Tesla is gifting 6,000 miles worth of free charging to UK buyers who take delivery of their cars before the end of the year.
The offer only applies to new cars bought in the UK and delivered between 15-31 December. Just taken delivery or not expecting to pick your Tesla up until January? Tough luck, because the deal’s terms are set in stone and can’t be transferred to another person or vehicle.
Assuming efficiency of 4 miles per kWh in a Model 3 (Tesla claims better for some models, but that’s a figure I’ve personally seen), the offer would net you 1,500 kWh of free juice. And that could be worth up to £1,005 (£1,226) based on Tesla’s new flexible UK charging tariffs.
“As a thank you for taking delivery this year, you will receive 6,000 miles (10,000 km) free Supercharging, with access to over 10,000 Superchargers across Europe,” read a message received by one owner on the Tesla Motors Club forum. “Terms and conditions apply.”
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According to commenters on the forum who’d previously benefited from similar offers, the most problematic of those terms and conditions is the two-year time limit on the credits. Although drivers regularly covering long distances might find them useful, many owners charge at home and never need to hook up to the Supercharger network because Tesla’s cars tend to have usefully long electric driving ranges compared with other EVs.
“I got 1,000 miles (1,600 km) back when I bought mine, and then another 1,000 when I referred someone six months later, so 2,000 miles (3,200 km) to use in 18 months,” said one owner. “It took a real effort to even get close. Defo a nice bonus, but watch for the expiry.”
Though Tesla refers to the offer as covering 6,000 miles of driving, the deal is actually for a fixed amount of electricity kWh that roughly equates to 6,000 miles of energy consumption driving sensibly in mild conditions. As one commenter cautioned, if you drive quickly in a fully loaded car in cold weather you’re not going to get anywhere near that distance on your free credits.
Would this kind of deal persuade you to buy a Tesla, or any other EV?
H/T to Autocar