Tesla mobilizes owners for yet another referral program

By Stephen Edelstein June 1, 2016

tesla third customer referral program details model x section hero — Image used with permission by copyright holder

The Tesla Model 3 may have somewhere north of 300,000 reservations, but Tesla still needs to keep selling its Model S and Model X. So yesterday the company launched its third customer referral program, where buyers referred by an existing Tesla owner, as well as said owner, get a $1,000 credit toward a new Model S or Model X.

The new program runs through July 15. As with previous Tesla referral programs, owners will get a link that the buyers they refer can use when ordering cars online. These referral programs capitalize on Tesla owners’ enthusiasm for the brand, but also incentivize them to nudge friends and relatives into buying new electric cars. In addition to the $1,000 credit, owners can also get some Tesla swag if they refer enough people.

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Two vehicle referrals gets an owner a “Moab Weekender Bag” that matches the interior of their car. Three referrals earn a jacket, and four win an invitation to the opening of Tesla’s battery “Gigafactory” in Nevada July 29, transportation included. For five referrals, owners get a set of 21-inch Arachnid wheels. Each referral also enters the referrer into a drawing for a brand new Model X P90D with Ludicrous mode.

Read more: Tesla gains one million millions of self-driving data every 10 hours

Previous referral-program prizes included a $1,200 credit toward a home charging station, an invite to the Model 3 reveal, and Model X and Model S cars. The programs have worked out pretty well for Tesla so far. In the last program, there were a number of enthusiastic Tesla owners who referred dozens of new customers to the company in order to claim the various prizes.

However, the referral programs have also generated some controversy. Last year, Virginia legislators declared that Tesla had run afoul of state laws prohibiting compensation to people selling cars that aren’t licensed as car dealers. Tesla decided to cut incentives for referring owners in the Old Dominion, and give them to referred customers only.

Tesla has also been challenged over its general sales model, because it sells cars directly to customers through retail stores or its website, rather than through franchised car dealerships. That’s the flip side of doing things differently, but it doesn’t seem to have slowed the company down that much. Tesla now believes it can sell 500,000 electric cars per year by 2018, rather than by 2020 as it originally predicted.

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Stephen Edelstein

Contributing Editor

Stephen is a freelance automotive journalist covering all things cars. He likes anything with four wheels, from classic cars…

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Waymo’s Hyundai robotaxi deal may steal the show from Tesla

A Hyundai Ioniq 5 is equipped as a robotaxi.

Just days ahead of Tesla’s much anticipated robotaxi event on Thursday, Hyundai unveiled a partnership with Waymo that will add Hyundai’s Ioniq 5 to the fleet of the robotaxi operator.In the first phase of the partnership, Waymo will integrate its sixth-generation fully autonomous technology, called the Waymo Driver, into the all-electric Ioniq 5 SUV, which will be added to the Waymo One fleet over time.On-road testing with Waymo-enabled Ioniq 5s is due to start in late 2025 and become available to riders of the Waymo One robotaxi service the following year.Alphabet-owned Waymo currently operates the only functioning robotaxi service in the U.S., with a fleet of about 700 self-driving vehicles already on the road in Phoenix, Los Angeles and San Francisco. The service is also being tested in Austin, Texas.Last year, General Motors’ competing robotaxi service Cruise had to stop operations after one of its vehicles struck a pedestrian in San Francisco. Cruise’s GM vehicles are nonetheless expected to resume operations next year through a partnership with Uber.Driverless vehicles have stumbled on two main obstacles on the road to commercialization: The complexity of the technology and tight safety regulations.For now, Waymo’s existing footprint gives it a marked advantage over its competitors. Its sixth-generation technology is said to handle a wider array of weather conditions with fewer on-board cameras and sensors. In their joint statement, Waymo and Hyundai emphasized the proven safety of both the Waymo technology and the Ioniq 5. Waymo’s technology relies on pre-mapped roads, sensors, cameras, radar and lidar (a laser-light radar). It's an approach that might be very costly but has met the approval of safety regulators. All this adds pressure on Tesla to deliver the goods with the launch of its robotaxi -- expected to be called the Cybercab.Tesla’s ambition has been to eventually provide full driverless capacity directly to consumers. Tesla owners can already buy software called Full Self-Driving (FSD) that operates like an advanced driver assistance system and requires constant driver supervision.Tesla’s FSD relies on multiple onboard cameras to feed machine-learning models that, in turn, help the car make decisions based on what it sees.The technology, however, has not yet convinced all current and former traffic safety officials.

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How to watch Tesla’s robotaxi unveiling on Thursday

Tesla's robotaxi event.

Tesla is holding a special event in California on Thursday that’s widely expected to focus on its highly anticipated robotaxi, dubbed the "Cybercab." It announced the event, called, "We, robot," in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday.

https://twitter.com/Tesla/status/1843922599765590148

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Nissan joins ChargeScape, a way for EV owners to sell watts back to the grid

electrify america home charging station for electric cars

EV owners already enjoy the benefits of knowing their vehicle is charging up quietly while they sleep. Now they can dream about how much money they can make in the process.That’s the bet Nissan is making by joining ChargeScape, a vehicle-to-grid (V2G) venture that is already backed by BMW, Ford, and Honda.ChargeScape’s software wirelessly connects electric vehicles to power grids and utility companies. When connected with ChargeScape's platform, EV drivers can receive financial incentives for temporarily pausing charging during periods of high demand. ChargeScape says they will eventually also be able to sell the energy stored in their vehicle's battery back to the power grid.
A 2021 study by the University of Rochester found that EV owners could save up to $150 a year by using V2G technology. But the technology has evolved in recent years. V2G company Fermata Energy says that in some circumstances, a customer using its bi-directional charger was able to save $187.50 in 15 minutes by drawing energy from a Nissan LEAF to avoid costly demand charges.
Nissan intends to roll out the ChargeScape technology to its EV drivers across the U.S. and Canada. The company says the move is of particular significance given its U.S. sales of 650,000 Leaf models, one of the first EVs with the capability to export power back to the grid.ChargeScape, which launched in September, is equally owned by BMW, Ford, Honda, and now Nissan. But it expects other automakers to join the party.In August, GM announced that V2G technology will become standard in all its model year 2026 models. The project comes at a time when EV sales and infrastructure growth are ramping up quickly, along with challenges for the electric grid. Simply put, more EVs on the road means more demand on utilities to provide the needed power.At the same time, more and more EV makers seek to incorporate automotive software that provide advanced driver aids and other connected features. With vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology quickly spreading, ChargeScape is entering a landscape where competitors such as ChargePoint, Electrify America, Fermata Energy, and BP Pulse are already vying for a piece of the action.
But there is one good reason for ChargeScape to move in now: Tesla, which otherwise dominates the field in the U.S., has so far backed off from embracing V2G technology, focusing instead on its Powerwall home-battery solution to store solar energy and provide backup power. However, CEO Elon Musk has hinted that Tesla could introduce V2G technology for its vehicles in 2025.