BP Pulse Orders $100 Million worth of Superchargers for US Network

[gnuarm]

This would seem to be breaking news. It's great that BP will be installing Tesla Superchargers (350 kW), but I'm worried about the financial issues, specifically payment.

I bought my Tesla when unlimited free Supercharging was part of the deal. I've always wondered if/how Tesla might worm their way out of the deal. If Tesla is going to start selling Superchargers to private companies, that provides less incentive for them to install more Superchargers.

I would also be concerned that this would complicate the charging facilities in the navigation screen. We already have three categories of charging units. Will this require a fourth?

https://money.usnews.com/investing/news/articles/2023-10-26/tesla-gets-100-million-us-ultra-fast-charger-order-from-bp-ev-charging-unit

 

[LoudMusic]

I wonder how many vehicles have free unlimited charging and still function and take advantage of it on a regular basis. What is it costing Tesla. It's my understanding there are ways to still get that service, or move it from an old vehicle to a new one. So maybe it's not as bad as we think it might be.

 

[pb2000]

With a company as large as BP, it probably makes more sense to just sell them the equipment and let them deal with choosing locations, filing permits, arranging construction, and long term maintenance . Other than their recent acquisition of TCoA, they mostly mostly appear to have locations on the East coast, which has a decent saturation of superchargers, so nothing is going to be 'taken away' from people with free unlimited. For the rest of us normal folk, if BP is charging a $.08 premium per kWh, but their location shaves >15 minutes off my journey, you bet your ass I'm charging there.

 

[SSonnentag]

I bet that if they're Tesla branded, red/white and lit with the Tesla logo, they'll be in the Tesla network and will be managed by Tesla. If BP is rebranding them, they can do whatever they want for price and availability, but then they won't show up in Tesla's SC routing without Tesla doing some coding, which I doubt they're going to do any time soon.

 

[essaunders]

I understand the desire for those with 'free unlimited' supercharging to see that benefit grow. However, I'm strongly against 'free' (by that meaning, no additional incremental cost) DC fast charging as that run contrary to best use of the limited resources. I'm actually kind of surprised that Tesla didn't' simply limit 'free supercharging' to 150k stations. I certainly wouldn't expect other suppliers of DC fast charging to give charging for free.

this does raise the question of how Tesla will handle navigation and preheating for charge locations/ networks outside of the tesla core super charger network. but i'm sure that's been discussed already.

 

[brkaus]

Looks like they won’t be Tesla branded. Will be curious how this all works out.

I bet there are enough paying customers that the free supercharger users aren’t a significant impact.

I doubt Tesla will stop deploying even if they sell units to others. There are a lot of places that will help cars but not be a good financial choice for charging revenue.

I see this as a win. More charging.

“The 250 kilowatt BP Pulse-branded chargers will be compatible with both Tesla's North American Charging Standard (NACS) and Combined Charging System (CCS) connectors enabling the charging of EV models from other carmakers.”

 

[pb2000]

I suspect it will just be a filter in the NAV and you may even get a prompt if a 3rd party station will save you a significant amount of time, similar to how standalone GPS systems would always ask if you want to avoid toll roads.

Plug to charge will probably be seamless, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was a session fee to have the billing passed off to Tesla.

Hopefully BP does a bit more design changes than just swap a red LED for green (to obscure the manufacturer), as I suspect there are a lot of communities (*waves at gulf coast*) out there that are hostile to Tesla, but might be a bit more open to EVs if the company that provided their daddy's paycheque for 40 years, installed chargers.

 

[gnuarm]

With a company as large as BP, it probably makes more sense to just sell them the equipment and let them deal with choosing locations, filing permits, arranging construction, and long term maintenance . Other than their recent acquisition of TCoA, they mostly mostly appear to have locations on the East coast, which has a decent saturation of superchargers, so nothing is going to be 'taken away' from people with free unlimited. For the rest of us normal folk, if BP is charging a $.08 premium per kWh, but their location shaves >15 minutes off my journey, you bet your ass I'm charging there.

Of course there will be a loss over time. The current level of coverage is really not so great, it just seems that way compared to the past. Coverage needs to continually ramp up. Look at the number of Superchargers and the spacing in PA and NY. If you want to take a trip through this region, you have to plan carefully. There are plenty of trips that can't be accommodated without going out of your way.

So, if you want to use the BP chargers, how do you pay? Are they linked to your Tesla account, or do you need yet another payment plan?

 

[gnuarm]

I understand the desire for those with 'free unlimited' supercharging to see that benefit grow. However, I'm strongly against 'free' (by that meaning, no additional incremental cost) DC fast charging as that run contrary to best use of the limited resources. I'm actually kind of surprised that Tesla didn't' simply limit 'free supercharging' to 150k stations. I certainly wouldn't expect other suppliers of DC fast charging to give charging for free.

this does raise the question of how Tesla will handle navigation and preheating for charge locations/ networks outside of the tesla core super charger network. but i'm sure that's been discussed already.

Nothing is free. I paid a lot of money to get that free charging. So that nulifies your comments on that.

 

[gnuarm]

Looks like they won’t be Tesla branded. Will be curious how this all works out.

I bet there are enough paying customers that the free supercharger users aren’t a significant impact.

I doubt Tesla will stop deploying even if they sell units to others. There are a lot of places that will help cars but not be a good financial choice for charging revenue.

I see this as a win. More charging.

“The 250 kilowatt BP Pulse-branded chargers will be compatible with both Tesla's North American Charging Standard (NACS) and Combined Charging System (CCS) connectors enabling the charging of EV models from other carmakers.”

So you are saying Tesla will continue to grow their charging network by 50% a year?

One of the huge advantages of the Tesla chargers is simply driving up and charging. No need for cards, or passwords. I expect this to be pretty crappy in comparison.

 

[SSonnentag]

Nothing is free. I paid a lot of money to get that free charging. So that nulifies your comments on that.

Yep. S & X prices dropped $25K when the "free" supercharging was dropped.

 

[Msicario]

This would seem to be breaking news. It's great that BP will be installing Tesla Superchargers (350 kW), but I'm worried about the financial issues, specifically payment.

I bought my Tesla when unlimited free Supercharging was part of the deal. I've always wondered if/how Tesla might worm their way out of the deal. If Tesla is going to start selling Superchargers to private companies, that provides less incentive for them to install more Superchargers.

I would also be concerned that this would complicate the charging facilities in the navigation screen. We already have three categories of charging units. Will this require a fourth?

https://money.usnews.com/investing/news/articles/2023-10-26/tesla-gets-100-million-us-ultra-fast-charger-order-from-bp-ev-charging-unit

Definitely big breaking news, but not here Neither that Musk currently lost $28 Billion and Herz getting hit hard because of the price drop on Teslas..

 

[brkaus]

Here is the BP press release.

https://www.bp.com/en_us/united-states/home/news/press-releases/bp-boosts-ev-charging-network-with-100-million-dollar-order-of-tesla-ultra-fast-chargers.html

Perhaps run through the existing bp pulse network brand with no mention of Tesla. Will find out in a year or three.

 

[brkaus]

And there is this -

https://x.com/bp_plc/status/1717595586491232650?s=46&t=Azxts_XHnEPVRmxxsAY3ng

 

[LoudMusic]

I understand the desire for those with 'free unlimited' supercharging to see that benefit grow. However, I'm strongly against 'free' (by that meaning, no additional incremental cost) DC fast charging as that run contrary to best use of the limited resources. I'm actually kind of surprised that Tesla didn't' simply limit 'free supercharging' to 150k stations. I certainly wouldn't expect other suppliers of DC fast charging to give charging for free.

this does raise the question of how Tesla will handle navigation and preheating for charge locations/ networks outside of the tesla core super charger network. but i'm sure that's been discussed already.

Or limit the free sites to the ones that were online when the vehicle was delivered. Or limit it to a number of kWh per time frame, such as 100kWh/week. Or limit it to chargers only along interstate routes, intended for highway travel.

But I still think Tesla's cost to supply electricity to that limited number of vehicles makes it nearly irrelevant. And their benefit for offering it is the conversations it starts. People who would not normally be interested in EVs hear that it's possible to drive completely for free will start asking questions and get involved in the EV community. Even if they later discover that free charging isn't universal, they've spent time asking questions and are more likely to continue pursuing.

So free supercharging could be considered a marketing ploy, rather than a sales ploy.

 

[SSonnentag]

So free supercharging could be considered a marketing ploy, rather than a sales ploy.

I’m pretty sure free supercharging has always been a marketing ploy, and only became a sales ploy this month.

 

[gnuarm]

Or limit the free sites to the ones that were online when the vehicle was delivered. Or limit it to a number of kWh per time frame, such as 100kWh/week. Or limit it to chargers only along interstate routes, intended for highway travel.

How does any of that make sense. The free charging deal has already been struck. It's on the entire network. So it should be changed now? I'd hate to do business with you.

But I still think Tesla's cost to supply electricity to that limited number of vehicles makes it nearly irrelevant. And their benefit for offering it is the conversations it starts. People who would not normally be interested in EVs hear that it's possible to drive completely for free will start asking questions and get involved in the EV community. Even if they later discover that free charging isn't universal, they've spent time asking questions and are more likely to continue pursuing.

So free supercharging could be considered a marketing ploy, rather than a sales ploy.

What's your point??? They no longer offer free charging. It's a non-ploy now. This is about how they are changing the network resulting in less utility to those with the free charging.

 

[LoudMusic]

How does any of that make sense. The free charging deal has already been struck. It's on the entire network. So it should be changed now? I'd hate to do business with you.




What's your point??? They no longer offer free charging. It's a non-ploy now. This is about how they are changing the network resulting in less utility to those with the free charging.

Oh I'm sorry I forgot this was all about you and how you get free stuff and you deserve to get free stuff the rest of your life, at the expense of all the rest of us. My apologies.

Carry on.

 

[SSonnentag]

Oh I'm sorry I forgot this was all about you and how you get free stuff and you deserve to get free stuff the rest of your life, at the expense of all the rest of us. My apologies.

Carry on.

‘it wasn’t free. Early adopters paid dearly for their “free” charging.

 

[RTPEV]

How does any of that make sense. The free charging deal has already been struck. It's on the entire network. So it should be changed now?

Let me play devil's advocate and ask you: at the time you bought your vehicle with free Supercharging, were you guaranteed a specific growth rate in the network? Did you even have any assumptions about how much the network would grow over the lifetime of your vehicle?

The size of the network when most people with FUSC bought into it was a fraction of what it is today. The benefit has grown significantly since most of those vehicles were purchased, possibly at an unexpected rate (in the early days it certainly was not a done deal that Tesla would grow into what it is today). Of course each individual might have had their own expectations about Supercharger network growth rates, but as far as I know, Tesla never promised any specific growth rates, so if they immediately stopped deploying new sites today, do you feel that you were somehow wronged by Tesla?

Taking it even a step further, if the network already allows pretty much freedom of travel across the US today, and we are mainly at a point of adding redundancy, is there actually any incremental benefit to a FUSC user if new stations are added to the network? The returns gained from each additional station added to the network now are diminishing as the size of the network grows...eventually it reaches a point where it is effectively saturated and having more sites starts to become the equivalent of having two Starbucks located across the street from each other.