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I think there are advantages and disadvantages to this idea, but I do think it might be something worth considering. I don't think anyone has mentioned this, but placing the storage directly on the panel could allow for one to match the output of cells that are suffering from uneven shading...

I've heard this argument before and I find it unlikely. There's really no reason for it when you think about it. If you wanted to cut cost surely the correct decision would be to have 4 non-falcon wing doors. A 2 row layout with 2 falcon wing doors just seems cumbersome and pointless for an...

I'm not sure that Tesla making a car that's cheaper than the Model 3 will necessarily be marketed as outside their current luxury ethos. I really wouldn't be surprised if it was marketed as a small city car rather than simply a cheap car. I think the best analogues would be the Audi a3 and the...

This is a question that I've thought about as well. Since it was confirmed that the Model Y would have falcon wing door I assume it will have more than 2 rows of seats. It could be the case that the vehicle only has falcon wing doors and no front doors, but somehow I doubt it.

For those of you who haven't seen it yet here's the conference where Elon mentions the "fourth generation" and "smaller cars." You should start at about 12:15, but he says it at 12:50 or so.

Well, I'd probably say that if Tesla really is considering a Gen 4 platform 2025 is probably a bit pessimistic. Yes, they still have the roadster and and pickup truck to do after the Model 3 and Model Y, but with the revenue they get from those vehicles they can probably afford to accelerate...

A 120 kWh battery is likely a long way off and will be insane. Should be at about 400 miles of range which is a lot. Within a decade we might see Tesla's with range that's competitive with many of the longest range diesel vehicles.

Neat, I'm still wondering when we'll get the snakebite though.

I'm not convinced that the motors will be all that much smaller. They might be a bit smaller if you assume that you would have the overall power in the 4 motor setup vs the 2 motor setup, but all in all it shouldn't be that big a deal.

Hmm...It seems like those cameras are facing forward rather than backwards. So it's more likely that they are part of an upgraded autopilot sensor suite rather than part of some sort of new digital rear view system. I can't help think of the prototype that was spied with the Lidar in that same...

There are a few things wrong with this I think. Though Tesla did initially use the Lotus chassis for the low Roadster Elon said on many occasions that so many external parts had to be changed that it would have been cheaper to completely design and manufacture the car from scratch. So even...

I have to say that I disagree with your statement pretty emphatically. What I don't think this line of thinking accounts for is the fact many of the most expensive components in this boutique super car will still be mass produced and can take advantage of the economies of scale. Batteries are...

Well, after the Model Y and perhaps the truck it seems the broad strokes outline of Tesla's goal is more or less accomplished. In the best case it serves as a halo model for the brand to attract more attention, it generates relatively high margins, and it's just a fun thing that both Tesla...

I agree, I just wonder if the Model Y will be announced before the Model 3 is delivered. Probably not likely since they need to ramp up Model 3 production quickly and they probably don't need the extra cash from another announcement.

As people mentioned before, it is not the use of four motors that causes additional unsprung weight, but the use of in hub motors. So we will almost certainly never see in hub motors, but four motors mounted in more or less the same position that they are now could happen. If it does happen it...

I'm sure they are, but I can help but look gluttonously at the Opel Headquarters factory in Russelheim. If/when Tesla is pushing out ~10 million units per year worldwide and they need 1-1.5 million units to satisfy demand in Europe such a plant would be absolutely perfect. They're not likely...

This is good to know. The factory would probably only cost around $40 million or even less, though it is significantly smaller than the current Tesla factory and Nummi. The cool thing though is that this factory also has it's own port. I think that's a big plus. One big thing that we've...

I hope you mean capable of generating 1billion tons of pressure, as any piece of equipment with a weight in gigatons would weight as much as a small mountain.

Yeah, there's no way that's happening again. It was an even better deal than that if I remember correctly as GM/Toyota still had some manufacturing equipment that was thrown in with the deal.

Here's the real question though. Does it even make sense for Tesla to buy a closed automotive factory anymore? It made sense when they were a much smaller company and were strapped for cash, but now that they are much larger and have experience building the gigafactory it almost certainly...

Yeah I knew it was small, but there's always room for growth. I will agree that if they were to do another factory in Europe Germany makes more sense than anywhere else.

Doesn't Tesla already have a vehicle assembly plant in Tilburg Netherlands? It seems like they'd be better off expanding that facility rather than building or buying a second plant in Europe. At least at the moment.

Good to hear. I'm sure the next supercar is something their actively thinking about. I bet it'll be the first quad motor tesla and there is a huge advantage in having all wheel torque vectoring.

That's really interesting as it confirms that the Model 3 has a relatively long wheelbase in a relatively short car. It is indeed very different, but it is a good solution for interior room weight and aerodynamics.

I think you are probably correct. With a 172" length and a 116" wheelbase the car would have a wheelbase that's on par with a 5 series, but with a length that is smaller than a 3 series, which is pretty crazy when you think about it.

Hmm...I stand corrected.

I don't think that is correct. The draped image that was matched was the image in the original Model 3 invite. The in question came from a wired article and was not matched to a Model S. So the Model S on the left, and the shadowed vehicle on the right were match, but the veiled car in the...

That is actually the Model 3. You can tell by the headlights under the veil. They have the shape of the Model 3 headlights.

I think that an HUD would be perfect for the Model 3. It allows them to keep the overall uncluttered design idea for the 3's dash area and retain easy access to speed information. As a plus they're not really that expensive.

There's definitely some fairly significant chance that it'll happen. The P100D and Tesla will surely update the S to match the same exterior styling as the X and 3 at some point.

Well considering the leak of the P100D and the official confirmation that their will be "price changes" to the Model S in April I think a refresh of some kind is quite likely. However, as to the original point about the Model S gaining the X's front panoramic windscreen as well as the 3's rear...

So we all know that a pretty big update to the Model S is coming in early April. We have also seen Tesla experimenting with very large glass panels. In the X there is the large wrap around front panel, and we see the large panoramic rear windshield in the 3. I would bet that in the S update...

It'll be even worse when you consider that it's likely to start anywhere from 30min - 90min late.

Looks like an X to my eyes.

I think this is exactly the same as the Model S and Model X unveiling. There was an initial showing where preorders were taken, but the cars changed tremendously and they were shown again right before launch. The seems like exactly the same thing to me.

The thing you have to remember is that the ~20% reduction is a reduction in volume not a reduction in length. A ~20% reduction in volume equals a ~7% reduction in length. This puts the Model 3 in line with the A4, 3-series, and C-class size wise. As for the general price premiums for electric...

Or history could repeat itself and they can do what they did with the Model S. Come out with a stripped down base model ala the S40 at the advertised price and then discontinue it immediately.

Yeah, I remember the inflation statement that was made. I had just assumed that the reason that they dropped it is that they considered the extra $3.5k-$5k too trivial to mention in their statements. If I remember correctly most of the time I've heard Elon speak on the price he says "around"...

Yup, but I think the best all around comparison will be the Mercedes C class. The price will be basically the same - The Model 3 won't start at $35,000 it'll be at least $38,500 when including inflation, probably and even $40,000. They will also be basically the same size and comfort level...

Exactly. Even if you assume that the ~20% volume reduction is exactly accurate, and the volume reduction is equal along all linear dimensions - it won't be - you get [volume = Cuberoot(.8)*196.4]. This gives a length of 182.3 inches which is almost exactly the same as the BMW 3 series...

Someone already has. However, I think the Model ☰ will be just a tad smaller. It will probably have an approximately ~2 inches shorter wheelbase as the 3 Series gt has a wheelbase that is only 1.5 inches shorter than the Model S.

Yeah, it seems like it will be quite nice. It won't be the bear bones econobox that some people expect. It'll be a $35k car that happens to be electric, not a $25k car with a $10k electric premium ala the Bolt.

Possibly, but that seems like a bit of an unnecessary solution to me. I'm not saying you're wrong, but I don't see the point of only putting in one set of doors, even if they are falcon wing. I also would expect it to be a bit bigger than the RAV 4. It should probably be around the size of a...

True. The question is do they make sense for an SUV with only two rows of seats? The main selling point was easy access to the third row, so I wouldn't discount the possibility that the Model Y might have 3 rows as well. It wouldn't be totally unprecedented, even on a smaller SUV.

I would say you're probably 10 kWh too optimistic on the model S capacities at that time. I would expect something more like 80 kWh and 100 kWh, but I digress. Anyway, assuming there are 2 options for the model 3, we can expect anywhere from 45-60 kWh for the lower end model and 65-80 kWh for...

I can see why you would think so. When I look at the sketches though the only resemblance I see to the Model X is the slope of the roof at the rear. However, this does not indicate that the car is meant to be an SUV. The best example I can give of the difference is the BMW X4 and the BMW 3...

Yup. Just to be clear; I wasn't suggesting that these images came from an official source, only that they were interesting and hadn't been posted before.

These sketches seem pretty reasonable, and I don't think they've been posted before.

I definitely do believe that there is a near term plan to have two models. I just don't see any real convincing evidence that they'll be announced simultaneously. I also don't find those images convincing as evidence as they are obviously just silhouetted version of the S and X.

Yeah, I see no real indication that tesla plans to announce the Model 3 and the Model Y simultaneously. It would be interesting if I did happen, and I wouldn't total count it outside the real of possibility, but with the Model X ramp and the work on the Gigafactory I can only imagine that their...