Good news, Tesla owners. Supercharging your car may not come with a super large charge anymore. In fact, it may not come with a (monetary) charge at all. While the company previously discontinued free lifetime access to Supercharger for new customers, it has now changed its mind. Now, if you’re already the proud owner of a Tesla vehicle, you have free Supercharger use.
Moreover, if you decide to level up to a Model S or Model X, you can keep getting free electricity, which may serve as an incentive for people debating whether or not to take the plunge and double down on Tesla.
Indeed, Tesla is being quite generous with its Supercharger access, as the freebie is not, in fact, limited to existing owners. Rather, under the company’s new referral program, current owners can gift up to five of their friends free Supercharger use (along with $1,000 off).
Tesla told Electrek that customer feedback was the primary motivation behind the change. “We heard from our customers that free, unlimited Supercharging was one of their favorite reasons to refer a friend to buy a Tesla, so we’re bringing it back for Model S and Model X owners through our referral program, which we update periodically,” the company said. “Beginning today, existing owners can give free, unlimited Supercharging to up to five friends by sharing their referral code, and all existing Tesla owners who purchase a new Model S or Model X will receive free, unlimited Supercharging too.”
So why give customers such a break? While Tesla certainly carries with it a certain cachet, it’s certainly not nearly as mainstream as other established automakers, and as such, has quite a big of ground to make up in terms of generating sales. So adding a bit of extra bonus certainly doesn’t seem like a bad way to start.
Of course, not all drivers will necessarily need free Supercharging, especially since the existing 400kWh of credits per year that Tesla already offered is generally enough for most driving habits. But if you’re a roadtrip enthusiast, then unlimited free access could definitely change your game.