Is $9.99 Tesla Supercharger Membership worth it for Aussie EV road trips?

I've driven over 6000km across NSW, VIC and SA during the last few months in various media loan review electric cars and couldn't have travelled some routes as quickly and easily without Tesla Superchargers.

About half of Tesla's Australian Supercharger network locations are open to all brands of electric vehicles (EV) that use a CCS plug for fast charging.

Is a one month Tesla Supercharging Membership worth buying at the beginning of long EV road trips?

▶️MORE: Tesla Charging Costs in Australia | Are Tesla Superchargers worth it in Australia?

Image by - Neerav Bhatt

Who can buy Supercharging Membership?

For starters Tesla drivers don't need to pay extra for a Supercharger membership, they can access all Australian Superchargers and be billed directly via the payment method saved in their Tesla account.

Supercharging Memberships are for non Tesla electric car drivers eg MG4, Kia EV6, Volvo EX30 etc.

You can view prices for Supercharging in the Tesla app, rates per kWh vary by location and time of day.

The per kWh price to charge can be lowered for non Tesla drivers with a Supercharging Membership.

A Supercharging Membership allows other electric vehicles to Supercharge at the same price as Tesla vehicle owners.

The same pricing logic and fee structure eg: idle fees applies to both Tesla vehicles and other EVs to help ensure maximum availability for everyone to charge.

Supercharging Memberships allow you to use the lower pricing benefits on all EVs you own. You do not need to purchase a membership for each EV.

Image by - Neerav Bhatt

How to Start and End Supercharging Membership

To sign up for a Supercharging Membership in the Tesla app, follow these steps.

1. Install and open the Tesla app on your Android or iPhone.
2. Tap the menu in the top-right corner.
3. Tap ‘Charging.’
4. Tap ‘Membership.’
5. Tap the ‘Sign Up’ button.

Once you sign up for a Supercharging Membership, a monthly membership fee will be charged to your designated Supercharging payment method. Tesla vehicle pricing will then be applied to all Supercharging sessions at select sites.

The monthly membership fee is non-refundable, and you are able to cancel your Supercharging Membership at any time while getting the discount rate for the remaining membership period you've prepaid for.

To cancel a Supercharging Membership, follow these steps:

1. Open the Tesla app.
2. Tap the menu in the top-right corner.
3. Tap ‘Charging.’
4. Tap ‘Membership.’
5. Tap the ‘Cancel’ button.

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Is Supercharging Membership Worth It?

The first step is to consider where are you going to drive your EV during your road trip? Tesla Superchargers are concentrated in the Eastern States of Australia as well as a handful in South East SA and South West WA.

If you're used to charging your non Tesla electric car at home for a very low cost/kWh or even for free on an EV charger home electricity plan then a Tesla DC fast charging highway rate like 85c/kWh (non member) or 70c/kWh (member) seems very expensive.

Tesla Supercharger locations are usually the most expensive per kWh of electricity sent to your car compared to other networks like Evie, Chargefox, Ampol and BP pulse.

However Tesla Superchargers are by far the most reliable of all Australian fast charging networks and all Tesla Supercharger locations have at least 3 chargers at each site or even more eg 4, 6, 12,16 so you have much less chance of having to queue and wait a long time to charge.

You can charge a non Tesla EV at open access Supercharger locations without a Supercharging Membership but getting a Supercharging Membership for $9.99/month fee gives you a 15c/kWh discount.

Therefore it's worth it if you know you'll add at least 66.6kWh to your car at Tesla Superchargers during your trip across a month because 66.6kWh x 15c = $9.99.

You don't need to keep the $9.99/month Supercharging Membership active all year.

Just start it at the beginning of each EV road trip eg: Christmas or Easter time where you know you'll charge more than 66.6kWh total across the trip using Tesla Superchargers.

As as soon as you charge more than 66.6kWh with Tesla Superchargers you've made your $9.99 back and are ahead.

Image by - Neerav Bhatt