Tesla has lowered Supercharging prices in numerous regions as its charging network expands.
Tesla's Supercharger network recently reached 40,000 chargers globally and is slowly becoming a significant part of their business. Tesla's global fast-charging network enables long-distance travel in electric vehicles.
Since EVs require less maintenance and electric vehicles use energy more efficiently, EVs are generally much cheaper to operate. However, the cost of electricity has increased significantly over the last year due to macroeconomic factors.
This price increase has trickled down to Supercharger fees and led to some locations charging as much as $0.50 per kWh (USD). While Supercharger is not meant for everyday charging, the recent price increases have caused traveling with a Tesla to be almost as expensive as roading tripping with your previous gas guzzler.
Tesla announced a major Supercharger price hike in Europe, where electricity costs have been especially high due to an ongoing energy crisis.
Tesla doesn't release global Supercharger pricing, but owners can see local Supercharger prices through the car's navigation system.
Reducing Prices
Slowly, prices are returning to the mean. Recently, Tesla owners across several regions have reported that Tesla has reduced prices at their regional Superchargers.
Tesla previously announced a price hike in California, but it appears now that prices are stabilizing. A Tesla owner in California reported that their local prices had dropped by as much as 5 cents per kWh, which is about a 10 to 15 percent decrease. Other owners in Europe saw similar price drops last week, however, some are now noticing increases as well.
Tesla appears to be changing their philosophy on Superchargers. Tesla used to consider Superchargers a necessity to be able to sell their vehicles, but now with 40,000 Superchargers worldwide, Tesla appears to be transitioning them into a profit center. That's not necessarily a bad thing. It means we'll likely continue to see the growth of Superchargers around the globe, allowing Superchargers to remain the dominant charging network.
Charging stations will always be influenced by utility rates but this is a sign that Tesla's charging business is becoming more financially sustainable.
The volume of electric vehicles on the road has increased drastically in recent years and necessitates massive charging infrastructure. Tesla is adapting to serve these needs by slowly opening the Supercharger network up to non-Tesla EVs.
It turns out that the big undocumented change in Tesla update 2024.32 that disables the 12V power and USB ports while Sentry Mode is active is not a bug but an intentional change.
A fan contacted Tesla Service to see if the change was intentional and what the reason behind the change was. Surprisingly, they received a response pretty quickly.
No 12V Power Access
Tesla has decided to restrict 12V power access for safety reasons—namely, to “reduce the likelihood of thermal events” when third-party devices are left powered on without users present. Tesla reached out to the fan in question by phone, and they seemed to be sticking to that line.
It seems that Tesla is resolute that it was due to safety reasons and that the change would not be “fixed” or allowed in a future software update – as this was an intentional change for safety reasons.
Other sources have reported that the change was due to potential misuse of the 12V power access, with people wiring 1200w microwaves and kettles or jury-rigging 240v to 120v adapters, which had apparently been the cause of multiple fires in Tesla vehicles within China.
Workarounds
There are a couple workarounds, although neither are ideal. You can tap in to the vehicle’s 12v line directly to power your accessories, or you can use Camp Mode.
If you choose to enable Camp Mode, then you’ll need to manually lock the car from the app since walk-away door locking is disabled with Camp Mode. However, Camp Mode will use extra energy to keep the climate system enabled.
We’re still hoping Tesla considers bringing the Cybertruck’s Power Control menu to the rest of its vehicles and is somehow able to limit the max draw from these outlets to prevent dangerous situations.
With the Robotaxi event just a day away, we thought it would be a fun idea to run a contest to predict what Tesla will announce tomorrow evening.
We’ve outlined a list of questions below; simply answer them on our forums or social media (X or Threads), and be entered for a chance to win some great prizes.
The individuals who have the most correct answers will win one of five prizes mentioned below. If more than five people get them all right, a random drawing will be held from the pool of winners.
We’ll reach out to the winners either by email or by DM on social media.
The Questions
Will Tesla let attendees experience Robotaxi at the event?
Will Tesla first start the network with human supervision (ridesharing), or with Robotaxis only?
What year will the network start? When will it become fully autonomous? (if announced)
When will Robotaxi production begin? (if announced)
Will it be Robotaxi or Cybercab?
Which of these Robotaxi Concepts will be the closest to the one announced?
Will Robotaxi include:
Front-facing camera?
Stainless-steel body?
Steer-by-Wire or No Steering Wheel? (if announced)
Which current Tesla model has the most similar door-opening mechanism?
How many seats will the robotaxi have?
Will the robotaxi include AI5/Hardware 5, HW4 or something completely different?
Where will Tesla’s first Rideshare/Robotaxi location be established?
Will customers be able to purchase a Robotaxi?
Requirements
Please use the template below to answer the questions on social media or in our forums. You can post your answer as a comment to our forums, to our X post, or to our Threads post.
Once you do that, repost or quote post your favorite article from us.
1. Yes
2. Ridesharing
3. 2025/2027
4. 2025
5. Cybercab
6. Dominic's
7. Yes, Yes, SBW, No, 2
8. HW5
9. LA
10. Yes
Prizes
Prizes are generously provided by Enhance and Jowua, makers of some of the best Tesla accessories and amazing Tesla community members. Prizes will be mailed out directly by them. Winners will get to choose their prize from the list below. First place will have the first pick and so on. There will be five winners in total.
S3XY Buttons (including a commander and wiring)
S3XY Knob for Model 3/Y
Tesla Gaming Controller - Multi-Device Wireless Controller (Wireless Charging)
Tesla Gaming Controller - Multi-Device Wireless Controller (Wireless Charging)
Tesla Gaming Controller - Multi-Device Wireless Controller (Wireless Charging)
Disclaimer
This is a Tesla event, and Tesla normally likes to hold their cards close to their chest. If an answer is ambiguous, we’ll go with the best choice decided by our staff. We’ll do our best to be fair. This
With all that said, we wish our entrants the best of luck, and we’ll announce the winners at the end of the week.