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Top 3 reasons why having to pay for Tesla Supercharger use won’t deter buyers
The “will they or won’t they?” argument over Tesla providing free-for-life unlimited Supercharger use is finally receiving more clarity. The company announced that it will provide roughly 1,000 free miles of energy before charging a fee for Supercharger use on cars ordered after January 1, 2017.
But is this the end for Tesla? Will people be lining up in throngs to cancel their Model 3 reservations? Boycotting Tesla and running to buy another car? Nope, not even a little bit. Here are some of the top reasons why this new announcement won’t deter buyers.
1. Pay less for your Tesla
I’ll jump right into arguably the best reason first. The vast majority of new cars buyers have a budget. That reality means having to choose carefully on the options to equip your Tesla with. By decoupling Supercharger use from the price of the vehicle, Tesla is theoretically able to reduce the price barrier to entry.
Plus, you wouldn’t necessarily want to incur a pre-estimated Supercharger energy cost, charged by Tesla, on a vehicle that may not see its fair share of long distance travel and Supercharger use.
Tesla is anticipated to publish details for its new Supercharging program by year end. But regardless of what will be announced, crowdsourced Model 3 reservation data captured through Model3Tracker.info suggests that it won’t even matter. Nearly 80% of Model 3 reservation holders said they were willing to pay an extra fee for access to the Supercharger network. This is even prior to Tesla announcing that it would begin charging for Supercharger use after the allotted 400 kWh cap (~1,000 miles).
2. You have to pay for fuel either way
The Tesla team knew and has repeatedly said that in order to further the adoption of sustainable transport, they had to make a car at least as compelling as its gasoline-powered counterpart. Since the Model 3 will be at least as compelling as a comparable gasoline car, would-be buyers aren’t going to ditch a vehicle that will require paying for fueling in favor of another vehicle that, too, will incur a cost on fuel. This is especially true when the majority of your charging can be done at home, which is infinitely more convenient, and more cost effective, than stopping at a gas station.
Charging at home, in most markets, is very favorable to the cost of gas. Charging on the Supercharger network beyond your free credits will also be favorable and “cost less than the price of filling up a comparable gas car”, according to Tesla. Mix that in with a growing destination program and I’m confident your Tesla road trips will still be economical.
3. Supercharger Credits can be rewarded
When I conceded that Supercharger credits may work after all, I talked about how Tesla could have fun with it. It’s your 1 year anniversary of ownership, take a trip on us! It’s Nikola Tesla’s birthday… You just reached 50,000 gasoline free miles… Aside from the ability to award additional free credits at will, Tesla could also decide to increase the amount of free credits they give per year. I truly believe Tesla is a good company that does right by its customers. For that reason, I think they aimed a bit low with the credit amounts to ensure they can afford to meet the promised amount. I also believe that if they use data to analyze the costs (they will) and find out that they can afford more than they are giving, they’ll do that too.
And remember …
At the end of the day, there’s no free lunch. Reasonable buyers know the truth. Free for life was not sustainable and a bit too good to be true. Model 3 is shaping up to be about the coolest and most important car of our lifetimes. For those of us stateside, an ode to the fighting spirit of America. Supporting a little, unknown company fighting against all odds – especially in light of current events – and completely upending an entire industry is worth every penny.
Tesla has announced it has hit a major milestone with Full Self-Driving subscriptions, shortly after it said it would exclusively offer the suite without the option to purchase it outright.
Tesla announced on Wednesday during its Q4 Earnings Call for 2025 that it had officially eclipsed the one million subscription mark for its Full Self-Driving suite. This represented a 38 percent increase year-over-year.
This is up from the roughly 800,000 active subscriptions it reported last year. The company has seen significant increases in FSD adoption over the past few years, as in 2021, it reported just 400,000. In 2022, it was up to 500,000 and, one year later, it had eclipsed 600,000.
NEWS: For the first time, Tesla has revealed how many people are subscribed or have purchased FSD (Supervised).
Active FSD Subscriptions:
• 2025: 1.1 million
• 2024: 800K
• 2023: 600K
• 2022: 500K
• 2021: 400K pic.twitter.com/KVtnyANWcs— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) January 28, 2026
In mid-January, CEO Elon Musk announced that the company would transition away from giving the option to purchase the Full Self-Driving suite outright, opting for the subscription program exclusively.
Musk said on X:
“Tesla will stop selling FSD after Feb 14. FSD will only be available as a monthly subscription thereafter.”
The move intends to streamline the Full Self-Driving purchase option, and gives Tesla more control over its revenue, and closes off the ability to buy it outright for a bargain when Musk has said its value could be close to $100,000 when it reaches full autonomy.
It also caters to Musk’s newest compensation package. One tranche requires Tesla to achieve 10 million active FSD subscriptions, and now that it has reached one million, it is already seeing some growth.
The strategy that Tesla will use to achieve this lofty goal is still under wraps. The most ideal solution would be to offer a less expensive version of the suite, which is not likely considering the company is increasing its capabilities, and it is becoming more robust.
Tesla is shifting FSD to a subscription-only model, confirms Elon Musk
Currently, Tesla’s FSD subscription price is $99 per month, but Musk said this price will increase, which seems counterintuitive to its goal of increasing the take rate. With that being said, it will be interesting to see what Tesla does to navigate growth while offering a robust FSD suite.
News
Tesla confirms Robotaxi expansion plans with new cities and aggressive timeline
Tesla plans to launch in Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, and Las Vegas. It lists the Bay Area as “Safety Driver,” and Austin as “Ramping Unsupervised.”
Tesla confirmed its intentions to expand the Robotaxi program in the United States with an aggressive timeline that aims to send the ride-hailing service to several large cities very soon.
The Robotaxi program is currently active in Austin, Texas, and the California Bay Area, but Tesla has received some approvals for testing in other areas of the U.S., although it has not launched in those areas quite yet.
However, the time is coming.
During Tesla’s Q4 Earnings Call last night, the company confirmed that it plans to expand the Robotaxi program aggressively, hoping to launch in seven new cities in the first half of the year.
Tesla plans to launch in Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, and Las Vegas. It lists the Bay Area as “Safety Driver,” and Austin as “Ramping Unsupervised.”
These details were released in the Earnings Shareholder Deck, which is published shortly before the Earnings Call:
🚨 BREAKING: Tesla plans to launch its Robotaxi service in Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, and Las Vegas in the first half of this year pic.twitter.com/aTnruz818v
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) January 28, 2026
Late last year, Tesla revealed it had planned to launch Robotaxi in Las Vegas, Phoenix, Dallas, and Houston, but Tampa and Orlando were just added to the plans, signaling an even more aggressive expansion than originally planned.
Tesla feels extremely confident in its Robotaxi program, and that has been reiterated many times.
Although skeptics still remain hesitant to believe the prowess Tesla has seemingly proven in its development of an autonomous driving suite, the company has been operating a successful program in Austin and the Bay Area for months.
In fact, it announced it achieved nearly 700,000 paid Robotaxi miles since launching Robotaxi last June.
🚨 Tesla has achieved nearly 700,000 paid Robotaxi miles since launching in June of last year pic.twitter.com/E8ldSW36La
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) January 28, 2026
With the expansion, Tesla will be able to penetrate more of the ride-sharing market, disrupting the human-operated platforms like Uber and Lyft, which are usually more expensive and are dependent on availability.
Tesla launched driverless rides in Austin last week, but they’ve been few and far between, as the company is certainly easing into the program with a very cautiously optimistic attitude, aiming to prioritize safety.
Investor's Corner
Tesla (TSLA) Q4 and FY 2025 earnings call: The most important points
Executives, including CEO Elon Musk, discussed how the company is positioning itself for growth across vehicles, energy, AI, and robotics despite near-term pressures from tariffs, pricing, and macro conditions.
Tesla’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) Q4 and FY 2025 earnings call highlighted improving margins, record energy performance, expanding autonomy efforts, and a sharp acceleration in AI and robotics investments.
Executives, including CEO Elon Musk, discussed how the company is positioning itself for growth across vehicles, energy, AI, and robotics despite near-term pressures from tariffs, pricing, and macro conditions.
Key takeaways
Tesla reported sequential improvement in automotive gross margins excluding regulatory credits, rising from 15.4% to 17.9%, supported by favorable regional mix effects despite a 16% decline in deliveries. Total gross margin exceeded 20.1%, the highest level in more than two years, even with lower fixed-cost absorption and tariff impacts.
The energy business delivered standout results, with revenue reaching nearly $12.8 billion, up 26.6% year over year. Energy gross profit hit a new quarterly record, driven by strong global demand and high deployments of MegaPack and Powerwall across all regions, as noted in a report from The Motley Fool.
Tesla also stated that paid Full Self-Driving customers have climbed to nearly 1.1 million worldwide, with about 70% having purchased FSD outright. The company has now fully transitioned FSD to a subscription-based sales model, which should create a short-term margin headwind for automotive results.
Free cash flow totaled $1.4 billion for the quarter. Operating expenses rose by $500 million sequentially as well.
Production shifts, robotics, and AI investment
Musk further confirmed that Model S and Model X production is expected to wind down next quarter, and plans are underway to convert Fremont’s S/X line into an Optimus robot factory with a capacity of one million units.
Tesla’s Robotaxi fleet has surpassed 500 vehicles, operating across the Bay Area and Austin, with Musk noting a rapid monthly expansion pace. He also reiterated that CyberCab production is expected to begin in April, following a slow initial S-curve ramp before scaling beyond other vehicle programs.
Looking ahead, Tesla expects its capital expenditures to exceed $20 billion next year, thanks to the company’s operations across its six factories, the expansion of its fleet expansion, and the ramp of its AI compute. Additional investments in AI chips, compute infrastructure, and future in-house semiconductor manufacturing were discussed but are not included in the company’s current CapEx guidance.
More importantly, Tesla ended the year with a larger backlog than in recent years. This is supported by record deliveries in smaller international markets and stronger demand across APAC and EMEA. Energy backlog remains strong globally as well, though Tesla cautioned that margin pressure could emerge from competition, policy uncertainty, and tariffs.
Tesla hits major milestone with Full Self-Driving subscriptions
Tesla confirms Robotaxi expansion plans with new cities and aggressive timeline
