Tesla reveals just how owners will be charged to Supercharge

By Lulu Chang Published January 13, 2017

Using a Tesla Supercharger will come with a super charge. Well, that depends on how you define “super,” of course. On Thursday, two months after its initial announcement regarding the payment structure around its Supercharger network, Tesla informed the public of some of the details of how it plans to “make long-distance travel a seamless experience for drivers,” at a cost.

“Cars have always represented independence and the freedom to travel wherever and whenever people want to go,” Tesla wrote in a blog post. “To enable this freedom, building a charging network that provides quick, convenient, and long-distance travel is critical to the adoption of electric vehicles. One of our top priorities this year is to significantly increase capacity of our Supercharger network.”

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So how will it go about doing this? Unfortunately, the answer isn’t quite as straightforward as you might like. First off, Tesla Model S and Model X cars ordered after January 15, 2017 will be granted 400kWh (kilowatt-hours) of free Supercharging credits, equivalent to about 1,000 miles, every year on the anniversary of their delivery. Tesla claims that its research has suggested that 400kWh actually accounts for the yearly amount of long-distance driving the average customer needs.

However, should you be an above-average driver, you’ll be charged “a small fee to Supercharge.” If you’re a resident of North America, pricing remains consistent within each state or province, whereas overseas, pricing is fixed within a country. In most areas of the world, you’ll be asked to pay per kWh, described as “the fairest way to pay for the exact energy need.” But that won’t be the case in all areas of the world — some local regulations require Tesla to charge per minute of usage instead. That said, Tesla says that it’s “actively working with regulators to update the rules.”

Ultimately, this Supercharge charging structure works out to about $15 for a road trip from San Francisco to Los Angeles, and about $120 from Los Angeles to New York. You can check out additional details about the program here.

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After being one of the early pioneers of EV charging in the 1990s, Costco abandoned the offering in 2012 in the U.S.
While opening just one station may seem like a timid move, the speed at which the station was installed -- just seven weeks -- could indicate big plans going forward.
Besides lightening-speed installation, Electric Era, the Seattle-based company making and installing the charging station, promises to offer “hyper-reliable, battery-backed fast charging technology in grid-constrained locations.”
Its stalls can deliver up to 200 kilowatts and come with built-in battery storage, allowing for lower electricity rates and the ability to remain operational even when power grids go down.
If that sounds like it could very well rival Tesla’s SuperCharger network, it’s no coincidence: Quincy Lee, its CEO, is a former SpaceX engineer.
Costco also seems confident enough in the company to have put its brand name on the EV-charging station. Last year, the wholesaler did open a pilot station in Denver, this time partnering with Electrify America, the largest charging network in the U.S. However, Costco did not put its brand name on it.
In an interview with Green Car Reports, Electric Era said it was still in talks with Costco about the opening of new locations. Last year, Costco said it was planning to install fast chargers at 20 locations, without providing further details. It has maintained EV-charging operations in Canada, the UK, Spain, and South Korea.
Meanwhile, the wholesaler’s U.S. EV-charging plans might very well resemble those of rival Walmart, which last year announced it was building its own EV fast-charging network in addition to the arrangements it already had with Electrify America.