Skip to main content

Prices for using Tesla Supercharging just skyrocketed

There’s no such thing as a free lunch — or a free charge, apparently.

Charging your Tesla for free at a Supercharger station is coming to an end, as all new Tesla vehicles purchased since November last year are part of the company’s pay-per-use Supercharger program. Free Supercharging is still available through the Tesla referral program, though it’s coming to an end, too. And now Tesla is hiking the price to use Supercharger stations, according to Electrek.

Recommended Videos

Tesla owners will have to pay either per kWh that they use at a Supercharger station or per minute that they spend charging in regions where direct sales of electricity are forbidden. And the company is apparently moving away from a regional pricing structure to a per-station pricing structure, in which the cost of charging will be based on local electricity rates and customer demand.

This has resulted in massive increases in charges in some regions. Electrek gives the example of the price of charging in New York, which used to be $0.24 per kWh across the state. Now, in downtown New York City, prices have shot up by 33 percent to $0.32/kWh. Similarly in California, prices were previously $0.26 per kWh and are now reportedly sitting between $0.32 to $0.36 per kWh in various charging stations across the state.

Tesla said in a statement that: “We’re adjusting Supercharging pricing to better reflect differences in local electricity costs and site usage. As our fleet grows, we continue to open new Supercharger locations weekly so more drivers can travel long distances at a fraction of the cost of gasoline and with zero emissions. As has always been the case, Supercharging is not meant to be a profit center for Tesla.” This will be cold comfort to users stuck with price increases.

Tesla has had a rocky road with its Supercharging stations, with historical flip-flopping on whether charging would be free, and CEO Elon Musk threatening action against inconsiderate Supercharger users. The company is currently rolling out a new generation of Supercharger stations which should arrive this year and which will apparently give 100 percent coverage to Europe. With recent cuts to its workforce,

Tesla is clearly tightening belts, and wants to cover the cost of the next generation Supercharger deployment by charging customers for the current generation’s use. Will customers revolt — or simply volt?

Georgina Torbet
Georgina has been the space writer at Digital Trends space writer for six years, covering human space exploration, planetary…
Tesla Cybertruck: everything we know
Tesla's Cybertruck.

The Tesla Cybertruck is Tesla's take on an electric truck, and boy has it had a controversial first few years. The truck was first announced back in 2019 -- complete with broken window... during a demo showing how strong the windows were supposed to be. When the truck finally started rolling out to customers in 2023, it did so very slowly -- and was soon subject of a recall.

We're now almost a year into Cybertrucks on the streets, and if you live in a major U.S. city, it's entirely possible that you've seen one in the flesh. If you have, you know that it's completely unlike anything else on the road right now, and represents Tesla's vision of the future of personal transportation.

Read more
Tesla delaying the launch of its next big thing, report claims
A Tesla steering wheel.

Tesla is delaying the unveiling of its robotaxi by a couple of months, according to a Bloomberg report citing people with knowledge of the matter.

Tesla boss Elon Musk said three months ago that the robotaxi would be unveiled at a special event on August 8, but sources said the event has now been pushed to October, apparently to give engineers more time to get the prototype right.

Read more
Tesla recalls Cybertruck to fix two more issues
A Tesla Cybertruck throws red dust in a press photo.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk behind the wheel of a Cybertruck. Tesla

Two more issues have emerged with Tesla’s new Cybertruck pickup, causing the automaker to issue two recalls on Tuesday.

Read more