SpaceX founder and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has revealed how his company will handle the influx of Tesla Model 3s to its Supercharging stations. Apparently, the service will not always be free for all customers.
The Verge reported that Elon Musk made the announcement at Tesla's annual shareholders' conference on Tuesday. The event was held in Mountain View, California.
The Tesla CEO was asked by a young Model S P85D owner about how the company plans to handle a surge of Tesla Model 3s to its Supercharging stations. Musk admitted that the service will not be free for life for all buyers.
"Obviously, [free Supercharging] fundamentally has a cost," he said. "The obvious thing to do is decouple that from the cost of the Model 3."
"So it will still be very cheap, and far cheaper than gasoline, to drive long-distance with the Model 3, but it will not be free long distance for life unless you purchase that package. I wish we could, but in order to achieve the economics, it has to be something like that."
Supercharging is the popular feature for Tesla Model S and X owners. Some stations along key routes are already almost always full, how much more if the Tesla Model 3 comes along.
According to Venture Beat, Musk shared a tip to Tesla car owners. "The best thing to do with an electric car is to charge your car where you [would] charge your phone," he added.
It was noted that this is the first time that Tesla has confirmed that access to its Supercharging stations will not always be for free for Tesla Model 3 owners. The company has never promised to offer that perk, though.
Meanwhile, a report by Business Insider revealed that Tesla's first-ever electric car, the Roadster, was described as "completely unsafe" by CEO Elon Musk. He added that the car always broke down and tends to get stuck in second gear. It was also mostly "hand-built."
