Tesla Doubles Referral Bonus – CleanTechnica

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Tesla has tried offering several different types of incentives in the past year to stimulate more sales in the US. From Full Self Driving (FSD) transfer to 0.99% APR financing to free Supercharging to referral discounts, Tesla keeps offering more reasons to buy a car right now.

The latest offer, which just rolled in about an hour ago on email, is you get twice as much money (in Tesla Credits) if you refer a buyer. Instead of getting $500, you get $1,000 for referring a Model 3 or Model Y buyer, or $2,000 for referring a Model S, Model X, or Cybertruck buyer. (Side note: if you need a referral code for a discount on a Tesla, feel free to use mine: https://ts.la/zachary63404.)

Buyers of these vehicles get the same amount in discounts with a referral code — $1,000 for a Model 3 or Model Y buyer or $2,000 for a Model S, Model X, or Cybertruck buyer. They also get 3 months of free Supercharging and Full Self-Driving (Supervised).

Tesla no longer sends out checks for referring buyers, and no longer gifts you Supercharging credits directly, but it provides “Tesla Credits” that can be used for Supercharging, Tesla merchandise, software upgrades, and service payments. The money can also be used toward the purchase of a new vehicle.

The only two catches are: 1) you get credits for a max of 10 buyers, 2) buyers need to take delivery before December 31, 2024.

I won’t write a long essay here on what these doubled referral bonuses mean about natural, organic demand for Tesla’s vehicles in the US. It seems obvious enough, right? You don’t double discounts for both buyers and referrers if you can sell all the vehicles you’re producing naturally. Tesla is aiming to sell a lot of vehicles in the 4th quarter in order to try to make 2024 a net-growth sales year. With more than a month to go, it looks like it’s time to pull out all the stops.

One thing I find concerning in that regard, though, is Tesla vehicles are also expected to lose the $7,500 US tax credit for EVs in January, since Donald Trump and Republicans are planning to get rid of it. The possibility, or high likelihood, of losing a $7,500 discount if you wait until 2025 to buy a Tesla should push a ton of people into buying a Tesla, or other EV, ASAP (unless they aren’t paying attention). If that’s not enough to raise demand to the level of production, and Tesla has to offer more discounts on top of that, I do find that concerning. It’s not like Tesla isn’t selling a ton of cars. It is. However, with just two mass-market models, the company has limits to its growth, and it seems to have slammed its head into those limits.

But we’ll see. I imagine Tesla will have a record quarter of sales. What comes next, though … we’ll see.

Again, if you’re looking to buy a Tesla and need a referral code, feel free to use mine: https://ts.la/zachary63404. You can also read about my 5 years owning a Tesla Model 3 — the cheapest one with the smallest battery — if you want to get more perspective on what it’s like and what it costs to own a Tesla Model 3.