Supercharger

When analyzing the quarterly Tesla reports we came across interesting Supercharger data.

The net book value of the Supercharger network was reported in the past three quarters and as of September 30, 2015 stood at $154.4 million.

At 536 locations, that translates to approximately $284,000 per location (or less than $50,000 per spot). Those are high power stations - the smallest have two spots sharing 120 kW, while the largest have 10+ spots and 500+ kW of combined peak power.

The average net value is pretty stable, slowly decreasing from around $300,000 at the end of Q1 ($128.5 million and 425 locations).

"As of September 30, 2015 and December 31, 2014, the net book value of our Supercharger network was $152.4 million and $107.8 million and currently includes 536 locations globally. We plan to continue investing in our Supercharger network for the foreseeable future, including in North America, Europe and Asia and expect such spending to be approximately 5% of total capital spending over the next 12 months. During 2015, this investment will grow our Supercharger network by about 50%. We allocate Supercharger related expenses to cost of automotive revenues and selling, general, and administrative expenses. These costs were immaterial for all periods presented."

The question is how does net book value apply to the total cost of Supercharger network (before depreciation, amortization or impairment costs were deducted along the way)? A small number of oldest stations have been around for a few years, but most are no more than 2 years old.

Taking into consideration $20,000 exemplary net income from every Tesla Model S sold, Tesla would need to sell 7,700 cars to pay the $154 million for the network (we believe excluding further costs of energy and maintenance). If the current net value is lower than cost at installation, then it would be even more Model S sales needed out of 90,000 already sold.

111 Supercharger locations added during Q2 and Q3 would be about $31.5 million in net value (just 1,575 cars at $20,000 net income need to be sold to pay the bill), while 23,135 cars were sold during the same period.