4 H BY STEVEN LOVEDAY
The customer is always right.
Many people praise Tesla for caring about its customers and listening to their feedback. Just last week, we reported that the Silicon Valley electric automaker substantially raised prices for Supercharging globally. The car maker is clearly struggling to continue to show a profit. Moreover, Tesla needs to bring the base Model 3 to market.
In addition, it has big plans to move forward with additional projects like the Tesla Semi and Roadster. Thus, cuts are imminent. In addition to upping Supercharger rates, Tesla eliminated its Referral Program and will slash 7 percent of its full-time workforce.
According to Electrek’s analysis, Tesla hoped to increase average pricing for Supercharging by some 33 percent as a whole. This number is not specific to all markets, since the automaker planned to adjust pricing based on local electricity costs, as well as area-based demand.
Needless to say, many current and soon-to-be Tesla owners were upset by the upcoming change in pricing structure. Some were even going so far as to do the math, which showed that Supercharging could end up costing nearly as much as gassing up in some markets. Additionally, charging at some other non-Tesla stations could be cheaper. The truth of the matter is if people cancel their reservations due to this adaptation, Tesla could be in a much more dire situation. So, the money gained by increasing rates could easily be lost due to decreasing sales.
Obviously, Tesla took notice of the contention on social media and forums, likely crunched some numbers, and decided that this plan is not going to work. Less than a week later, the automaker decided to dial back the price hike by some 10 percent worldwide.
As Tesla continues to move forward with hopes to keep finances out of the red, decisions like this are hyper-crucial. One faulty move by the automaker could cause catastrophic issues. On the other side of the coin, if Tesla continues to crunch the numbers and listen to consumers, it should be able to continue its forward momentum unscathed.
Source: Electrek