Tesla, Elon Musk’s EV company, has discontinued a free Mobile Connector Bundle with new vehicle purchases. According to Twitter user @Tesla Adri, Tesla altered their support page to reflect that the mobile connector bundle no longer comes with the car, despite previously listing it as an accessory that “comes with vehicle.”
The change was later confirmed by CEO Elon Musk. The $275 adapter lets you to connect your Tesla to a wall outlet and gain around two to three miles of range after an hour of charging.
Musk said that Tesla believed that the usage amongst owners was too low to justify supplying the cable with every new car delivery.
“Usage statistics were super low, so seemed wasteful,” Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in response to someone commenting on the news.
“On the (minor) plus side, we will be including more plug adapters with the mobile connector kit.”
Musk then tweeted that Tesla would drop the price of the mobile adapter to $200 and make it easy to acquire the attachment in conjunction with a new vehicle. He also advised owners to install a $600 CAD Wall Connector “well before” their Tesla shows up.
In addition, Musk also pointed out that you don’t need an adapter to charge your Tesla at one of the company’s Superchargers or with a Tesla Wall Connector inside your house.
The Gen 2 mobile connector is still listed on Tesla’s site at $275, however the mobile connector is currently out of stock, and the same goes for the Gen 1 connector. Its unclear how long either accessory has been out of stock, or whether a supply chain shortage is contributing to Tesla’s decision.
This isn’t the first time Tesla has removed a charging wire. Previously, every new car came with both Level 1 and Level 2 connectors, however the later adaptors were eventually dropped.