Tesla kills Referral program on all vehicles
Tesla has announced that as of September 18, 2021, the referral program for all of its electric vehicles and solar panels has ended. Previously, the Referral program was a sales tool that Tesla used that gave those who referred buyers for Tesla vehicles or solar panels credits good for free Supercharging miles and opportunities to win an electric vehicle. The Referral program would also award users between $100 and $500 while giving those who referred buyers for solar products the opportunity to get Powerwall energy storage systems.
The elimination of the Referral program is happening globally, and the only product that is still eligible for the program is the Tesla Solar Roof. The referral award for that product is $500. For the Solar Roof, Tesla says that friends and family who order the product via the Referral link can earn $500 when they gain permission to operate.
The person who referred the Solar Roof buyer will receive $500 per referral. Tesla's Referral program was a key sales tool to generate demand and sell its cars and other products because it relies on word-of-mouth. However, it is easy to imagine that it no longer needs the referral program to generate sales with the popularity of Tesla vehicles.
According to reports, some popular influencers were able to earn millions of miles of free Supercharging from the Referral program. Currently, Tesla is struggling to meet the demand for many of its vehicles, like many automakers. Interestingly, the message received by Referral program members indicates that the program has ended "until further notice."
The "until further notice" statement seems to indicate there's a chance the program could return in the future. Perhaps the program will return when Tesla has a new vehicle model it wants to promote. Reports have indicated that Tesla has its eyes on producing a smaller electric vehicle that could sell in the $25,000 range.