Base Features Required to Seal the Deal on the Model 3

[Booga]

Let me just leave this here in the conversation of why the Model 3 wasn't a hatchback...

Original link: Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet
Source: SUVs and Crossovers Overtake Sedans to Become Most Popular Vehicle Body Style in the U.S., IHS Automotive Finds | IHS Online Newsroom

 

[EaglesPDX]

Let me just leave this here in the conversation of why the Model 3 wasn't a hatchback..

SUV/CUV, Hatchback and Station Wagon are 43% so clearly the hatchback would have been the one with the biggest market coverage as an AWD hatchback covers all three market niches.

 

[JeffK]

Let me just leave this here in the conversation of why the Model 3 wasn't a hatchback...

Original link: Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet
Source: SUVs and Crossovers Overtake Sedans to Become Most Popular Vehicle Body Style in the U.S., IHS Automotive Finds | IHS Online Newsroom

One thing that table fails to mention is that although hatchbacks are useful, they are ugly and I don't think Elon had any intention of making an ugly car.

I'll be the first to admit my Prius is not the sexiest car in the world.

 

[Booga]

SUV/CUV, Hatchback and Station Wagon are 43% so clearly the hatchback would have been the one with the biggest market coverage as an AWD hatchback covers all three market niches.

I could be misunderstanding you here... are you referring to it in terms of utility? If so, I personally agree with you, but I know too many people who don't buy things with the same logic - they want an SUV, and so that's what they wait for, not a hybrid of body styles or anything short of their expectation.

 

[FlatSix911]

SUV/CUV, Hatchback and Station Wagon are 43% so clearly the hatchback would have been the one with the biggest market coverage as an AWD hatchback covers all three market niches.

Your logic is flawed ... the Hatchback is only 5.5% of the market and covers only one category. The SUV/CUV and wagon standalone.
Here is some good news for Model 3 folks ... Tesla Model 3’s trunk opening is bigger on production version than on prototype, says Elon

 

[JeffK]

Your logic is flawed ... the Hatchback is only 5.5% of the market and covers only one category. The SUV/CUV and wagon standalone.
Here is some good news for Model 3 folks ... Tesla Model 3’s trunk opening is bigger on production version than on prototype, says Elon

View attachment 184838

I saw this post. What does the new car look like? What other features are in the Model 3? When exactly is the second reveal? How much is the Model 3 with all the (cow) bells and whistles? I check Elon's twitter constantly for clues.

 

[alseTrick]

A distinction without a difference. Here's Kelly Bluebook who can explain it to you.



Yes I'll keep believing Tesla when they say the T3 is the car for the mass market.

I don't think it says what you hope it says.

"Car" is a sub-group within the "light vehicle" segment. Why would KBB classifly SUVs as SUVs or trucks as trucks or minivans as minivans or mid-size car as mid-size car if they were all "cars"?

"Mass market" means "produced in large quantities". It does NOT mean "for every family".

 

[JeffK]

Well, according to wikipedia: The mass market is the group of end consumers ... who occupy the overwhelming mass under a bell curve.

The pricing of the Model 3 is such that it'll be affordable by around 50% of potential buyers.

 

[ccutrer]

The pricing of the Model 3 is such that it'll be affordable by around 50% of potential buyers.

If they can't afford it, are they really a potential buyer?</head scratch>

 

[stopcrazypp]

If they can't afford it, are they really a potential buyer?</head scratch>

I think the "potential buyer" designation just separates the new car market from other markets. Not everyone in the world is a potential new car buyer.

 

[ccutrer]

I was just pointing out the internal logical inconsistency, and grinning. Need a little bit of levity in this thread!

 

[JeffK]

I was just pointing out the internal logical inconsistency, and grinning. Need a little bit of levity in this thread!

Haha I totally thought the same thing when I read it. I then thought a little more about it as "fifty percent of people who are in the market to purchase a brand new sedan could afford this car"

Numerous studies over the last few years say the average American family cannot afford a new car at ~$33k anyway so this is still a subset of the population.

 

[alseTrick]

The Model S isn't even a hatchback. It's still a sedan.

Hatchback:

Sedan:

I'll be danmed if I'm going to order one of these:

 

[ecarfan]

Front row on the X is adjustable. Second and third are not. Mostly because the seat belts are built in to the fancy monopoly seats.

I love Auto Correct...I assume you meant to write "mono post" seats, not "monopoly".

 

[ecarfan]

Other than the affectation of the gull wing (which will likely disappear in both TX and TX2),

Falcon Wing doors are fundamentally different in design and function than old style "gull wing" doors.

I do not believe that the Falcon Wings will "disappear" from the X design, soon or in future versions. Tesla will work out the bugs, and keep them. Based on the $3.5 difference in price between a base S 75D and a base X 75D, the Falcon Wings add just a couple of thousand dollars to the cost of the vehicle, but add a great deal of functionality.

 

[22522]

As the OP, my position has moved:

1. It has to look like the Model 3, sans moustasche.
2. I have to be able to afford it.

 

[EaglesPDX]

One thing that table fails to mention is that although hatchbacks are useful, they are ugly and I don't think Elon had any intention of making an ugly car. I'll be the first to admit my Prius is not the sexiest car in the world.

TS and T3 could easily be hatchbacks with no change in look. I think Musk even mentioned it was considered but glass roof and the hinge area and rear seating on the T3 presented conflicts. The elaborate trunk hinge mechanism seen on pix of the T3 shows the lengths Tesla went to to overcome the issue to try and make the trunk open wide enough to compensate for not having the utility of the hatchback.

Had Tesla gone with a metal roof with sun roof and hatchback the Tesla volkswagen it would have been perfect. Kind of like the decision to go with the elaborate gull wings on the TX. Exotic but not really that functional.

 

[EaglesPDX]

I do not believe that the Falcon Wings will "disappear" from the X design, soon or in future versions. Tesla will work out the bugs, and keep them. Based on the $3.5 difference in price between a base S 75D and a base X 75D, the Falcon Wings add just a couple of thousand dollars to the cost of the vehicle, but add a great deal of functionality.

Since the front doors have to open conventionally, the gull wing seems a pointless affectation with issues of added cost and reliability. Hopefully TX2 will go conventional to save cost and add reliability.

 

[ccutrer]

Since the front doors have to open conventionally, the gull wing seems a pointless affectation with issues of added cost and reliability. Hopefully TX2 will go conventional to save cost and add reliability.

"Seem"

I point you to Musk had enough of the Falcon Wing Doors yet? for endless discussion on them. Personally, I love them. They make life with 4 kids far easier. And so far reliability wise they're better than the "regular"-but-automatic front doors on the X (which I also love, in spite of one's tendency to want to fight with me occasionally).

 

[FlatSix911]

TS and T3 could easily be hatchbacks with no change in look. I think Musk even mentioned it was considered but glass roof and the hinge area and rear seating on the T3 presented conflicts. The elaborate trunk hinge mechanism seen on pix of the T3 shows the lengths Tesla went to to overcome the issue to try and make the trunk open wide enough to compensate for not having the utility of the hatchback.

Had Tesla gone with a metal roof with sun roof and hatchback the Tesla volkswagen it would have been perfect. Kind of like the decision to go with the elaborate gull wings on the TX. Exotic but not really that functional.

Here is a rendering of your dream car ... The Model 3 CUV hatchback