Tesla alters 'SuperCharger' station billing policies: Report

Electric car maker Tesla has changed the way it charges customers who use its “SuperCharger” stations to power up their vehicles, according to a report on Monday.

The California-based company updated its billing policy to charge customers for all electricity use at the recharge stations, industry blog Electrek reported, citing an internal memo. Tesla car owners will pay bills based on a calculation of the electricity used to recharge their car batteries as well as other needs, such as electricity consumed by the HVAC system or the battery’s heat management system.

In the internal memo, Tesla said the change should more “accurately reflect the value delivered to the customer and the cost incurred by Tesla,” according to Electrek. Customers in “extreme climates” that require extensive use of air conditioning or heating could see higher bills, the memo noted.

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Tesla originally made its “SuperCharger” stations available for free for consumers who purchased its cars. The company stopped offering the benefit in Sept. 2018, but resurrected the perk for buyers of new Model S and Model X vehicles last August.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
TSLA	TESLA INC.	142.05	-5.00	-3.40%

Tesla also offered two years of free supercharging for Model 3 purchases in a sales push during its third fiscal quarter of 2019, according to Electrek. The company has frequently altered billing policies for its “SuperCharger” network on multiple occasions in recent months.

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Elon Musk’s once-embattled automaker has enjoyed a sustained rally in recent months. The company set internal records by shipping 112,000 cars in its fourth quarter of 2019 and 367,500 cars for the full year.

Tesla shares closed near all-time highs at $524.86 on Monday. The company is currently more valuable by market capitalization than General Motors and Ford combined.

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