Tesla made two big announcements in China on Monday morning, dropping prices across the entire Model 3 and Model Y lineup, and also bringing back its popular referral program.
While the referral program still has a Loot Box, the referral program is very different than what it looked like before, with Tesla now referring to it as ‘Treasure Chest’ rewards.
According to a post on the company’s Weibo account, the new Treasure Chest rewards works the same way it did before in which owners can provide their referral link to prospective owners. If that person purchases a Tesla with that referral link, both the owner and the new buyer earn rewards points.
Where it differs is that those points can then be redeemed for gifts. Tesla didn’t say how many points are earned for each referral, or how many points are required to redeem a gift, but they did give some examples of things you will be able to redeem for:
- TeslaMic
- My First Model Y
- Supercharger miles.
In addition to redeeming points for rewards, multiple referrals enters you into a quarterly draw for special prizes. Tesla says for every 5 successful referral you are entered into the draw, and 20 referrals gets you “a better chance” to win the draw, presumably meaning you get additional entries at this level.
Tesla also refers to a special annual draw, and lists the following prizes for both, but doesn’t specify which ones are included in each draw.
- VIP Tour of Giga Shanghai
- 50,000km (31,068 miles) free Supercharging
- Access to a Model 3/Y RWD for 12 months
- Access to Full Self-Driving (FSD) Capability for 24 months
According to Tesla the referral program is effective for all new vehicle purchases as of October 24, 2022. Additionally, any owner who ordered on or after September 18 and that takes delivery before December 31, 2022, can also earn reward points.
The re-launch of the referral program in China comes just days after hints in the Tesla mobile app source code shows it will also be returning to North America soon.
While the code didn’t refer to a Treasure Chest, there was mention of redeeming credits for merchandise or accessories, and even software upgrades, hinting that the North American referral program could be very similar to what Tesla just released in China.
