If you’ve been throwing around the idea of picking up a new car, the end of a sales quarter is usually a great time to buy. The same is true for Tesla, which often offers certain incentives towards the end of a quarter to help pad its delivery numbers.
For 2024’s first quarter, Tesla has upped its offer of 5,000 miles of Supercharging credits to 10,000 miles with the purchase of almost any new Tesla by the end of the month. For drivers without charging at home or who take frequent trips that require DC Fast Charging, this means a sizable chunk of savings when factoring in the cost savings of free DCFC compared to the price of their car.
Earlier this month, Tesla was offering 5,000 miles of free Supercharging when they traded in a vehicle for a new Tesla. It has since tweaked that promotion so that new buyers will get 5,000 miles when buying a new Tesla, plus an additional 5,000 miles when trading in a car. That means a total of 10,000 Supercharging miles valid for up to two years following the delivery of the vehicle.
The one vehicle specifically excluded from this offer is the Cybertruck. Telsa clearly has no demand problem with the Cybertruck, as it’s quickly selling every unit that it produces today. And if there’s no demand problem, there’s no need to throw Supercharging credits at it.
As for the actual value of Supercharging credits, it’s hard to work out a finite number that covers every driver’s behavior behind the pedal. A good way to look at it is to assume a car’s efficiency of traveling 3 miles per kilowatt-hour of charge. This means that to travel 10,000 miles, a car will need 3,333 kWh of electricity. The cost can vary from location to location, typically between $0.30 and $0.60—for argument’s sake, let’s say that all charging is done at a location that charges $0.45 per kWh. This works out to those Supercharging credits being worth about $1,500.
Tesla is no stranger to end-of-quarter pushes. After all, it’s a publicly traded company—sales numbers help to drive investor confidence and stock prices. Historically, Tesla has heavily discounted its vehicles or offered other incentives to pad its sales numbers.
Tesla forecasted that its 2024 growth would be “noticeably lower” in 2024, which means it needs to do just about everything it can to keep its sales as high as possible while more competition from legacy brands comes to market.
That lower sales volume could also mean more incentives to buy a Tesla, whether that be free Supercharging miles or perhaps easier access to up-sale software items like Enhanced Autopilot or Full Self-Driving. What we don’t expect is lower vehicle costs on the smaller Model 3 and Model Y platforms, especially since Tesla recently raised the price of the Model 3 and Model Y several times over the last month.
