How much does it cost to charge a Tesla in Australia?

Owners can use the Tesla home charger, the shareware "free" destination charger, or the awesome Tesla chargers.

How much does it cost to charge a Tesla in Australia? Well, if you were a trailblazer and bought one of the first Teslas sold anywhere in the world, that was a pretty compelling offer - "free boost - forever".

Unfortunately, like most things that sound too good to be true, this nationwide network of free charging stations started charging Tesla owners back in 2017.

Today, the cost of charging a Tesla depends on where and how you get power to recharge the battery, and ranges from $20 to $30.

Considering that another oft-quoted figure is that electric cars cost about the same as your refrigerator, that's a bit more than you might think. However, depending on your choice of Tesla, this cost should give you around 500km, which means it's still a lot cheaper than a gas car.

It's just not free unless you're one of those early adopters. All Tesla models ordered before January 15, 2017 retain the free lifetime Supercharging warranty, and this offer is valid with the vehicle, even if you're selling it.

Some owners who bought their cars before November 2018 were also given 400 kWh per year for free.

How to charge Tesla and how much does it cost?

Model 30 charges up to 3% with fast charging in 80 minutes.

Owners can use a Tesla home charger, a shareware "free" charger at their destination (hotels, restaurants and shopping malls), or the less common but much cooler Tesla Supercharger chargers, both of which show up on a map in the car's sat-nav. convenient (there are more than 500 charging stations in Australia, of which, according to the company, about 40 charging stations cover the trip from Melbourne to Sydney and even to Brisbane).

The Destination Charger is a clever marketing synergy created by Tesla. Essentially, a hotel, restaurant or mall that would be interested in you stopping by and staying for a while to spend money can install it, but then they tend to get stuck in the electricity bill you charge . while you are in their territory.

Luckily for them, and unfortunately for you, it will take some time to get anything useful out of these "free" chargers (hotels and restaurants may well require you to spend money on them if you want to connect). Typically, these chargers only provide between 40 and 90 km per hour, depending on the type of charger, but “not fast” is a pretty accurate definition.

Tesla recharge times will obviously be shorter on a sexy, ultra-fast charger than on a Destination Charger, which is pretty similar to the one you probably have at home, but the trade-off is that you're using a wall. the charger in your garage is now significantly cheaper. And it is at home that most Tesla owners charge.

In January, Tesla announced a 20% increase in electricity charges on its chargers, from 35 cents per kWh to 42 cents per kWh. 

This means that it now costs $5.25 more to fully charge a Model S with a 75 kWh battery, which is $31.50. 

“We are adjusting Supercharging prices to better reflect differences in local electricity bills and site usage,” Tesla helpfully explains.

“As our fleet grows, we continue to open new Supercharger stations weekly to enable more drivers to travel longer distances with minimal gas costs and zero emissions.”

So far, the Supercharger highway in Australia stretches from Melbourne to Sydney and on to Brisbane.

Tesla also went out of its way to point out globally that "supercharging is not meant to be a profit center", which is another way of saying that it didn't really think through the idea of ​​giving away energy for free, forever and it's now clear that, after all, he might get a dollar or two out of it.

By comparison, charging at home will typically cost around 30 cents per kWh, or just $22.50 for a full charge. 

Of course, these are round numbers, and can be influenced by how you get electricity - for example, a solar system connected to the Tesla Powerwall would theoretically be free, at least under ideal conditions - and what size battery your Tesla has. 

For example, the latest Model 3 comes with either 62kWh or 75kWh batteries, depending on which range/wattage you prefer.

As for the always vexing question of whether we're paying too much in Australia, it can be hard to compare to the US, where Tesla also raised prices in early 2019 because different states charge different amounts. And, incredibly, some states charge you by the minute you're connected to the grid, rather than by the usual kilowatt-hour. 

As for how much kWh it takes to charge Tesla, the Supercharger can provide a 50 percent charge in about 20 minutes (based on the 85 kWh Model S), while a full charge, which Tesla suggests doing at home, so as not to lock up their blowers too long, presumably it will take about 75 minutes. 

Obviously, it takes 85 kWh of power to fully charge an 85 kWh battery, but the speed at which it achieves this depends largely on the charger used.

Of course, in the real world, this is not so easy, because losses are inevitable during the charging process, so it actually takes a little more energy than you think. An analogy might be that even though your car has a 60-litre tank, if you really empty it, you might end up with a little over 60 liters.

In rounded numbers, a full charge of a 22kWh Tesla Model S in the US on a Tesla Supercharger costs about $85, which works out to about AU$32. So, this time, we're really not paying for the odds.

Even looking at the cost of charging at home in the US, you'll find that electricity costs around 13 cents per kWh on average, which means a full charge costs around $13 or AU$19.

Of course, there are more expensive places in the world to charge Tesla. Australia is one of the cheapest, with Denmark at $34, Germany at $33 and Italy at $27, according to Insideevs.com.