Will Tesla Model 3 Buyers Be Granted 400 kWh/Year Free Supercharging?

September 17th, 2017 by James Ayre

Update: Tesla just confirmed that there will not be any free Supercharging for the Model 3, so we’re closing the poll. Interestingly, from ~20,000 views on the article, 597 of you answered the poll and the answers were almost a perfect ⅓–⅓–⅓ split.

While many have been assuming that Tesla Model 3 buyers/owners will be granted 400 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of free Supercharger use a year, as is the case for Model S and Model X owners, the reality is that nothing solid is known as of yet. It may well end up being the case that Model 3 owners have to pay for every single kWh of Supercharging that they do.

It should be remembered, though, that Supercharger use is still considerably cheaper than refueling at a gas station — and this will be especially true of the Model 3, as it has a better MPGe rating than the Model S or Model X.

What got me thinking about this subject again was a discussion on the Model 3 Owners Club forum started by “Dan Detweiler” that began with this:

“Has anyone heard any specifics regarding the Supercharging for Model 3? Will we get the 400kW free that Model S and X get? Will it be strictly pay per use? I hadn’t heard anything one way or another.”

This query was followed by replies noting that nothing has been revealed, and generally expressing skepticism that Model 3 owners will get any free Supercharger use at all.

Of course, there’s also a hope that the new urban Superchargers will be free for anyone to use. But we’re not sure about that yet either. We’re reaching out to Tesla about both matters.

I’ve yet to make a solid prediction on the matter myself, but wouldn’t be overly surprised if early reservation holders were granted some kind of “thank you” stipend of Supercharger use. What do you think — will early reservation holders be granted 400 kWh of free Supercharger use a year as Model S and Model X owners are? Less? None at all? Below or at this link is a poll for the topic. Chime in! And don’t forget to hit “Done” after answering the two questions.

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