Tesla Cancels Referral Program Except for $500 Bonus on Solar Roof
Today it appears that the rumors about Tesla revising its referral program were true: As of September 18, 2021, Tesla is no longer offering any referral incentives on the purchase of Tesla cars or traditional solar panel systems. The only Tesla product that still benefits from a referral discount is the Tesla solar roof. As of today, buyers of a Tesla solar roof who use a Tesla referral code can still get $500 back after installation. The referring customer will also receive a $500 referral bonus after the system is installed. But the previous bonus of free supercharging miles for car purchases or leases is no longer in effect.
As of today, the only Tesla product eligible for a Referral bonus is the Tesla solar roof.
As with many Tesla “announcements,” there wasn’t one. Tesla simply changed the terms of the referral program on their web site without notice. The change comes just one week after Tesla increased the referral bonus for the purchase of any Tesla solar system from $100 to $500. It remains unclear why Tesla has increased the referral bounty of solar roof systems when the company has also recently stated that they are having trouble keeping up with demand for the PowerWall – Tesla’s home battery. As of April of this year, all Tesla solar systems (solar roof and traditional solar panel systems) require the purchase of one or more PowerWalls as part of the system.
The benefits of combining a large battery with a solar power system are significant: customers can save money and reduce strain on the grid by shifting their electricity usage from peak hours to off-peak hours. During peak usage hours, customers can draw electricity from the PowerWall instead of from the grid. They can then recharge the PowerWall from solar or from the grid during off-peak hours when power is cheaper. A PowerWall or two can also help provide continuous power to a customer during a blackout. Rather than installing a diesel or natural-gas powered backup generator, PowerWall owners can draw power from their own batteries and recharge those batteries from their solar panels until grid power is restored. But a PowerWall is still fairly expensive – currently $6,500 for the battery and $4,000 for additional hardware and installation. Current generation PowerWalls store around 13 kWh of electricity, which may not be enough capacity, depending on the length of the power outage. In some cases, Tesla recommends that multiple PowerWalls be installed to provide more backup power.
Tesla’s solar roof offers the benefits of solar power without traditional looking solar panels. Buyers of a Tesla solar roof can currently get $500 cash back by using a referral code from a current Tesla customer. Image courtesy of Tesla.
As for the referral program changes, Tesla has previously hinted that a new version of the referral program for car purchases could be coming at some point in the future, one that required more direct involvement and interaction between referrer and buyer. A new referral program may even require that the prospective buyer schedule a test drive in order to qualify for a referral bonus. Apparently the free supercharging perk of the previous referral program cost Tesla millions of dollars in the first quarter of this year, and the company may believe that the mechanism of the current referral program is too simple: click a link, get a bonus. By making the referral mechanism a little more complicated or labor intensive, Tesla may hope to be able to continue to offer an incentive to existing customers and to new buyers when a personal referral and connection is actually made. Tesla has not yet revealed any official details on a revised referral program for automobiles or traditional solar power systems.
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Environment
Toyota the EV battery supplier? Honda will use them to power up its 400,000 hybrids in the US
Toyota is now a battery supplier? That’s the plan. Honda will use Toyota’s batteries to power up its around 400,000 hybrids sold in the US.
Toyota will supply batteries for Honda hybrids in the US
Toyota’s $14 billion battery plant in North Carolina is ready for business. The facility will begin shipping out batteries next month, and it looks like Toyota already has its first customer.
According to a new Nikkei report, starting in fiscal 2025, Toyota will supply batteries for the roughly 400,000 Honda hybrids sold in the US.
Honda currently uses batteries from China and Japan for vehicles sold in the US, but the company is (like most) preparing for changes under Trump.
Honda’s electrified vehicles, including EVs and hybrids, accounted for over a quarter of US sales last year. The company sold over 308,500 hybrids and 40,400 electric vehicles in the US in 2024. The batteries will likely be used in the CR-V and other Honda hybrid vehicles.
Earlier this month, an extra 10% tariff on imports from China took effect. And that’s on top of the 10% imposed in February.
With more expected, including a 25% increase in vehicles imported from Japan, automakers are tightening up their supply chains.
A 25% tariff on Japanese vehicles, up from 2.5% currently, is estimated to cost the six major Japanese automakers about $20 billion in the US.
Tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada could cost Honda roughly $4.7 billion alone. Teaming up with Toyota to use its batteries for its hybrids is part of Japan’s broader global plans to ween off dependence on China and others for batteries and other emerging tech.
The new US plant, Toyota Battery Manufacturing North Carolina (TBMC), is over seven million square feet, or about the size of 121 football fields.
As Toyota’s first in-house battery factory outside of Japan, the plant could be a game changer as Trump’s tariffs take effect. Securing Honda as a buyer will already help Toyota cut costs as it ramps up output.
Toyota plans to ramp up electrified vehicle (EV, PHEV, and hybrid) sales in North America from around 40% last year to 80% by 2030.
Electrek’s Take
Trump’s tariffs are already causing havoc, with nearly every automaker warning that they put the US further behind. Overseas automakers are not the only ones feeling the heat, either.
The “Big Three,” GM, Ford, and Jeep maker Stellantis all build vehicles in Canada and Mexico. GM cut output at its plant in Mexico in January, where the electric Chevy Equinox, Blazer, and Honda Prologue are made. Stellantis halted operations at its Brampton Assembly Plant in Canada last month, where it was expected to launch the Jeep Compass EV production. What’s next?
For Toyota, it looks like its $14 billion bet to build batteries in the US is already paying off. Now, we just need it to introduce more EVs.
After unveiling three new electric SUVs in Europe last week, including the updated bZ4X, Toyota hinted more is on the way for the US. Check back soon for updates.
What do you think? Do you want to see more Toyota EVs in the US, like the new C-HR+? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
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Environment
If Musk wants to sell Tesla cars to conservatives, Tesla needs stores and service in red states
Elon Musk wants to sell Tesla cars to conservatives, but if that’s the strategy, the automaker should start with having stores and service centers in red states and rural areas.
It’s no secret that Elon Musk’s approval ratings with progressives have been plummeting over the last few years and even more so in the previous few months.
Since he has control over Tesla and he is the only official spokesperson since he let go of the PR department in 2020, the CEO is dragging the automaker along for the ride.
This is a problem for Tesla as Democrats are much more likely to buy electric vehicles than Republicans:
Tesla’s sales have been crumbling over the last few months, and after the stock crashed 15% last Monday, President Trump held a controversial commercial for Tesla with Musk on the steps of the White House on Tuesday.
A day later, it was reported that Musk plans to give Trump another $100 million in political donations.
It was an apparent attempt to try to promote Tesla to Trump’s fans: conservatives.
Based on a Tesla inventory check and new order delivery timeline, we reported that the Trump ad appeared to have little to no impact on the demand for Tesla vehicles.
It could be that people see through Musk and Trump’s quid pro quo and, therefore, don’t value Trump’s “Tessler” endorsement seriously. Still, there’s also a more practical reason why Trump’s fans and conservatives generally don’t buy more Tesla vehicles: the locations of Tesla’s stores and service centers (hat tip to Ben).
Even if some Trump fans were interested in buying a Tesla after the White House commercial last week, they might have been turned off by the idea of having to drive several hours to a store or service center.
Tesla does not have stores or service centers in Alabama, Arkansas, North and South Dakota, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, or Wyoming.
In some cases, it’s not entirely Tesla’s fault, as some of these states have laws against Tesla’s direct sale models. They force automakers to go through third-party franchise dealerships. This is an abuse of old state laws aimed at protecting dealers against unfair competition from the automakers they represent.
Car dealer lobbies use their influence on state legislatures to use these laws to block Tesla, Rivian, Lucid, and other automakers who never had franchise dealerships from operating their own stores and service centers.
But on top of not having locations in several red states, Tesla also primarily has locations in urban areas, whereas conservatives disproportionally live in rural areas.
The automaker has several dead zones and doesn’t operate locations in smaller cities and towns where there are several Ford, GM, Toyota, and other car dealers:
While it certainly does happen, it’s hard to convince someone to buy a car if they have to drive several hours to pick it up and have it serviced.
Electrek’s Take
In short, it’s not only harder to convince conservatives, on average, to buy an electric vehicle, but Tesla is also not correctly set up to sell and service cars in conservative regions of the US.
Though, I think that’s a small part of the problem.
Cars are not supposed to be political.
Even if Tesla successfully converted a significant percentage of conservatives to electric vehicles, it wouldn’t stop the company’s brand destruction.
Tesla’s reputation amongst Democrats and independents has sharply decreased over the last few years, and especially over the last few months, and that’s thanks to Elon Musk alienating them.
It’s tough to be a successful consumer product company when you have alienated 50% or so of your market.
Tesla is basically becoming the MyPillow of Trump’s second term.
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