Tesla Australia Removes The Conventional Home Charging Cord From New Vehicles

The standard-fit Mobile Connector, a cable used to charge the car from a three-pin home power outlet, has been removed by Tesla from newly ordered automobiles and has been changed to a $550 option.

The Mobile Connector, a charging cable that was once included with every new Tesla purchase and was first noticed by Twitter user @dwhes and later confirmed by Drive, is now a $550 add-on available through Tesla's online store.

New orders placed starting on Thursday or Friday are thought to be the only ones affected by the change; purchases done earlier will still receive the cable, which is bundled in a storage bag.

No modifications have been made to the cost of either of Tesla's vehicles, the Model 3 sedan or the Model Y SUV, which both experienced price rises of up to $3900 three weeks ago, despite the cable being removed from the base purchase price.

The Mobile Connector, which is now available for $550 (down from roughly $850), is said to offer about 10-15 kilometres of range per hour and enables Tesla vehicles to be plugged into a three-pin household power outlet rather than a wall box that has been built or a public fast charger.

Australia is following the example of the US, where the Mobile Connector was eliminated from new cars in April, citing poor consumer use, per company data. CEO Elon Musk.

"Usage statistics were super low, so [it] seemed wasteful," Musk said on Twitter at the time.

"Based on feedback received, we will drop mobile connector price to $200 and make it easy to order with car. Note, mobile connector is not needed if you have a Tesla wall connector or to use Superchargers. [We] Recommend installing Tesla wall connector well before car arrives."

The charging cable joins a number of other items that have been eliminated from Tesla vehicles in recent months, such as the 19-inch Sport wheels that were an option for $2200 on the Model 3 Long Range but had no impact on the vehicle's base pricing.