Recently, Tesla has announced a whole slew of new Supercharger locations around the world, refreshes, price drops, and upgrades to its entire line, as well as the continued progress of its Gigafactory Berlin and Terafactory Texas sites.
But with everything going so well for the electric-vehicle (EV) giant, why the need to silently raise charging prices in Australia and New Zealand?
According to Tech AU, Tesla has quietly upped its Supercharging prices in Australia by 23.8%, increasing from A$0.42 pew kWh to A$0.52. Similarly, a price increase from $0.43 per kWh to $0.54 per kWh has been reported in New Zealand.
@tesla in New Zealand and Australia quietly raises supercharging prices @TeslaGong @WholeMarsBlog pic.twitter.com/YaJr7KRcpG
— RJD (@Rjdlandscapes) October 19, 2020
The change will particularly affect those who do not charge their Teslas at home, or are often on long road trips, requiring stops at the company’s Superchargers. Still, the increase is a far cry from upcoming price drops alleged by the company at its Battery Day event in September.
While the price changes may not reflect the aforementioned Battery Day price drops, which will probably begin once Tesla can supply its own batteries in a few years, it does come as a betrayal to some existing Tesla owners.
In response to the announcement of New Zealand price changes, one user on Twitter wrote, “What why?! Electricity prices haven’t risen as far as I know.” The user continued, “I just checked yesterday’s invoice and can confirm. Last week was 43c / kWh yesterday was 54c / kWh…”
Whether the change will fund expanding the Supercharging network or it will simply give Tesla more money, Tesla owners without home-charging equipment who are often in need of fast-charging services will be at the mercy of the EV giant’s pricing models.
