If you buy a new Tesla, don’t be surprised if you find it has slightly more trunk space than you were expecting. The reason is down to an equally surprising discovery that the company no longer includes a charging cable as part of its cars’ standard specification.
Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, confirmed the news on Twitter, claiming that “usage statistics were super low, so seemed wasteful”. The company believes that the previously supplied connector that allowed users to plug their cars into a regular household socket was under-used because most drivers either had a proper wallbox installed at home, or use the Tesla Supercharger network when out and about. Both of those chargers already have their own integral charging cable.
In further comments Musk encouraged new owners to install home charging stations well advance of taking delivery of their Teslas, but also said that charging cables would still be available through the Tesla shop for $200, which represents a $200 reduction on the previous price for anyone looking to purchase an additional cable (but still $200 up, since buyers used to get it for free). Musk also claimed the cable bundle would now include more connectors giving drivers the flexibility to charge from more sockets.
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Disappointing move! @elonmusk https://t.co/knjSg3YeOW
— Whole Mars Catalog (@WholeMarsBlog) April 16, 2022
Although almost every EV sold in the U.S. does come with a charging cable, Tesla isn’t actually the first to make drivers pay extra for one. The new Kia EV6 is also supplied without a charging wire as standard, and Apple, Samsung and Google smartphone customers will know that those companies’ phones have been delivered minus charging equipment for over a year.
Tesla didn’t mention that the decision had anything to do with a parts supply issue, so it could simply be a way to reduce the costs of new vehicles in the face of the increased price of raw materials. But even if, as Musk suggests, few customers used the charging cable, many will have appreciated knowing it was there, just in case. But since most us now drive around in cars without spare wheels, which would have been very unusual 35 or 30 years ago, perhaps the demise of the trunk cable was only a matter of time.
