Nobody likes price hikes, especially if they come unannounced and go up by a significant amount. This seems to be what is happening with Tesla at the moment as customers over in California and the East Coast states sued the company over what they had called an unexpected and even “steep” price hike for the company’s popular Solar Roof product.
Tesla and SolarCity
Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveiled the very first Solar Roof idea back in the fall of 2016. This was just some weeks before Tesla had acquired the popular solar-panel installer known as SolarCity for $2 billion. This was a controversial move that has even been challenged by shareholders themselves.
Back in April, Tesla increased the total cost of the Solar Roof by a substantial amount. in some cases, even over 50%! This price hike happened after buyers had already given their commitment to the expensive preparation work, which was noted by the complaint officially filed Monday in the official Northern California federal court.
Tesla Solar Roof Price Hike
According to the story by Bloomberg, complaints noted that after the customers had completed the sales agreement and while the consumers had already been making plans for the start of the installations, in another classic bait-and-switch fashion, Tesla suddenly jacked up the prices. The article noted that Tesla now informs its consumers that they should pay upward of a 50% price hike on the cost of the total Solar Roof if they wish to continue the installation!
The complaint noted that consumers won’t pay the price hike promptly, they will then risk losing their own place in line for the said installation. The complaints then called this nothing short of what was said to be a “deceptive” and even “unfair” scheme. Tesla, although having announced the price hike earlier, was still met with the lawsuit for actually raising their prices not just for prospect customers.
Read Also: WATCH: Tesla Solar Roof Clears Snow Off, Power Generation Even on Winter Situations!
Tesla Announces Solar Roof Price Hike
Elon Musk acknowledged that Tesla had raised the price of its Solar Roof during the company’s earnings call some time last month. However, the Tesla CEO still remains that the demand for the product still “remains strong.”
An article by Inverse dated last April 30 covers the increase of Tesla Solar Roof prices and why the increase in price had to happen. According to the article, some time in early April, Tesla had announced that it would be raising its solar roof price even for customers that have already signed a contract for the installation.
An article by New York Times even spoke to a certain customer who received an initial estimate of just $60,000 for the Solar Roof. When the final quote came, however, the customer was given a quotation of $112,000 just shy of 50% of the price which the customer had expected.
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Written by Urian B.
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