Tesla Referral Program Update Includes Incentives for Cars and Solar Purchases
Published: May, 2023. Last Update: April 25, 2024
UPDATE (4/25/24): Tesla has announced that it is suspending Referral Benefits as of April 30, 2024. CEO Elon Musk has suggested that a new version of the program would be launched at some point in the future. Orders placed by April 30, 2024 will earn benefits for both buyers and referrer.
The Tesla referral program has had a long and storied history. The first incarnation offered massive incentives like the ability to earn free Tesla Power Wall home storage batteries and even a Tesla Roadster if you had enough referrals. Over time the rewards dwindled and Tesla car purchases were eliminated from the program (temporarily) in 2021. More recently, the Tesla referral program earned you points for solar roof and solar power system purchase referrals, and these points could be used for Tesla merchandise or for free Supercharging.
In May, 2023, Tesla restored Tesla car purchases to the referral program. So now, if you’re already a Tesla car or solar system owner, you can refer friends and family (or yourself) to Tesla and both you (the referrer) and the buyer will earn points or “Reward Credits” with the purchase of a Tesla solar power system or a Tesla car. For the referrer, it’s a way of monetizing their brand loyalty and enthusiasm. For the buyer, it’s like getting a discount on the purchase of a Tesla car or solar power system, but the discount is in the form of Tesla merchandise, upgrades or supercharger miles. As of January, 2024, the buyer of a Tesla solar system gets an actual cash discount on the system price.
UPDATES:
(January 2024): With the launch of the new refreshed Model 3 in the United States on January 10, 2024, the Model 3 is now excluded from the referral program. So as of now, only the Model S, Model X and Model Y are eligible for a referral bonus for buyers. Solar products are still eligible for the program. We expect the refreshed Model 3 will be eligible for referrals again in the near future, once the novelty wears off.
(April, 2024): Referral rewards lowered from 10,000 Reward Credits per car to 7,500 Reward Credits per car.
If you are a Tesla customer already, you can find your Tesla referral code in the Tesla app. Click on the treasure chest or “Loot box” icon on the top right of the Tesla app to get your code and referral link. If you are not yet a Tesla customer, feel free to use my referral code or referral linkin order to get us both the referral reward:
Here’s the referral link (the referral code is embedded in the link):
If ordering a Tesla car, solar roof or solar panel system in store, over the phone or via chat, then use the code below.
Tesla Referral Code: Christopher55570
Tesla offers different incentives for buyers and referrers. As of April, 2024, referrers currently earn 7,500 reward credits for any car referral and 9,000 credits for any solar power system or Powerwall referral. All Tesla models in production except the Cybertruck and the recently refreshed Model 3 are eligible for the referral program. We expect the Cybertruck to be added once production ramps up and the order backlog is filled. We also expect that the Model 3 will be eligible for referrals again in the near future, once the refreshed version has been available for a while. The referral reward for car buyers (as of April 2, 2024) is three free months of Full Self-Driving (FSD) while solar power system, solar roof or Powerwall buyers get a $500 discount on their system price by ordering using a referral code or referral link. Tesla has always let its customers refer “themselves” with a new purchase. But now they’ve specifically identified this as “Loyalty Credits.” Details on buyer, referrer and loyalty credits are included below.
The Referral Rewards values for referrers (as of April 2, 2024) are:
- Tesla “demo drive” (test drive) – 100 Reward Credits
- Tesla Model 3 – not currently eligible for reward credits
- Tesla Model Y: 7,500 Reward Credits
- Tesla Model S: 7,500 Reward Credits
- Tesla Model X: 7,500 Reward Credits
- Tesla Solar Panels: 9,000 Reward Credits
- Tesla Solar Roof: 9,000 Reward Credits
- Tesla PowerWall: 9,000 Reward Credits
The Referral Rewards for buyers (as of April 2, 2024) are:
- Tesla Model 3 – no current referral bonus
- Tesla Model Y: 3 months free FSD
- Tesla Model S: 3 months free FSD
- Tesla Model X: 3 months free FSD
- Tesla Solar Panels: $500 Cash Discount
- Tesla Solar Roof: $500 Cash Discount
- Tesla Powerwall: $500 Cash Discount
Loyalty Credits for existing Tesla customers buying Tesla Cars or Solar Systems (as of April 2, 2024):
- Tesla Model 3: not currently eligible for reward credits
- Tesla Model Y: 7,500 Reward Credits plus 3-month trial of FSD
- Tesla Model S: 7,500 Reward Credits plus 3-month trial of FSD
- Tesla Model X: 7,500 Reward Credits plus 3-month trial of FSD
- Tesla Solar Panels: $500 Cash Discount
- Tesla Solar Roof: $500 Cash Discount
- Tesla Powerwall: $500 Cash Discount
Gimme the Good Stuff!
Once you earn reward credits. you can trade these for useful gear like the Tesla wall connector (9,000 points), the Tesla CCS combo charging adapter (4,000 points) or a Tesla roof rack (8,500 points for Model S, Model Y or Model 3). You can also trade Tesla Reward Credits for upgrades like Acceleration Boost or Premium Connectivity. Another option for Reward Credits is that you can trade them for free Supercharging. The current cost for Supercharging credits is 4,800 points for 2,000 miles of Supercharging or 1,500 points for 500 miles of Supercharging. These are subject to change.
To find out how much this “free Supercharging” perk is worth, you’d need to do a little math. The actual credit that you get from “2,000 miles of free supercharging” is 800 kWh of electricity. The current average cost of Superchargers in the United States is approximately $0.30 (30 cents) per kWh, though this varies in different parts of the country and car vary by time of day. In California, it can be as much as $0.50/kWh or more. So the cash value of each 2,000 “miles” of supercharging is somewhere between $240 and $400, depending where and when you charge. In most cases, charging at home is substantially less expensive than this, but if you’re on a road trip, that’s not an option so having a little bank of free supercharging miles comes in handy.
Terms and Conditions
According to the program’s current terms (last reviewed by CleanTechnica in April, 2024), customers can earn referral rewards on up to twelve (12) purchases and up to 60 demo drives per calendar year. Reward Credits expire 12 months after the “Grant Date” which is the date a referred Tesla car is delivered or a referred solar power system is activated. However, if a customer refers an additional sale within that twelve month period, then all Tesla Reward Credits in the account will be extended for 12 months from the new Grant Date. If a customer cashes in Reward Credits for Supercharger miles, those miles expire six months from purchase and they extend the expiration of any existing supercharger miles in the customer’s account by six months, up to a total of 36 months.
For a limited time, the company is also offering customers entries in a raffle to win an early production model Tesla Cybertruck. Entries into the raffle cost 1000 Reward Credits each, and customers are allowed to buy multiple entries.
The current terms of the referral program are documented here on the Tesla web site: tesla.com/support/loot-box
Save Even More with Existing Inventory
Also, if you are in a hurry to take delivery of your Tesla car, you can get these same perks with the purchase of an inventory (in-stock) model. Inventory cars can be substantially discounted from the cost of a custom order car, particularly if you can find one with a few miles on it. In January, 2024, Inventory Model 3 and Model Y cars are around $3,000 to $5,000 cheaper than custom orders while Model S and Model X inventory cars are up to $5,000 less expensive than custom orders. This discount varies considerably over time. Inventory cars are the same as new custom order cars as far as warranty and tax credits are concerned. Use this link to check in-stock inventory at a Tesla store near you (the referral code is embedded in the link):
> Tesla car inventory in stock near you
Tesla has already shown that they’re serious about retaining and expanding market share in the highly competitive EV market. Restoring the referral program for Tesla cars is one way of incentivizing their existing customers to help grow the brand.
Related Reading:
Tesla Referral Program: How Does it Work and What Can I Get From It?
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