- Tesla is trying to entice owners of gas cars to switch to EVs.
- The American automaker is offering 2,000 free Supercharging miles for all gas and hybrid trade-ins.
- That sounds like a lot, but when you crunch the numbers, the cash savings are disappointing.
Experts are predicting that electric car sales in the United States will plummet after the $7,500 federal tax credit’s demise. As a result, Tesla, the biggest player in the industry, is trying to attract buyers with all sorts of special offers, now that all the cars in its lineup are effectively $7,500 more expensive.
The headlining offer on the automaker’s website is aimed directly at people who have a gas or hybrid car and would like to switch to an electric vehicle. Tesla says it will bundle 2,000 free Supercharging miles with all gas and hybrid trade-ins, as long as the vehicles that are brought in are not pre-owned.
A screenshot of Tesla’s Offers webpage.
Photo by: Tesla
So, if you trade in your gas-burning car and buy a new Tesla, you’ll be able to charge for free for the equivalent of roughly 2,000 miles at the company’s Superchargers, which are the most ubiquitous DC fast chargers in the country. The offer applies to all Tesla EVs, from the entry-level Model 3 Standard, which starts at $38,630, all the way to the $110,000+ Model S Plaid, Model X Plaid and Cybertruck Cyberbeast.
That’s good. However, it’s worth noting that Tesla says “Supercharging Miles,” but the chargers themselves deliver kilowatts for a variable amount of time so that the customers will pay for kilowatt-hours, not miles. So, how much are 2,000 Supercharging miles worth?
It depends on the model and how much money Tesla charges for electricity at its stations. The rear-wheel-drive Model 3 is EPA-rated for 4 miles/kWh, so 2,000 Supercharging miles translate into roughly 500 kWh. Meanwhile, the all-wheel-drive Cybertruck manages 2.3 miles/kWh, so the free miles actually mean around 870 kWh. At an average electricity price of $0.40/kWh, someone who’s trading in a gas car for a new Model 3 would essentially get a $200 discount for charging, while a Cybertruck customer would get the equivalent of $348.
What’s more, the old combustion car actually has to be sold to Tesla, which will appraise it and apply a discount on a new EV. That’s not necessarily bad, but other companies, like Lucid, only require customers to provide proof that they own a qualifying car, but the car doesn’t actually need to be traded in.
After everything is said and done, the free charging miles will pop up in the new owner’s Tesla account. They’re not transferable and will expire after two years if they’re not used. Moreover, the owner will still pay for idle fees and congestion fees at Superchargers.
Last month, Tesla lowered the lease prices on most of its lineup, but warned wannabe shoppers that prices would increase on Nov. 4.
