That was quite a jolt.
Tesla (TSLA) – Get Tesla Inc Report owners got a surprise recently when they found the company was no longer including charging equipment with its electric vehicles.
‘Seemed Wasteful’
New owners will be need to buy charging equipment before taking delivery of their vehicle. Tesla began selling them separately for $400 for level 2 charging and $200–formerly $275– for level 1.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted that “usage statistics were super low, so seemed wasteful. On the (minor) plus side, we will be including more plug adapters with the mobile connector kit.”
The news was not well-received several people on social media.
One person tweeted an image of Judy Garland from “The Wizard of Oz” with the caption “There’s no place like home charging with the free mobile connectors.”
“Selling a Tesla without a mobile connector is like selling a Macbook without a charging cable,” one person said. “So stupid.”
“Statistics show the users rarely dial 911 so we’ve decided to remove that base feature,” another person commented. “Available for $3.99 a month. @elonmusk.”
Another commenter noted that “the majority of people don’t purchase the expensive wall connector.”
‘Pretty Bad Move’
“Pretty bad move from tesla to be like oh by the way you can’t charge your car unless you spend another $200 after you already spent anywhere between 60k and 100k,” the commenter said.
For electric vehicle owners, charging is everything. They have to know that their cars won’t run out of juice on some lonely highway in the dead of night.
In February the U.S. Departments of Transportation and Energy said nearly $5 billion would be spent to build out a national electric vehicle charging network.
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There are 47,142 publicly accessible electric vehicle charging stations across the U.S., the energy department said, and the Biden administration has said its goal is to raise that number to 500,000 chargers.
There were some who sided with Tesla on the charger issue.
“Been driving a Tesla since 2015 and have never once used this piece and have gotten the kit with each of my 6 cars purchased,” one person commented. “I drive an average of 40k miles a year and travel a ton. Personally it is a waste of money IMO.”
However, the complaints seemed to run higher and a short time later Musk announced a price cut.
“Based on feedback received, we will drop mobile connector price to $200 & make it easy to order with car,” he tweeted “Note, mobile connector is not needed if you have a Tesla wall connector or to use Superchargers. Recommend installing Tesla wall connector well before car arrives.”
Some commenters praised Musk’s quick response, with person stating “name another car company where within 9 hours of complaining, the CEO makes a change based on said complaints. @elonmusk.”
‘Elon is All-Ears’
“This proves it!” one tweet declared. “Tesla & Elon always listen to the feedback/suggestions/criticism by their users/customers.”
The same person added that “As Elon is all-ears for new suggestions is why that would make him a good owner of Twitter.”
That last comment refers to Musk’s attempt to buy the micro-blogging website and transform it to a private company.
Chief executive Parag Agrawal told workers during an emergency meeting that Twitter would not be “held hostage” by Musk and a short time later that company revealed a so-called “poison pill” strategy to prevent a takeover.
Twitter’s board unanimously voted in support of the plan that would last until April 14, 2023.
Musk later tweeted “Love Me Tender,” which could be a reference to the Elvis Presley song or that he was mulling over making a tender off to Twitter shareholders.
