Tesla hikes Supercharger prices in California

Tesla has announced a Supercharger price hike in California that is adding to the price increases throughout the last year. It’s still not the price of a tank of gas, but it is now starting to get expensive.

One of the biggest advantages of electric vehicles remains that their cost of operations is much lower than vehicles with internal combustion engines, thanks to electricity generally being much cheaper than gas.

However, the cost of both gas and electricity has been skyrocketing over the last year, especially in Europe because of the war in Ukraine and restrictions on Russian oil and gas.

It used to be difficult to pay more than $5 or $10 for a full charge at a Tesla Supercharger.

After several price increases throughout the last year, now many Supercharger stations are charging $0.50 per kWh, which can result in a cost of $30 to charge 60 kWh.

Earlier this month, we reported Tesla announcing a major Supercharger price hike in Europe – mainly because of the energy crisis.

Tesla Supercharger price hike in California

Now Tesla is announcing something similar in California. The automaker wrote in an email to customers (via Reddit):

Starting Wednesday, September 28, charging rates and off-peak hours will change at select Superchargers. Avoid the rush and save on charging costs when you begin your charging session during off-peak hours. Tap the Supercharger map pins on your in-vehicle touch screen to view rates.

In California and a few other popular EV markets, Tesla has been using the model of cheaper “off-peak hours.”

The hours vary depending on the stations, but they are most often in the middle of the night, which is not exactly convenient for most drivers.

Tesla owners in California say that many Supercharger stations now cost more than $0.50 per kWh, but there are still a few stations at closer to $0.40 per kWh during peak hours.

Prices during off-peak hours, depending on the station, are generally offered at about a 30-40% discount.

Electrek’s Take

Electricity rates are going up across the board, and Tesla looks to be reacting to them. There are also demand charges that are resulting in much higher rates – hence why there are off-peak hours.

I feel like Tesla should just list the price that it has to pay the electric utility and then disclose the premium on top of that to cover its own cost. It would make the situation clear and consistent.

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