Tesla Partners With Airbnb, Subsidizes Chargers 59
Fortune reports that Tesla and Airbnb have teamed up; certain Airbnb properties will get Tesla chargers as a perk. There are 12 locations already equippped with chargers, but expect to see more soon, because Tesla is willing to pay for some of them, at least in California. To get on the list from which Tesla is drawing takes more than an air mattress in a spare room: An existing Airbnb host who lists an entire home, has had more than more than five bookings, and has an average overall star rating of 4+ is eligible to receive a free Tesla charger, which cost $750. The host must pay for the installation, which costs between $200 and $900 depending on the layout of the home.
Wise move? (Score:2)
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Is this a good way for Tesla to spend its investor's money, or are there better places to spend it when you have cash flow challenges?
There are costs of doing business and serving customers. I suspect pretty strongly that this was a move based on suggestions from customers.
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Tesla is growing their business and spending cash to do so aggressively. Therefore, they don't have challenges in the manner by which you speak.
Re:Wise move? (Score:4, Informative)
Is this a good way for Tesla to spend its investor's money, or are there better places to spend it when you have cash flow challenges?
They aren't spending much. My wife has a Tesla, and it came with a charger, which we installed in our garage. There is absolutely no way that thing costs $750, as the summary claims. It probably cost Tesla less than $20. It cost us about $200 to have an electrician run the 220v line, but Tesla doesn't pay for that.
Note: I am assuming these are "normal" chargers, and not superchargers, since there is no logical reason to put in a supercharger if you are going to be staying overnight anyway.
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While you certainly COULD build an EVSE for cheap, you will not be able to build one that is certified compliant with all codes and regulatory requirements. These devices are first and foremost safety devices designed to mitigate risk of electrocution and fire, and for that purpose a $30 piece of shit will not do. No credible manufacturer would risk that liability even if it were legal.
As for L3 chargers, there are exactly zero such units available for domestic installation - and there never will be - so th
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While you certainly COULD build an EVSE for cheap, you will not be able to build one that is certified compliant with all codes and regulatory requirements.
I think the point is that if a hobbyist paying retail prices for the parts can put one together for $5k, once you have a certified compliant design and are making them in a factory with automation while paying wholesaler/bulk prices for the parts, the assembly cost per charger should be about what the hobbyist can make it for.
It's a good rule of thumb that assembly labor costs round to zero for factory produced equipment, so looking at the component cost is a pretty good indicator of actual cost, as opposed
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I think the point is that if a hobbyist paying retail prices for the parts can put one together for $5k
You can build an EVSE for well under $100. The problem is you need certified parts, materials, construction methods and quality controls to maintain certification; certs are not a one-time cost and it balloons the costs all the way up the supply chain.
Yeah, 640k will be enough for everyone... (never say never).
I'm pretty confident that a typical home will never have a 480V/3Ph electrical service at 400+ amps. Not only is that amount of power completely unnecessary and cost-prohibitive, but that type of power isn't even available in most suburban residential areas. P
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You can build an EVSE for well under $100. The problem is you need certified parts, materials, construction methods and quality controls to maintain certification; certs are not a one-time cost and it balloons the costs all the way up the supply chain.
Certification still 'rounds to zero', and building an EVSE for under $100 is probably a stretch without using 'junkyard parts'. The copper alone will run you more in most cases. Most electronics you buy today are certified anyways, and it doesn't add that much to the cost. And no, not all of the parts and materials need to be 'certified' for the end product to be.
My point remains - generally speaking, if a hobbyist can put it together for $X using new parts, so can't industry, assuming they're making eno
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And would it be able to safely handle 80A continuous current? As far as EV chargers go at that current range the Tesla charger is a bargain.
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Re:Wise move? (Score:5, Informative)
I also have a Tesla with the Tesla charger installed in my garage. I assure you it costs far more than $20 to build given the fact that it's designed to handle 80A continuously, I'm sure just the case costs more than $20, then add the heavy duty flexible cable, connector, high current relay and safety circuitry and high amperage fuses in that small of a package and it's not going to be cheap. However, it is far less expensive than an equivalent 80A L2 charger. The Clipper Creek 19.2KW charger costs $2195. As far as chargers go, Tesla's is a steal given the current ratings and the support on top of it. Mine was one of the earlier ones where the fuses had a tendency to blow at 80A and they came out to my house and replaced the fuses free of charge when it blew and put in the new fuses, no questions asked. I doubt you'll find an 80A charger anywhere near the price of Tesla's.
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The problem was that the fuses were too sensitive and tended to blow under the designed load. It was the fault of putting too small of a fuse in the circuit, like putting an 80A fuse in an 80A continuous circuit. The replacement fuses are the same as the ones in all of the shipping Tesla charging adapters which are UL approved. All of the wiring and whatnot is designed for 100A with a 100A breaker.
Normally you should not run a continuous load over 80% of what a circuit is rated at. So if there's a 100A brea
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I thought the Tesla "charger" was a plug in the wall. Sure, one that handles 80A @ 240V, but still, a plug.
An L2 charger contains a lot more sophisticated electronics inside of it, which is why they cost a lot more - they aren't basically just an industrial equipment plug stuck into the wall. Which is why a Tesla one is much cheaper to install in the end - you're having an electrician wire up a new plug, while an L2 charger requires them
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Tesla supports plugging into a standard NEMA 14-50 50A plug. This plug is common for RV parks and for large appliances like electric stoves. The tesla cable that comes with the car contains the GFCI and other safety circuitry in it. The Tesla wall charger includes the cable and does not provide a plug on the wall.
See http://shop.teslamotors.com/pr... [teslamotors.com]
Wow, only 19KW, comparing to consumpiton (Score:1)
As far as I see most e-cars consume about 30KWh give or take to drive 100km.
With 19KW charger, you need 1.5 hour of charging, for 1 hour of driving.
Yikes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
Would be a bit better in most of Europe, with 220-240V normal, 380V+ three phase current, but still, yikes, yikes...
PS
And there comes fuel cell Mirai (Toyota):
http://www.forbes.com/sites/br... [forbes.com]
Note that that type of fuel cell is both quite efficient (70% of energy is turned into electricity) and should be cheap to make too.
I
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For comparison a normal L2 32A (single phase) charger costs about the same with installation. Tesla must be subsidising their's.
I wish everyone could agree on a standard for charging. In the UK we have L2 "commando" style and Chademo 50kW, but also 20kW CCS. Then Tesla have their own thing as well, and the adapter for Chademo is rubbish (it charges very slowly).
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For comparison a normal L2 32A (single phase) charger costs about the same with installation. Tesla must be subsidising their's.
I wish everyone could agree on a standard for charging. In the UK we have L2 "commando" style and Chademo 50kW, but also 20kW CCS. Then Tesla have their own thing as well, and the adapter for Chademo is rubbish (it charges very slowly).
By L2 commando, do you mean the type 2 Mekennes plug (image: https://images.duckduckgo.com/... [duckduckgo.com]) ?
To make things even more complicated, there are quite a number of 3-pin (240V, 13amp) public charging posts as well.
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That's it, the Mekennes plug which goes by a few different names and can be with 7kW, 3kW or I think also 22kW.
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This is actually really clever. I could see some desperate Tesla owners renting out an AirBNB instead of paying for a tow truck. (If you got into a situation where you were stuck.)
This is like Apple Computers paying for free Apple IIe's in schools.
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Yup (Score:2)
Elon Musk! Yeah, you! When are you going to bring out a Jeeplike Tesla. I'd buy one of those in a New York minute.
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I suspect the payoff will be pretty short .
How do you see it paying off 'shortly'?
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I suspect the payoff will be pretty short .
How do you see it paying off 'shortly'?
It takes a bit of green to own a Tesla. A person owning one might want to get away for a weekend with their SO. So if a place has an appropriate charger, that would be a draw.
Kind of like I tend to frequent Restaurants that have Wi-Fi. And like I said above. if Tesla had a Jeeplike vehicle, I'd buy one, and then I would be more likely to spend some more money at a place like a BnB with the appropriate charger.
Yup. Demand and supply.
Re: Yup (Score:3)
The Model X is an AWD SUV. IIRC it is being released early next year.
Suckers (Score:2)
PT Barnum would be so proud. Would the AirBnB house owner care to show any type of business model where they earn their installation investment back. Seems like once again Musk has found away to spend OTHER PEOPLES MONEY.
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Nonsensical comment since by definition, any money the company spends is "other people's money" depending on how you want to view it. Tesla raised money specifically to spend it to grow the company. So why would investor's have a problem with them doing exactly what they have communicated that they will do? The answer is, they don't have a problem with it.
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Considering the deal is available only to AirBnB locations where they rent out the entire house, and considering the installation cost is under $1000... ...and considering renting out a house can pull in north of $20K per year [smartasset.com]...
I'd say they could probably recover the costs in a few months. Basically one month's worth of rental would cover it any anything beyond that is gravy. There is essentially no recurring cost but it's a capital asset and a selling point.
Fuck, they can probably write the whole thing of
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Let's see, your business is suddenly a lot more attractive for people driving expensive cars compared to your neighbor down the street. I know if I were choosing a place to stay (I own a Tesla) it would certainly be a major incentive to me to stay there as opposed to some other nearby location.
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Depends how much you have to pay for that electricity. If Tesla or the B&B are subsidising it (i.e. it's "free" to you) then yeah, it's attractive. In the UK some places are trying to charge more than it would cost in petrol for an equivalent charge, and surprisingly few people are taking them up.
Actually, it's no surprise at all. They took grant money to install the chargers but are pricing them so that no-one uses them, because maintenance costs money. After a couple of years the infrastructure will b
Re: Suckers (Score:1)
I assume one rental of a whole house in California covers it. I'm about to go to a place that's five day minimum at hundreds a day (we're a large group renting, no Teslas, but if they get one family extra in because ofbit, they're golden).
If one tesla owner goes to your place because they can charge, it is a very positive ROI.
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PT Barnum would be so proud. Would the AirBnB house owner care to show any type of business model where they earn their installation investment back. Seems like once again Musk has found away to spend OTHER PEOPLES MONEY.
Cost of Equipment: $900.00
Monthly cost of Electricity: $45
Extra revenue from renting to people with an EV: $0
Net gain: $-900 + $-45 per month
Smug sense of self satisfaction: priceless
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That's a neat trick there were you chose the most expensive installation. A few posts here have already said it only cost them 200$ (presumably the "no-complications" price.) 200$ one-time + 45$ a month is a drop in the bucket for AirBnB houses than regularly make 4k+ a month. Explain to me how that's not worth it on the whim alone. And that's 45$ on somebody who probably favored renting your place because of the charger if it's being used. If nobody bites, 200$. That's peanuts.
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Extra revenue from renting to people with an EV: $0
What about extra revenue from renting to people with an EV whom rented your house instead of someone else's because you had an EVSE and the other options didn't?
That's +$2-3K per month easily.
=Smidge=
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Extra revenue from renting to people with an EV: $0
What about extra revenue from renting to people with an EV whom rented your house instead of someone else's because you had an EVSE and the other options didn't?
That's +$2-3K per month easily. =Smidge=
I fail to see how attracting someone with an EV versus having to rent it to someone without an EV makes any difference, other than that the EV owner will charge you more in electricity.
The only thing that might make more money is if having an EV charger would somehow decrease vacancy.. Anybody claiming any numbers in that regard is totally pulling them out of their butt at this point.
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The only thing that might make more money is if having an EV charger would somehow decrease vacancy..
You're assuming that a house for rent - and remember these are explicitly houses, not just rooms - is always occupied with a renter. There is no reason to think that is the case. You generally don't rent a house for a single night so the concept of "vacancy" is a little different here.
You're also assuming that someone who has had an EVSE installed would not increase the asking price, since their offering is now more valuable to a certain demographic.
In short, there is absolutely no reason to think increasin
Guests only or General Public (Score:2)
The article is not clear if this only for guest use or for general public to use. If it's for general public, I'm not interested in becoming an electric gas station. I've been an Airbnb host for over a year now, with over 50 clients and never had anyone ask about electric car charging. Tesla only produces approx. 2000 cars/month. Ford/GM sell way more than this in a day. Until they get their production numbers up and I start getting charging inquires, I can't see this as being a useful upgrade to my propert
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Your choice. I suspect most would make this for guests only. Likely your location or your home isn't targeting the right demographic at the moment - pretty soon though, the demographics will change and more people will have cars that want destination charging. Of course, since you don't have charging available, people might just be steering clear of you and choosing someone that does.
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Because you don't cost enough for your target demographic.
Do you want to rent to people that are buying Fords and GM's or the ones that are buying Teslas and asking about EV charging?
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The article is not clear if this only for guest use or for general public to use. If it's for general public, I'm not interested in becoming an electric gas station.
Even at full tilt a Wall Connector [teslamotors.com] can provide 58 miles/hour for a single car which would take 4-5 hours for a 90 kWh model, longer if you can't supply 80A(!) or the car doesn't have dual chargers so I don't see it being very useful as a makeshift gas station. It'd occupy your parking spot not to mention I don't see anything about any kind of compensation for electricity so I assume they're giving away the box, for you to offer charging as a service to your guests at a price you set with Tesla staying entir
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It also helps advertise the Airbnb location if it's like other places that install Tesla chargers. Tesla shows hotels that have installed them on their charging map along with their superchargers. As a Tesla owner it certainly makes locations that have installed it a lot more desireable than places without charging support, especially if it can handle at least 40A. Many EV chargers are limited to quite a bit less, i.e. 16A for the cheap ones.
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Most locations with Tesla chargers only make them available to guests. The chargers are also shown on Tesla's supercharger map. Also, Tesla is making over double that number now and has for some time. They expect to produce around 50K cars this year. It should rise sharply next year with the Model X. It also depends on where you're located. Some areas are much more popular for Tesla than others. They're everywhere in the SF Bay Area. There's several in my work parking lot and two of my friends have bought a
too much disruption! should this even be legal? (Score:2, Insightful)
If an uber driver gives you a ride in a tesla to an air-bnb will it make hillary clinton cry?
More than (Score:2)
How many is more than more than?