Tesla Model 3 buyers will be charged for Supercharger use

02/06/2016 - 14:23 | ,   | Sagar Parikh

Tesla Model 3 buyers will need to purchase a package for free charging.

One of the biggest perks of owning a Tesla is free charging at one of the company's widespread Supercharger stations. That won't be the case for the Tesla Model 3 owners unfortunately. Elon Musk, CEO, Tesla Motors, announced this at the 2016 annual shareholder meeting. The reason behind this move is that it wouldn't be possible to provide subsidized charging for this (expected) big volume of cars.

Tesla Model 3 unveiling event
The Tesla Model 3 starts at US$35,000, while the Tesla Model S and Tesla Model X cost more than double at US$71,500 and US$83,000.

“Superchargers are set up, at least today, for people who bought the car, as free long distance for life. Obviously that has, fundamentally, a cost,” Mr. Musk said. "The obvious thing to do is to decouple that from the cost of the Model 3. So it will still be very cheap and far cheaper than gasoline to drive long distance with the Model 3, but it will not be free long distance unless you purchase that package.” The cost of the charging package for Tesla Model 3 owners is yet to announced.

Tesla Supercharger station
The supercharger network is free of cost for Model S and Model X buyers.

The Tesla Supercharger network consists of 632 charging stations with 3,780 Superchargers worldwide. The base Model 3 will have a minimum driving range of 215 miles (346.01 km) on full charge.

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