A Tesla enthusiast noticed on Saturday that Tesla is now charging $400 for its 120-volt “mobile connector” charging cable when buying a Tesla, which is the very slow way to charge your Tesla but with a regular household outlet. Previously, the mobile connector came with the car for free. Certain parts of the internet were mad.
I truly cannot discern what a Tesla fan is anymore, or who its critics are, as each group has splintered into millions of different subgroups, as Tesla has been around for almost 20 years now which is more than enough time for fans to have their admiration complicated and for critics to change their minds about some things. I’m pretty sure, in other words, that there aren’t many pure haters or stans left, as everyone’s relationship with Tesla and its CEO Elon Musk keeps getting more complicated, and the emergence, Saturday, of the cable thing seems to sure complicate things for some fans even further.
Elon even deigned to respond, announcing that Tesla would be cutting the price of the mobile connector in half, in response to “feedback,” which was probably just some angry tweets he saw on the internet.
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This is, on one hand, not really that big of a deal, because, as Elon notes, not many people use the mobile connector, which is a trickle charger, because it takes forever, and if you own a Tesla it is almost certain that you will spring for the fast-charging wall connector, too, which has always been hundreds of dollars extra. On the other hand, this also smacks of Tesla nickel-and-diming its own customers, which is what all companies aspire to do — that is, indeed, the very point of owning and running a business — just not so nakedly, because then it feels more like an insult.
Here is one random owner’s (somewhat) representative response. I say “somewhat” because invoking Mike Lindell is a bit of a low blow.
The punchline to all of this is that, as of this typing, both mobile connectors that Tesla offers are listed as out of stock on Tesla’s website. Also, the $200 price that Elon quoted apparently only applies when you get the mobile connector with the car. Either that or Tesla’s website needs updating:
Anyway, this has been your daily report from Tesla-land, where passions run very hot. I hope one day that they will cool.