Tesla lowers prices at German Superchargers

Charging became significantly more expensive in 2022 – at some fast-charging stations, you now pay over 80 cents/kWh, which means 100 kilometers costs 16 euros at 20 kWh consumption – for that, you could alternatively get around eight liters of fuel... because almost all charging station operators raised their prices several times and significantly in 2022. Tesla also increased the electricity prices at its own "Supercharger" fast-charging stations.

In October 2022, the price per kilowatt-hour (kWh) of electricity at German Superchargers initially rose to a provisional peak of up to 74 cents/kWh. Also in October, Tesla introduced its flexible charging rates in Europe, allowing cheaper fast charging outside of peak times. According to reports, all charging rates have now been slightly reduced again. This could also be due to the fact that demand for Tesla models has slightly cooled due to the high (electricity) prices.

New problem for Tesla drivers and Supercharger users: There are no more uniform rates

Meanwhile, other brands in the German market are growing faster and more robustly. And since Tesla is known for its extremely reactive price changes, it has now reduced the charging rates again. According to Teslamag, in the peak time from 4 PM to 8 PM, recently set by Tesla, you now pay only a maximum of 61 cents per kWh in Germany. This value has been reported in forums for the Supercharger location in Böblingen. In Soltau, fast charging during peak times even costs only 52 cents. Outside of peak times, it is 47 cents there and 55 cents in Böblingen.

According to Teslamag, the German average is now a favorable 55 cents per kWh during peak times and 50 cents at all other times. After the flexibilization last month, Tesla reported the rates as 73 cents and 65 cents. This brings Tesla closer to the offering of its major competitor EnBW, which raised the price for direct current at its fast chargers to 55 cents per kWh without a contract last May. This likely motivated many Tesla drivers to "migrate" to other providers.

Furthermore, since the end of 2021, Tesla has been gradually opening Superchargers for use by non-Tesla vehicles and aims to completely open its fast-charging network in the future – to generate more charging volume here as well. This is because Superchargers compete with Ionity, EnBW, and Fastned. Interestingly, Tesla now also allows voting on new locations in Germany. In Europe, Germany currently has the largest Supercharger network with around 1900 fast-charging stations at 144 locations. Following behind are France and Norway.

What does this mean?

Even though Tesla takes a rather insular approach in terms of communication and public relations, they remain close to their customers and the community on this matter. The community seems ready to show their brand the red card when it comes to charging prices. The current rates appear much more reasonable and interesting compared to the maximum prices they dared to set back in October. Annoyingly, the "flexible" rates will make Tesla charging in metropolitan areas more expensive than in less densely populated regions...