Tesla Partners With Airbnb, Subsidizes Chargers

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.

Comments

Re:Wise move?

[ShanghaiBill]

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.

Re:Wise move?

[AaronW]

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.