EVwire brief: Tesla has launched its 2026 Free Supercharging Competition, and in January 2027, it will hand nine of the year's most prolific Supercharger users free charging for as long as they own their Tesla.
Winners are judged on their 2026 Supercharger activity across three categories: Longest Trip, Most Unique Supercharger Sites Visited, and Most Energy Supercharged. One winner takes each category in each of three regions, for nine worldwide, and every session since January 1, 2026 already counts.
Three winners from each region will receive free Supercharging for as long as they own the vehicle. (Source: Sawyer Merritt)
To be in the running, owners have to open the new 2026 Passport in the Tesla app, which launches in December, at least once before January 1, 2027. Winners get an email in January 2027, and free Supercharging is applied to the winning car before March 1, 2027.
Participants’ region is set by where they charge the most. The three are the Americas, Asia-Pacific, and EMEA, with China running its own separate competition. Ten EMEA countries are carved out for legal reasons: Italy, Portugal, Greece, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Romania, Poland, Iceland, Estonia, and Qatar.
Gamifying Supercharging sessions could be a good way to increase adoption.
Context:
The prize comes with strings. Free Supercharging is tied to your account and the winning vehicle, cannot be transferred, and is revoked if you sell the car or end the lease. It only works at Tesla-owned Superchargers, and any Supercharging-related fees outside the credit still apply.
Some users are shut out entirely. Cars that already have free Supercharging are excluded, as are vehicles used for taxi, rideshare, or delivery work, and Tesla employees and their immediate families. Tesla also stresses this is not a lottery: winners are picked purely on measured charging activity, with ties broken by total energy charged.
The Tesla Diner will likely be extra busy this year due to the 2026 Free Supercharging Competition
The contest doubles as a nudge into the Tesla app. To count, owners have to switch on charging-data sharing and open the 2026 Passport feature, so a free-charging giveaway also drives app engagement and data opt-ins. There is no fee to enter beyond what you would normally pay to charge, and you can opt out of the data sharing at any time.
Source: Tesla's 2026 Free Supercharging Competition page
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