9 Ways Tesla can make Money other Car Makers yet cannot

*prices in CAD

1. Full Self-Driving Capability On/Off $9,200
2. Tesla Supercharging Cost $0.00/(0.18/kW)/($1.00/min)
3. Tesla Premium Internet ($0.00/month)/($10.00/month)
4. Battery Soft-limit (50kWh/60kW/75kWh/100kWh)
5. Heated Back Seats (On/Off) $300
6. Premium Surround Sound Speakers On/Off $300
7. Service Cost ($0.00/hour)/($175/hour)
8. Tesla Insurance Off/($100/month)
9. Sentry Mode ($0.00/month)/($10/month)

Everybody reading this should know by now that Tesla can enable FSD on their cars. The cost of this is pure margin as it can be completely automated in terms of sales via the app or website. Once paid for, this feature can generate ~$9312 in pure profit after a fairly high 3% in transaction fees. This alone can provide 13% additional margin on a Model 3 sale.

Tesla began providing Free Supercharging as a way to attract customers. By making this a variable either at the customer and/or charger levels, money can be made (or lost to Energy costs for free Supercharging customers). This feature has been used as a way to attract customers with free fuel. Overall, between the free for life supercharging and the free 1500kM Supercharging you get from referral fees, and overall ambition to expand the network, this is likely an expense for Tesla but might not always be and is really helping with customer loyalty and satisfaction.

Tesla Premium Internet was free for customers that purchased before end of June 2018. At which point it turned into free for a year. After June 2019 last year, notification began to go out to allow customers to opt-in at a low monthly rate. This amazing feature costs about the same as a couple oil changes per year at a Jiffy Lube.

The software locked battery could provide a range of options for Tesla. They have definately done this in the past with my fathers car which for $2000 he upgraded from 60kWh to 75kWh. By lowering the costs of batteries, Tesla could create even more options in the future allowing customers to potentially upgrade in multiple steps. This would allow Tesla to make all their cars long range, earn additional income in the future and provide customers with lower upfront purchase prices. All good things.

Tesla recently added the option to purchase heated back seats. The $300 might actually be USD, but nonetheless, another way Tesla can build cars more simply with less variation and gain profit later on.

Tesla could also make money by offering a locked-down premium sound. This is in-line with building cars with fewer variations which can be upgraded for $300 later on.

Tesla's warranty covers most things for upto 4 years. But things not covered by Tesla, Rangers will charge you $175/hour to fix. While there is expense for Ranger travel and Ranger salary, I am pretty sure this is a profitable business in the not-too-distant future.

Tesla Insurance. #takemymoney. My insurance went up 20% this year with no accident and from insurance that was recommended by Tesla (Avia). Perhaps Tesla stopped recommending them and this is their response. I don't know, but I would opt for Tesla insurance immediately upon availability. I would rather give Tesla that money.

Tesla cars have features such as "PIN to drive" which make the cars quite un-steal-able. They also have cameras that monitor the vehicle so that any damage to the vehicle can identify the perp and greatly assist with third-party liability. Combined with the safety from 6 cameras helping you drive better, the insurance for Tesla's should be much lower. Other insurance companies should lower their rates if customers have these safety features.

The value of something like Sentry Mode would easily be worth $10/month if it could save you from $20/month on insurance. But I guess first we would have to have insurance companies recognise how superior Tesla's are. And since they don't seem to want to do that, the only company that would appreciate the benefit from having Sentry on would be Tesla.

These are the methods I can think of that Tesla already does use or could use in the future to earn more money. Did I miss anything? Let me know in the comments below.

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jsturgis