Any guesses on White Interior or P?

[harleyds]

I poked around this forum but didn't see any other posts. Does anyone have any more information, even speculation on the White Leather or a Performance Version?

Wife's i3 goes away in Oct '18 so I'm trying to time my order and delivery so I can still get the $7,500 fed rebate next year. I was looking to order in early May and hope for a late June delivery and then just deal with two payments for 3-4 months.

If a white interior becomes available, that would be great. But if a P version becomes available, I would consider giving up on EAP for better performance knowing I can upgrade to EAP for $6K later.

 

[Rockster]

This is baseless speculation on my part but a colleague and I were just discussing whether the AWD that Musk tweeted about for the July timeframe would be a performance AWD or just AWD, with performance coming later. We think that the technical hurdles in producing the performance model, even though it's been done with the S and X, would compel Tesla to first release the plain AWD and later, after the demand for plain AWD dwindles and they have more time to manage the technical issues, they will introduce the performance AWD.

 

[boaterva]

This is baseless speculation on my part but a colleague and I were just discussing whether the AWD that Musk tweeted about for the July timeframe would be a performance AWD or just AWD, with performance coming later. We think that the technical hurdles in producing the performance model, even though it's been done with the S and X, would compel Tesla to first release the plain AWD and later, after the demand for plain AWD dwindles and they have more time to manage the technical issues, they will introduce the performance AWD.

Agree, but you could add that they are prioritizing high-profit configurations. Nothing higher than a P config.

I also doubt because of the resources needed to design/test/build/etc. the P 3 (whatever it's called) that this would be out in 2018. Especially when they announce the cost!

 

[Marsnaut]

There was a tweet from Elon this weekend. White interior and AWD will be after they hit the 5k/week ramp-up. He estimated July.

 

[NewTMSMan]

Agree, but you could add that they are prioritizing high-profit configurations. Nothing higher than a P config.

I also doubt because of the resources needed to design/test/build/etc. the P 3 (whatever it's called) that this would be out in 2018. Especially when they announce the cost!

Going to guess no hardware differences in 3 P vs just AWD and will be a software upgrade.

 

[boaterva]

Going to guess no hardware differences in 3 P vs just AWD and will be a software upgrade.

Hm.... don't the S and X P's have several hardware differences? ISTR fuses and a larger front motor? Could be they do make all the AWD 3's the same for simplicity and ease of upgrading to P, but, like with upgradable battery packs, that's a lot of sunk costs for the cars that never purchase the upgrade.

 

[boaterva]

There was a tweet from Elon this weekend. White interior and AWD will be after they hit the 5k/week ramp-up. He estimated July.

Yep, we know. How about really September or so?

 

[adaptabl]

There was a tweet from Elon this weekend. White interior and AWD will be after they hit the 5k/week ramp-up. He estimated July.

Of what year? Elon's estimates are never reached anywhere close to the time he estimates.

 

[Rockster]

Hm.... don't the S and X P's have several hardware differences? ISTR fuses and a larger front motor? Could be they do make all the AWD 3's the same for simplicity and ease of upgrading to P, but, like with upgradable battery packs, that's a lot of sunk costs for the cars that never purchase the upgrade.

Yes, there are hardware differences between P and AWD in the S and X. It's these differences that compelled our little water cooler discussion group to conclude that the Model 3 P will not be released simultaneously with the AWD. Instead, the plain AWD will come first and then they'll phase in the technology differences that enable the P, probably timed for when the demand for the AWD starts to slow.

 

[boaterva]

Yes, there are hardware differences between P and AWD in the S and X. It's these differences that compelled our little water cooler discussion group to conclude that the Model 3 P will not be released simultaneously with the AWD. Instead, the plain AWD will come first and then they'll phase in the technology differences that enable the P, probably timed for when the demand for the AWD starts to slow.

Like with the White (and maybe other) seats and AWD, last thing Elon wants is more complexity by adding yet another combination to the mix!

 

[harleyds]

All good points. They could release the AWD and grab all the sales they could, then later in a few months, release the P version so those that got the AWD version may want to upgrade.

Another piece of info is there were sightings of more than a few Model 3's with Red calipers. If I'm not mistaken, The Red Calipers go with the P version and the S and X's with No P, but D still have grey calipers.

If July is the time frame, I'd have to really carefully look at the Model 3 sales numbers. I don't want to wait too long and miss out on the Full $7,500 rebate.

 

[NewTMSMan]

Yes, there are hardware differences between P and AWD in the S and X. It's these differences that compelled our little water cooler discussion group to conclude that the Model 3 P will not be released simultaneously with the AWD. Instead, the plain AWD will come first and then they'll phase in the technology differences that enable the P, probably timed for when the demand for the AWD starts to slow.

I think they will actually take a different route for the Model 3 and the hardware will be the same to ensure simplification of the production process. Also makes the car upgradeable on the fly to later owners for an upcharge that way as well. Over time there are less mechnical differences in the P models compared to the non-P cars and even in the P90D Ludicrous mode was a software upgrade only if I am not mistaken, that was then included in the P100D pricing directly.

In the end a software upgradeable Model 3 P makes most sense to me with the AWD having the same motors, fuses and suspension.

 

[NewTMSMan]

As an aside, I am going to say 0-60 of 4.4s for AWD (official rating) and 3.8s for P. 3.8 keeps it just a little slower than a 100D and matches cars like the BMW M3.

 

[Rockster]

I think they will actually take a different route for the Model 3 and the hardware will be the same to ensure simplification of the production process. Also makes the car upgradeable on the fly to later owners for an upcharge that way as well. Over time there are less mechnical differences in the P models compared to the non-P cars and even in the P90D Ludicrous mode was a software upgrade only if I am not mistaken, that was then included in the P100D pricing directly.

In the end a software upgradeable Model 3 P makes most sense to me with the AWD having the same motors, fuses and suspension.

You make a good point about streamlined production. That definitely seems to be the theme with the Model 3. It'll be interesting to see how they handle it. No matter what they choose, some folks will be thrilled and some will grumble.

(Oh, and if they were to ever offer the option to upgrade my RWD 3 to an AWD, I'd likely jump at it, so I definitely hope you're correct.)

 

[jbcarioca]

Because there have been sighting already of cars that seemed to be probable P3 (i.e. "huge" brake rotors, etc) and non-P AWD I would not be surprised were both AWD and P to be released simultaneously. It seems logical that the only real hardware difference between the two could be front brakes. Software differences could be quite substantial. In the case of the Ludicrous upgrade there was an inconel fuse difference, among other things, but those were mostly incorporated in all cars later, because they were originally designed to increase life expectancy of battery packs. (I did not look up the reference, but it is in the old P85D threads and also referenced in the software upgradable S60 to S75 threads)

Were Tesla to offer both at roughly the same time in 'Elon time July' they would not add significant complexity but would be able to increase margins. Further, once the line flexibility allows for interior option differences there can be other opportunities to increase yield. All of those make perfect sense once production processes ahem been fully stabilised.

Logically all of those will come first with the SR versions coming later, when production capability has again increased to, say, 7500 a week or so.

All of these things link to production stability and ability to increase scale by duplicating already stable production processes.

I don't claim to know, but this seems to me to be the most likely path for Model 3. It's partly hope, I suppose, because I really want a loaded 'P' ASAP.