Cancelling my reservation

[Sportstick]

Ehhhhh... in that case, I forgive them for failing to meet my Elon hype-fueled expectations, but I don't regret cancelling since it doesn't seem like they just are ready for the mass market, of which I am a part. But they have succeeded at accelerating us toward sustainable transit. 10 years from now, good quality EVs from many manufacturers will be everywhere, and Tesla having ignited that fire should always be celebrated.

206er...you're officially famous...quoted today by Automotive News! Apparently, Reuters tried to find you!

Tesla delays, tax credit concerns spur sales of Chevy Bolts

February 16, 2018 @ 4:13 pm
Alexandria Sage
Reuters

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SAN FRANCISCO -- Some potential buyers of Tesla's long-delayed Model 3 sedan are concerned that they will miss out on big federal tax breaks and are looking for alternatives such as the Chevrolet Bolt, according to postings by would-be Tesla buyers on websites and interviews with Chevy dealers.

Last week Tesla told some holders of Model 3 reservations that they would not get their cars until 2019, eliciting howls of complaint on Tesla online fan forums. Tesla declined to comment.

General Motors dealers in California, the top U.S. market for electric vehicles, say brisk demand for Bolts is driven in part by frustrated Tesla buyers who are afraid they will lose a $7,500 electric vehicle tax credit if they wait. The tax credit drops in value and eventually disappears once Tesla sells 200,000 electric vehicles in the U.S., which Edmunds analyst Jeremy Acevedo expects Tesla to hit by the fall.

Tesla's Model 3 production troubles give rivals a chance to snatch customers. Tesla has said that the net number of refundable $1,000 reservations for Model 3s was stable late last year and grew in recent weeks, with hundreds of thousands in line. But some buyers are running out of time or patience.

Chevrolet dealer Yev Kaplinskiy said his dealership located between San Francisco and Silicon Valley sold 15 Bolts last weekend, after Tesla's latest delay.

"We're getting the Tesla people who wanted their Model 3," Kaplinskiy said. "We ask them, 'What other cars are you interested in?' They're mostly Tesla. But they want the car now. They don't want to wait." Some of the weekend buyers had turned to Chevy because of the most recent Tesla delay, he said.

Chevrolet sent an email to some prospective buyers this week, announcing in bold case, "Bolt EV: Now available."

The Bolt and Model 3 both start at about $35,000 and can travel more than 200 miles on an electric charge, although the Tesla and its CEO Elon Musk have received much more media attention.

While Tesla is struggling with production of the Model 3, GM sold 23,297 Bolts in 2017, with monthly sales mostly rising. Kelley Blue Book reported that Bolts are in relatively short supply as measured by days in inventory, which fell to 42 in January from a high of 65 in August. By comparison, the Nissan Motor Co. Leaf, an electric car with shorter range, was in inventory for 202 days.

Last Wednesday, some of those who made early reservations for the base version Model 3 received emails from Tesla saying their vehicles would not be delivered until early 2019, delayed from 2018.

'Extremely fleeced'

"I'm feeling extremely fleeced by Elon -- guy secured an interest free loan from me (reservation payment) for a car I hadn't seen before reserving, and just told me that it might be another year before I should receive it," wrote one person from Seattle, "206er," who was among a handful on TeslaMotorsClub.com saying they were cancelling reservations after the new delay.

Reuters was unable to contact the posters or confirm that they were cancelling reservations.

"My objective...was always a $35,000 Tesla for the price of a decently optioned Civic (with full federal tax credit)," 206er added.

Closing in on benchmark

Tesla is closing in on 200,000 U.S. electric vehicle sales thanks to the popularity of its luxury Model S sedan and Model X SUV. If it hits 200,000 U.S. electric vehicle sales in the third quarter, then the $7,500 tax credit would phase out in stages over 2019. GM also is getting close to the limit, having sold nearly 170,000 plug-in cars, including Bolts, Volts and others, through the end of last year, Green Car Reports estimated.

Sonoma Chevrolet General Manager Ken Scholl, said the subsidy had been a key draw for Bolts and a concern for those who had given up on a Tesla. "If I had 50 (Bolts) in December, we would have sold every one," he said.

 

[Chris350]

Canceling the order is something very understandable...

As I am still in.... But I can't help to feel a little disappointed...

Telsa needs the new customer to survive.... and that is something they are not getting now due to their release strategy. Allowing those who have purchased used Tesla's long after (some a recent as a month ago) the line standers and online orders, to jump the line and configure now is kind of a "slap in the face" of the new customer.

So, it is easy to see why so many have abandoned their quest to own a Model 3.

 

[ℬête Noire]

Reuters was unable to contact the posters or confirm that they were cancelling reservations.

@206er So did they attempt to contact you, or is that line really a deceitfully camouflaged "we were lazy to even try"?

Sure that's cynical of me to think that but then it's in an article that ledes with and spends most of it's time talking about how people are buying Bolts instead of waiting for the Model 3, then they quote @206er who's explicitly said in the the same thread multiple times he intends to go ICE.

The graph they open with, too, with that arrow on it? Not sure WTF that's suppose to be about, and then a quote that's not linked with that graph. Pardon me but this reeks of chop up bits and re-arrange them out of context into the story I want. ((Even if the gist of that story may be true.))

 

[Sportstick]

@206er So did they attempt to connect you, or that line really a deceitfully camouflaged "we were lazy to even try"?

Sure that's cynical of me to think that but then it's in an article that ledes with and spends most of it's time talking about how people are buying Bolts instead of waiting for the Model 3, then they quote @206er who's explicitly said in the the same thread multiple times he intends to go ICE.

The graph they open with, too, with that arrow on it? Not sure WTF that's suppose to be about, and then a quote that's not linked with that graph. Pardon me but this reeks of chop up bits and re-arrange them out of context into the story I want. ((Even if the gist of that story may be true.))

How would 206er know if they tried and failed to figure out his identity from a forum which won't release our personal information?

The Bolt launched in only a few selected states, which those who read Automotive News each week would know as industry insiders. The arrow merely points out when Bolt was first available nationally, so one can evaluate the sales volume ramp, knowing the degree of national distribution.

 

[N5329K]

A GM dealer trash talking Tesla. Who'd have expected that?
Robin

 

[ℬête Noire]

How would 206er know if they tried and failed to figure out his identity from a forum which won't release our personal information?

DM his account here.

The Bolt launched in only a few selected states, which those who read Automotive News each week would know as industry insiders. The arrow merely points out when Bolt was first available nationally, so one can evaluate the sales volume ramp, knowing the degree of national distribution.

Any rational conclusion to be found from that graph is "WTF, why are you trying to link these two things casually, there isn't even an apparent correlation?"

 

[ℬête Noire]

A GM dealer trash talking Tesla. Who'd have expected that?
Robin

The great part about that quote? "If I had 50 (Bolts) in December, we would have sold every one,"

Irony is wasted on the young.

 

[N5329K]

If I had just one Bolt, I'd sell it, too.
Robin

 

[ℬête Noire]

If I had just one Bolt, I'd sell it, too.
Robin

<-----Booo.

 

[Tforme]

If I had just one Bolt, I'd sell it, too.
Robin

I have one Bolt and one Tesla (MS). I’d probably sell the Tesla before the Bolt.

 

[JRP3]

Woz, is that you?

 

[McRat]

A GM dealer trash talking Tesla. Who'd have expected that?
Robin

In sales, you avoid discussions of other brands, or items you do not have in inventory for sale today. It's reduces sales.

You focus on building a rapport with the client, the benefits of what you have for sale, and try to create desire.

Trivia - While there is no such thing as a GM dealer, there was a car badged "GM" in modern times. They were sold through Saturn dealers. Name that car!

 

[JRP3]

EV1

 

[alloverx]

Many US cars from Chevy/Buick? had the little GM badge on the side for a year or so

 

[daniel]

Could be worse...try arguing with a "Flat-Earther" following the Falcon Heavy launch. Truly believe those people just love the argument...could care less about the issue at hand. They just love to see how they can manipulate a group of people just by arguing a point they know will make a large segment of the population take issue. Some people just need to get a hobby or something. (I was going to say get laid, but that's probably inappropriate. LOL!)

Dan

Not sure what Falcon Heavy has to do with it. The matter should have been settled by Sputnik. Of course, it was actually settled by the ancient Greeks, who not only determined that the Earth is a ball, but also calculated its size to a surprising degree of accuracy.

I remember Sputnik. That was soooooo cool! At the time there were voices saying that the Russians had faked it. But the folks who would later become NASA pointed out that it would have been harder to fake Sputnik than to actually put it into orbit. All Sputnik did was transmit radio beeps. But there are directional radio antennas that can determine what direction a signal is coming from, and it went past overhead, around and around.

I've always wondered if the flat earthers are just getting a kick out of trolling, or if they are really so blinded by belief that nothing could ever change their mind. I'd like to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they're just trolling. But at the same time, scientific literacy is in the dumps these days.

I'm sure there are a few that are holding to some deep set belief system, but I am convinced that the majority of them are just using a preposterous, already proven wrong theory that they will know will rile up all the other reasonable people of the world to insight as much argument and vitriol as they can. Just keyboard commandos getting their kicks sitting behind their computer screens and stirring the pot.

Dan

I suspect this as well. But I've been assured that there really are folks so detached from reality that they sincerely believe in it. A sincere belief in Flat Earth requires acceptance of an enormous number of coordinated conspiracies, involving at a minimum, tens of thousands of people, perhaps hundreds of thousands. The entire field of physics would need to be faked by a conspiracy of all the world's universities. All the world's governments would have to be involved and cooperating. Every professional and amateur astronomer would have to be involved. Etc., etc.

But Flat-Earthers don't think about that. They just have a generalized amorphous notion that "they" are lying to us, and they have answers to every objection. Those answers are utterly bogus, but they satisfy the Flat-Earthers themselves. The world of delusional conspiracy theories is a robust one, with many people simultaneously believing contradictory conspiracies.

Sorry for the long o/t rant.

I can understand people canceling their reservations, and repeated delays is a legitimate reason. I was not sure I'd get the car until my invite came, and even then I waited an additional week to order. But in my case the reason was the size of the car. It's much bigger than I really want.

 

[McRat]

Many US cars from Chevy/Buick? had the little GM badge on the side for a year or so

Chevy's have Chevy emblems, Buicks have Buick emblems. The EV1 had a GM emblem.

 

[ohmman]

Chevy's have Chevy emblems, Buicks have Buick emblems. The EV1 had a GM emblem.

I seem to recall that our ‘72 Nova had a GM emblem on the sill plate. Either that or the ‘69 LeMans. Could be mistaken but I remember that blue and silver.

 

[ModelNforNerd]

I seem to recall that our ‘72 Nova had a GM emblem on the sill plate. Either that or the ‘69 LeMans. Could be mistaken but I remember that blue and silver.

I'm old enough to remember "Fisher" stamped into the sill plates of some of my dad's cars. (They did, maybe still do, the body parts for GM).

 

[ℬête Noire]

I'm old enough to remember "Fisher" stamped into the sill plates of some of my dad's cars. (They did, maybe still do, the body parts for GM).

I'm old enough that it was stamped on my first car's sill.

But that's basically inside, you don't see that without opening the door. I would't call that "badging" in the proper sense.

Same with the GM "Mark of Excellence". The "GM Mark of Excellence" sticker was used even later than 1972, into at least the 80's. It's possible that GM used a sticker even later than that in occasional cases?

P.S. Ironically the "Mark of Excellence" tag line on those stickers got explicitly called out by the National Advertising Review Board.

 

[mattjs33]

There is a 3rd possible outcome. $35K car never ships.

Absolutely, 100% this, no doubt in my mind at all.

Anyone else remember the $49,900 Model S?