China Market situation and outlook

[GravityPull]

3rd set of rears? Even with the 21s this seems high. Are they wearing evenly? May need a suspension adjustment.

Perhaps I should have Suspension checked. However the people at my Tesla service center seem to think this is not unusual for 21 inch wheels combined with softer tires.

Recently sources told me Tesla is creating an alternative to towing Model S's who have flat tires. Instead the tow truck will carry a marked or colored tire to be used as a temporary. Car owner I believe will be expected to return the tire after he gets his replacement(s).

 

[NigelM]

I have a Model S that is approaching 37k miles and since I have the 21 inch wheels the tires do wear out fast......
I'm on my 3rd set of rear tires and 2nd set of front tires!

That's not unusual. 'Soft' continentals with moderately vigorous driving style. My wife has almost the exact same numbers.

 

[AlMc]

Hi Bbarret

I'm pretty sure the quote was 15k -25k: "Finally, Tesla has very expensive tires that last 15,000 – 25,000 miles at most....."

I have a Model S that is approaching 37k miles and since I have the 21 inch wheels the tires do wear out fast. The instant torque and regenerative braking and possibly the air suspension contribute to this.
I'm on my 3rd set of rear tires and 2nd set of front tires!
I understand tires on the 19 inch wheels last MUCH longer.

That's not unusual. 'Soft' continentals with moderately vigorous driving style. My wife has almost the exact same numbers.

I agree with Nigel here and there are several threads about this as well if all coming to talk about the China Market but want to see more info about the tires. I do not have as muich experience as some with sport coupes and tires but the ones I have had, IF they have low profile performance tires, usually get about 10-12K of wear before needing replacment.

I have the 21s on my S. I have a total of almost 14K on my car.....about 4k of that is on my winter tires...so about 10K on the OEM Michelins....I have about 7/32nds of an inch on the rears. I expect to get another 4-5 K out of them, at best.

If you want better wearing tires then you should go with the 19s IMO.

 

[hummingbird]

Renting an EV in Beijing China:

Renting An Electric Car In China: Can It Really Be This Cheap Easy? | CleanTechnica

 

[maoing]

Tesla starts offerting 60kwh model in China. It costs about $105K. It makes model S more affordable for middle class chinese. Also chinese usually don't care the range as much as american do because they tend to live in city area. So even 60kwh model should be sufficient for city transportation.

 

[c041v]

maoing - Does the website offer any indciation of delivery times for the various trim levels? Might clear up some of the uncertainty around the recent changes on the US website.

 

[maoing]

I didn't find such information from Tesla Chinese website. But the delivery is faster than expected for sure. It could be the original expection is set too conservative and the reality is much better. Another owner reported his car is in shipping now and could be delivered in June, while his original expection is to get the car by end of 2014, 6 months leap. http://club.autohome.com.cn/bbs/thread-c-2357-30276186-1.html

maoing - Does the website offer any indciation of delivery times for the various trim levels? Might clear up some of the uncertainty around the recent changes on the US website.

 

[maoing]

It's reported Hongkong Model S reservation number is greater than 300.
http://finance.sina.com.cn/world/20130826/105516562458.shtml?qq-pf-to=pcqq.discussion

 

[Cankooo1]

Something worth mentioning: BYD Deputy General Manager Li Yunfei, said in event that Tesla entering China is a good thing for BYD and it does not compete with BYD market segments.
In 2004 in Beijing Auto show, BYD exhibited concept of pure electric vehicle, but it was treated as a joke. After 10 years the electric vehicles are becoming the biggest highlight in China. He pointed out that the second half of 2013 the perception for the new energy vehicles has improved further and the participation of Tesla is playing important role.
http://money.163.com/14/0521/10/9SOUHO9R00253B0H.html

Tesla has underlined they are not competing with BYD but with foreign manufacturers and now it’s confirmed from the other side.
After all the fact that even local manufacturers do not see Tesla as competition is really positive in my opinion and it will have additional effect on Tesla reputation in China.

- - - Updated - - -

By the way there is wide media coverage for the 60kWh option. A lot of articles and social media attention which is not actually something new as each news for Tesla is translated and reported in China and in my personal sense there are a lot more articals per news in China than outside.

 

[AlMc]

Something worth mentioning: BYD Deputy General Manager Li Yunfei, said in event that Tesla entering China is a good thing for BYD and it does not compete with BYD market segments.
In 2004 in Beijing Auto show, BYD exhibited concept of pure electric vehicle, but it was treated as a joke. After 10 years the electric vehicles are becoming the biggest highlight in China. He pointed out that the second half of 2013 the perception for the new energy vehicles has improved further and the participation of Tesla is playing important role.
http://money.163.com/14/0521/10/9SOUHO9R00253B0H.html

Tesla has underlined they are not competing with BYD but with foreign manufacturers and now it’s confirmed from the other side.
After all the fact that even local manufacturers do not see Tesla as competition is really positive in my opinion and it will have additional effect on Tesla reputation in China.

- - - Updated - - -

By the way there is wide media coverage for the 60kWh option. A lot of articles and social media attention which is not actually something new as each news for Tesla is translated and reported in China and in my personal sense there are a lot more articals per news in China than outside.

Cankoo.....Thanks for all your info, past and present. Tesla originally offered a 40KW battery option. They discontinued it because of lack of demand for that size battery in the NA market. Do you think introduction of a 40KW pack would have a large positive effect on sales in China? Would reduce price about $10K.

 

[Cankooo1]

Cankoo.....Thanks for all your info, past and present. Tesla originally offered a 40KW battery option. They discontinued it because of lack of demand for that size battery in the NA market. Do you think introduction of a 40KW pack would have a large positive effect on sales in China? Would reduce price about $10K.

Hi AIMc , I am really interested how the things will develop in China and it is pleasure to share the information in the forum. Anyway I am not sure about the 40kWh version. For sure there will be a people who really like the car but it’s still too expensive and price decrease will make it more affordable. In my opinion those are more like 3-gen buyers and fraction of the current customer base for Tesla in China. Actually at the moment where the demand is extremely superior then the production there is no reason for Tesla to do it.

I am a lot more interested in what kind of incentives Tesla could receive in China. There are many reasons for tesla to be incentivized or at least less limited than others. We saw how easy and fast they do received the free plates and each one decrease the total price of Tesla with more than $10K. this was really small sign from the Chinese perspective (worth tens of millions). If they decide to support Tesla with real incentives like removing or reduce the import tax (before the factory in China, considering that anyway the numbers of delivered cars will not be that big this is a real possibility) in this case the effect will be really big.

 

[JRP3]

I don't see Tesla ever reintroducing the 40kWh model. No good reason to do so, plus Elon would then be selling a product he called "crippled". Not a great marketing strategy, to say the least.

 

[maoing]

"Crippled" in NA but might be not true for China. The living habit are quite different in two markets. Assuming 40kWh model can provide 140 miles range, it's still very practible to drive the car within the city and do daily charge. Another point of view is with the battery cell constraints, one 85kWh pack can be split into two 40kWh packs, so certain mix with 40kWh and 60/85kWh means the production bump.

I don't see Tesla ever reintroducing the 40kWh model. No good reason to do so, plus Elon would then be selling a product he called "crippled". Not a great marketing strategy, to say the least.

 

[MikeC]

"Crippled" in NA but might be not true for China. The living habit are quite different in two markets. Assuming 40kWh model can provide 140 miles range, it's still very practible to drive the car within the city and do daily charge. Another point of view is with the battery cell constraints, one 85kWh pack can be split into two 40kWh packs, so certain mix with 40kWh and 60/85kWh means the production bump.

I recall he also called it "sluggish" and "not compelling" - it wasn't just the range, it was the performance.

 

[eepic]

I don't see Tesla ever reintroducing the 40kWh model. No good reason to do so, plus Elon would then be selling a product he called "crippled". Not a great marketing strategy, to say the least.

I agree, it would add another major skew to deal with and talk about, and Elon would have to backtrack on his definition of "compelling". If they were looking to increase sales in the short term they would simply accelerate the MX launch.

 

[JRP3]

Plus soon enough the Gen3 car will make the 40 completely irrelevant.

 

[SteveG3]

I recall he also called it "sluggish" and "not compelling" - it wasn't just the range, it was the performance.

yes, I think the phrase he used a few times was "it was like driving a hobbled horse," so I don't see a 40 kWh comeback (though I can see the point upthread that the urban Chinese market might well have more demand for a 40 than North America did).

 

[Bgarret]

I wonder if this will have a beneficial impact on Chinese demand??

U.S. automakers win big trade victory over China

 

[MikeC]

I wonder if this will have a beneficial impact on Chinese demand??

U.S. automakers win big trade victory over China

Just read that and was curious, too. Anyone know what the tariff is on a Model S right now?

 

[RobStark]

Just read that and was curious, too. Anyone know what the tariff is on a Model S right now?

Tariff is 21.5% .

Then there is a Value Added Tax plus other taxes.