but some of that outlay can be recouped in fuel savings throughout the life of the car.
And while it remains much cheaper to charge a Tesla than fill up the gas tank, Tesla is putting the squeeze on US drivers who are replenishing the battery on the go.
The e-car pioneer is raising the cost of using its Supercharger stations at locations across the US.
Electrek reports the prices have gone up 20 to 50 per cent depending on which state the Tesla driver is in.
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In California, it’s now 26 cents per Kwh (up from 20 cent) and in New York it’s now 24 cents compared with 19 previously. Up in Oregon, however, the price has doubled to 25¢/kWh.
Despite that, a Tesla spokesperson is still insisting the Supercharger network ‘will never be a profit centre’. Instead the firm appears to be using the extra cash to expand its network of 9,000 Superchargers across the US.
Of course, the Superchargers are not the most common means of charging Tesla cars. Most drivers do it at home and Model S drivers even get 400kWh of free supercharger use a year.
In a full statement, the company said: “We occasionally adjust rates to reflect current local electricity and usage. The overriding principle is that Supercharging will always remain significantly cheaper than gasoline, as we only aim to recover a portion of our costs while setting up a fair system for everyone. This will never be a profit center for Tesla.”
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
