Tesla announced that it will soon launch a new plan for unlimited overnight charging for $30 per month as part of its “Tesla Electric” energy retailing business.
Late last year, after gaining experience through its virtual power plants (VPPs), Tesla took things a step further with the launch of “Tesla Electric.”
Instead of reacting to specific “events” and providing services to your local electric utilities, as Tesla Powerwall owners have done in VPPs in California, Tesla Electric is actively and automatically buying and selling electricity for Tesla Powerwall owners – providing a buffer against peak prices.
The company is essentially becoming an energy retailer.
Tesla Electric is currently only available to Powerwall owners in Texas, but the company has plans to expand the products through this new branch.
Today, Tesla announced the first new product under “Tesla Electric” at its Investor Day.
Drew Baglino, senior vice president of engineering, announced that Tesla is going to launch a new unlimited overnight home charging for $30 per month.
Unlike the current Tesla Electric program, this is not only going to be available to Tesla Powerwall owners.
Baglino said:
By this summer, we are going to offer retail electricity plans to people who have our cars where they can have unlimited overnight home charging for $30 per month. This is part of reducing the total cost of ownership of our vehicles, and the reason why we can do this is because Texas as a ton of wind. And in Texas, the wind blows at night.
Top comment by Philip234
Current 36 month fixed rate no TOU in Texas (Houston zone) is 11 cents kwh. You need to drive more than 1,000 miles a month to break even assuming the plan for rest of day is 11 cents.
There are a lot of free nights and weekend plans available, but they stick it to you in the day. We will see if Tesla really has a better deal.
FYI people can go to powertochoose[dot]org to see ERCOT's consumer retail price comparison tool for anywhere in the state with competitive pricing.
If charging at night is an option for you and you drive quite a bit, $30 per month is going to result in significant savings.
Tesla can afford to do this through its relationships with electric utilities that have a surplus of power at night thanks to lower demand and strong wind power, as Baglino mentioned.
Such a low cost would incentivize drivers to charge at night, which would reduce the load from electric vehicle charging during the day.
Tesla says that the plan will be available in Texas this July and teased more to come with Tesla Electric.
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