I think Tesla's inclusion of
I think Tesla's inclusion of free supercharging, for those that pay extra or buy the 85kwh battery is something of a gimmick actually. Like Toyota, Tesla is charging the buyer up front for a feature. I calculated that the extra cost for getting access to super charging for a 60khw Tesla Model S ($2000 surcharge) would take somewhere around 600 charges to equate to the $2k fee. If one used the supercharger 1x per week every week it would take about 11.5 years to recoup the cost of the free electricity (likely longer than most will own car and or about useful lifespan of battery). In short, Tesla has a brilliant marketing scheme, as does Toyota, but both are gimmicks of a sort. You are better off, cost wise, not paying extra for supercharging (cost of doing so is rolled into 85kwh Tesla, so same applies there) or for buying into a Prius actually costing less over long term than a LEAF; equal maybe depending on time frame but less, no.