Best Selling Car Sept21, future models and the competition

[DrJFoster]

I can only think some people aren't up to date with the competition.

For interest and I had 5 mins free, I downloaded the Kia EV6 brochure to see the differences

800v charging
Vehicle to load/3 pin plug
Adaptive headlights
Relaxion seats (their word not mine)
Ventilated seats
Augmented reality HUD
360 surround view
Rear cross traffic collision avoidance
Android auto/Carplay
Option for a opening sunroof

On the Tesla side
Supercharging network (if that counts as a car feature)
TuneIn
Spotify
And now I'm struggling..

Things like heat pumps, app access, speed limits, active cruise, lane keep, forward collision, I read somewhere lane change assist, seem to be across both.

The Model 3 goes like a scalded cat but if thats not your priority there's a lot of great competition out there now if you want to look for it.

 

[candida]

On the Tesla side
Supercharging network (if that counts as a car feature)

Having had a miserable experience blocked from superchargers by ICE queues and having to resort to the public charging network over the last fortnight, I still wouldn't buy an EV that wasnt a Tesla. But I confess to trepidation about what the sales figures are doing to the supercharger network's useability.... am fielding a lot of questions from colleagues without driveways about practicability of using superchargers as a primary charging solution, and in only a year have noticed the ones around me are more often nearly full than nearly empty which is a direct reversal

 

[Jason71]

I can only think some people aren't up to date with the competition.

For interest and I had 5 mins free, I downloaded the Kia EV6 brochure to see the differences

800v charging
Vehicle to load/3 pin plug
Adaptive headlights
Relaxion seats (their word not mine)
Ventilated seats
Augmented reality HUD
360 surround view
Rear cross traffic collision avoidance
Android auto/Carplay
Option for a opening sunroof

On the Tesla side
Supercharging network (if that counts as a car feature)
TuneIn
Spotify
And now I'm struggling..

Things like heat pumps, app access, speed limits, active cruise, lane keep, forward collision, I read somewhere lane change assist, seem to be across both.

The Model 3 goes like a scalded cat but if thats not your priority there's a lot of great competition out there now if you want to look for it.

I still think Tesla is ahead on range and efficiency. Lets face it it's only highway range that anyone with off-street parking cares about and the motorway range tests on the EV6's sister car the Ioniq5 that I have seen are not that impressive. never seem to dip below 300wh/m which an M3 will comfortably beat in summer. That coupled with the the lack of superchargers is still going to be a big factor for some.
Will also be interesting to see how the residuals compare. The M3s are unbelievably good right now
Agree that others have the Tesla beat on features though. Some of which are just software! Too much time spent on FSD and not enough on stuff for actual drivers recently.

 

[page3]

EV6/Ioniq 5 are in a different market segment (SUV/Crossover) so aren’t direct competition IMO. Certainly I discarded them early on in my EV search, however good they may be.

 

[AndrewGR]

I think the crowds at Superchargers must be a peak time thing. I don’t have to commute or travel to holiday destinations on Fridays. I have never seen a Supercharger station that has been as much as 50% full in nearly 2 years of ownership. I have seen a fair few out of order public chargers though.

 

[Strategium]

I can only think some people aren't up to date with the competition.

For interest and I had 5 mins free, I downloaded the Kia EV6 brochure to see the differences

800v charging
Vehicle to load/3 pin plug
Adaptive headlights
Relaxion seats (their word not mine)
Ventilated seats
Augmented reality HUD
360 surround view
Rear cross traffic collision avoidance
Android auto/Carplay
Option for a opening sunroof

On the Tesla side
Supercharging network (if that counts as a car feature)
TuneIn
Spotify
And now I'm struggling..

Things like heat pumps, app access, speed limits, active cruise, lane keep, forward collision, I read somewhere lane change assist, seem to be across both.

The Model 3 goes like a scalded cat but if thats not your priority there's a lot of great competition out there now if you want to look for it.

I am always surprised that people seem more interested in choosing a car by whether you can get ventilated seats and other gadgets and 'features' (anyone for real dead animal skins on the seats !?) where I would rather prioritise more fundamental issues, such as overall safety rating, something that Tesla has always excelled in. Since you say you are struggling to think of anything else Tesla offers, might I suggest; no-cost over the air software updates with improvements in features, performance, efficiency...? Range, acceleration, battery performance and convenience are also strong points of Tesla, at least in my opinion. That said, I think it will be excellent if the market soon is filled with new EV models from other car makers that offer genuine alternatives to choosing a Tesla. I don't want to see a near monopoly in future for Tesla or anyone else, but I am unlikely to want to buy something other than a Tesla just to get fancy seats and an opening sunroof. YOMV

 

[browellm]

People in different value judgements shock.

 

[Jason71]

I am always surprised that people seem more interested in choosing a car by whether you can get ventilated seats and other gadgets and 'features' (anyone for real dead animal skins on the seats !?) where I would rather prioritise more fundamental issues, such as overall safety rating, something that Tesla has always excelled in. Since you say you are struggling to think of anything else Tesla offers, might I suggest; no-cost over the air software updates with improvements in features, performance, efficiency...? Range, acceleration, battery performance and convenience are also strong points of Tesla, at least in my opinion. That said, I think it will be excellent if the market soon is filled with new EV models from other car makers that offer genuine alternatives to choosing a Tesla. I don't want to see a near monopoly in future for Tesla or anyone else, but I am unlikely to want to buy something other than a Tesla just to get fancy seats and an opening sunroof. YOMV

I'm generally with you but to be fair cooled vented seats are great

 

[GeorgeSymonds]

I'm generally with you but to be fair cooled vented seats are great

Isn’t the whooppee cushion an AI inspired, high tech software version of the same thing?

 

[Mr Miserable]

The monthly stats don't really tell the story. Tesla backload nearly all their deliveries into the quarter end, so March, June, September and December are nearly always 'record' months.

It's great they are selling lots of cars, but it needs to be put in proper perspective.

The actual story is that the Tesla policy up to now is to sell all the cars they make in a given quarter in the same quarter and since the cars are presently made in China the not inconsiderable shipping time means that the delivery wave peaks in the 3rd month of the quarter. The factories have always prioritised exports at the beginning of the quarter which gives the impression of a deliberate policy of backloading the final month.
Now that there are little to no exports from the Fremont factory there should be a much more even supply of cars to the US domestic market and a commensurate reduction in the end of quarter wave.
As Berlin fires up, Europe should also see a fairly even supply of Model Ys throughout the quarter.
For the UK, that wave will continue however Tesla are now much more financially capable of carrying the one-off hit to the balance sheet of several thousand cars being at sea over a quarter-end and so we might see that 'penalty' being taken sooner rather than later. The figures for 2021 are already looking good and kick starting 2022 with several thousand 'bonus' cars might be tempting.
We shall see....

 

[browellm]

The actual story

I'm not sure that contradicts anything I said though, does it?

What the press and owners' club Twitter feed are doing is using a monthly chart with 'record' sales, when there are two big monthly troughs following. Their implications is that the four monthly bumps happen every month. They don't report the null months.

 

[GeorgeSymonds]

I'm not sure that contradicts anything I said though, does it?

What the press and owners' club Twitter feed are doing is using a monthly chart with 'record' sales, when there are two big monthly troughs following. Their implications is that the four monthly bumps happen every month. They don't report the null months.

If the press and the owners club did tweet that Tesla sales have plummeted to virtually zero this month then it would be balanced, as it is it giveds a very false impression. Either way, there is an implication in what they're saying that is not currently true, and while I can understand the owners group getting all excited (because the people that run it are like that), the press should know better.

The stat isn't sales anyway, but deliveries, and while that might appear to be the same thing, in the current world they are very different things with peaky deliveries and long waiting lists the two are quite different.

 

[Peter 224]

EV6/Ioniq 5 are in a different market segment (SUV/Crossover) so aren’t direct competition IMO. Certainly I discarded them early on in my EV search, however good they may be.

I wanted a quick saloon car, not a SUV: the Model 3 Long Range is exactly that. I didn't was a cross-over/SUV.
Based on 3500 miles of very mixed and often quite childishly quick acceleration my car has averaged 258 wh/mile and has fallen on some trips to 230 wh/mile. How many other EVs can beat that?

There are few sport saloon EVs yet, the BMW i4 M50 is a good contender.

I worked through the BMW i4 configurator to match the performance and specification of my M3 Long Range that cost me £49,650. The i4-M50 comes out at a shade under £70k.
Similar performance to the M3, but inferior range, BMW Claim 2.8 - 3.4miles/kwh. My experience is 4 to 4.5 miles/kwh.
It is all about battery management and BMW are behindTesla.

And finally... BMW M series cars have a very "germanic" ride. One reason I moved form AMG to Tesla was that I was fed up with the ride.

 

[Jason71]

It is all about battery management and BMW are behindTesla.

I disagree. I don't think its about one thing I think its about lots of things. and Teslas may be just a bit better in many of them.
drag co-efficient
weight
motor design/efficiency
battery cell form factor/ pack construction
battery heating cooling
battery chemistry
regen
Ocovalve heat pump

battery management ( and you can lump heating and cooling into that if you like) may well be on the list but I don't think its the be all of any advantage that Tesla has in range / efficiency.

 

[Jason71]

If the press and the owners club did tweet that Tesla sales have plummeted to virtually zero this month then it would be balanced, as it is it giveds a very false impression. Either way, there is an implication in what they're saying that is not currently true, and while I can understand the owners group getting all excited (because the people that run it are like that), the press should know better.

The stat isn't sales anyway, but deliveries, and while that might appear to be the same thing, in the current world they are very different things with peaky deliveries and long waiting lists the two are quite different.

I have seen many press articles along the line of "Tesla Sales collapse in UK/Norway/France/etc" ( delete as applicable) invariably in the first month of a quarter. I have never been sure if they are disingenuous or just uninformed. very boring though.

 

[init6]

I disagree. I don't think its about one thing I think its about lots of things. and Teslas may be just a bit better in many of them.
drag co-efficient
weight
motor design/efficiency
battery cell form factor/ pack construction
battery heating cooling
battery chemistry
regen
Ocovalve heat pump

battery management ( and you can lump heating and cooling into that if you like) may well be on the list but I don't think its the be all of any advantage that Tesla has in range / efficiency.

All those items except the first 2 or 3 could come under the heading of Battery Management.

 

[Jason71]

All those items except the first 2 or 3 could come under the heading of Battery Management.

Hmm, thinking management should get the credit for everything. You don't work in management by any chance do you ?

 

[Hurricane]

anyone for real dead animal skins on the seats !?

Yes, me! The “vegan leather” looks and feels nothing like any leather I’ve ever seen. I’m not vegan or vegetarian, I don’t have a problem with animal products and I’d much rather the inside of my M3 was covered in lots and lots of real cow.

 

[sparkymark75]

I won’t miss the enforced service schedules with typical manufacturers. I was looking at the VW iD cars before the Model 3 and beside everything being an option, it was the insistence that I still had to hand the car over to them every year for a “service” that annoyed me.

 

[GeorgeSymonds]

I won’t miss the enforced service schedules with typical manufacturers. I was looking at the VW iD cars before the Model 3 and beside everything being an option, it was the insistence that I still had to hand the car over to them every year for a “service” that annoyed me.

Yearly? I thought most manufacturers had moved to a 2 year cycle. I'd agree 12 months, especially if you don't do many mega miles, is way over the top, but I have no problem with someone having a good look at my car every 2 years, applying any updates and doing service bulletins and checking things you can't see or detect and add the odd bit of lubrication where needed, change a filter or two etc. so long as it is priced sensibly. (I know filters can be done yourself, but I didn't work hard to earn good money to then worry about saving a few pounds and my knuckles getting someone elese to do it). I go to the dentist every year even though I don't have any aches or pains from them - I kind of see it as the same.