ummgood
Member
This still doesn't address 1k miles on the odometer, tires, etc... I do believe that self driving a short distance to a rail yard might be an option.
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This still doesn't address 1k miles on the odometer, tires, etc... I do believe that self driving a short distance to a rail yard might be an option.
Still an employee lot -
4/12/18 around 845 am - they are making new “aisles” to squeeze the cars in so they’re packed in tighter than before. One local truck leaving the lot with 2 others loading.
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voip-ninja
Give me some sugar baby
Would you take 1000 miles on your car at delivery if they discounted it $1000?
Love seeing the red glow of the glass roofs. As far as mileage on the new cars, we were happy to see only 4-5 miles on our S when it was delivered across the bay to the Palo Alto store/service center. Don't know if they are moving S/Xs over there any more for deliveries but it was a nice option for us than traveling up the East Bay.
Waiting4M3
Active Member
Depends on the car, right now for the M3, I'd take it even without any discount
The "destination" charge has to apply uniformly across the US, regardless of where or how the car is delivered. Even people taking delivery at the factory have to pay it. I'd be really surprised if there was a way to reduce the cost of the car based on how you choose to get the car delivered that would not be directly in conflict with the required destination charge.
Reddy Kilowatt
Active Member
This is why they need trains to haul the large quantities. RR's could show up with 100 rail cars if there were room to spot them at Richmond. what the old car loading was 6 lanes with 6 cars each holding ? 12 cars for 432 cars per load. UP could switch out the cars faster than Tesla could load them. I know my car said in Alabama for at least 2-3 weeks waiting for a truck ride up to VA. Sorry Elon trains are faster and more efficient than your semi's.
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voip-ninja
Give me some sugar baby
If that's true they still might be able to do it by way of a rebate or some such.
The idea is that Tesla, even with the huge volume they do, is paying somewhere in the neighborhood of $200-$500 to get these cars shipped to the DCs. If they could eventually get some of the cars to self deliver (via caravan, etc.) that is a massive savings for them.... one way to make the idea more palatable to consumers is to find some way of passing the cost savings along to make up for the wear.
It, for example, might only make sense to do this for deliveries within 500 miles of the factory and perhaps they could rebate back to the customer $.x for each mile on the car at delivery.
I suppose it's possible. Not being a CPA or tax lawyer, I have no idea what wording is used or how it is applied in practice. But it seems that since the destination charge has to be the same, by law, regardless of pickup, then there is no rebate possible as well. The law may have been written vague enough that some could interpret it one way, but it would be up to the courts to enforce it, and the federal government could step in and muddy things up.
Yes, I think it would be nice if they could do that, and perhaps the laws can change in the future, but for now, I'm sure this is just a pipe dream.
Waiting4M3
Active Member
I think rail is a possibility as volume goes higher. I also think that rail could be used for incoming parts as well. Given that there are 2 parts storage buildings built recently for M3 production, one of them located where the old rails were, and the cars also need somewhere to park while they queue up for a train full, it would be interesting to see how/where Tesla would configure the rail if they do use them in the future.
Still rooting for this:
Realistically, with the self driving features, the 3 can load itself onto an arbitrarily long train without the problems of getting drivers back for the far end.
As far as I've been able to research this is a common misconception. The only thing legislated regarding delivery charges is that they have to be listed as a separate line item on the invoice. There is no law saying they have to be charged or that they have to be the same for all buyers. I've tried to find "the law" that says it several times and all I can ever find are people referring to it but no one ever has a source or link to it.
Waiting4M3
Active Member
The Vert-a-Pac seems inapplicable for FSD self-loading.. The tri-level Stac-Pac configuration may be possible fro FSD self-loading, that allows 12 cars per rail car. If FSD is limited to one-level loading then that limits to 4 casr per rail car.
At 5k/wk M3 + 2k/wk MS/X, 1000 cars a day, that translates to 83 rail cars in Stac-Pac configuration, and 250 rail cars in single level configuration, each rail car is 89 ft long in your link. So we're looking at 1.4 miles to 5.6 miles of rail cars depend on 1-level or 3-level loading. Tesla Fremont factory is ~1/2 mile long, so it may not be that simple of a slam dunk. Average train in the US is ~2km long (6600 ft), so probably need multiple trains a day, so scheduling also is not simple.
Another factor is the loading speed. A lot of the loading time is not just driving the car onto a truck or a rail car, but strapping it down. In a rail configuration I don't know if it's practical to drive cars into multiple rail cars in parallel, I can't visualize it. I can only see cars entering at one end of the train, with platforms connecting one rail car to the next, so cars can sequentially drive themselves into the train. That also means that each car needs to get strapped down sequentially after they reached their designated position in the train.
Compare this to trucks, where multiple trucks can be loaded in parallel, I'm not sure if the train would be necessarily quicker.
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ummgood
Member
If they asked me right now I would say no. The reason is I think they are having a hard enough time delivering a car that doesn't need rework after delivery. All I want is for more risk in that my car would need rework.
Maybe if they got everything all flawless and there were not any reports of finish issues on the cars at delivery AND others tested it before me then I might consider it.
Frankly spending 60k on a brand new car I want it to not have 1k miles or I would be looking at an inventory car. To me the car would be used when I received it.
Yah, Vert-a-pac is not so FSD friendly, but I like it
Wow, now that you mention it, 1,000 3's are basically 3 miles long..
Fremont is going make over 3 miles of car a day!
I mean WHOA!
(yes other OEM make lots of cars, they are also impressive)
Waiting4M3
Active Member
Yeah that is mind-boggling isn't it?Yah, Vert-a-pac is not so FSD friendly, but I like it
Wow, now that you mention it, 1,000 3's are basically 3 miles long..
Fremont is going make over 3 miles of car a day!
I mean WHOA!
(yes other OEM make lots of cars, they are also impressive)
Sorry I was editing my post after you quoted/replied, also added some comments regarding the sequential nature of train loading, vs parallel truck loading. I think trains definitely offer some interesting potential, but practically there are lots of issues to work out.
Yeah that is mind-boggling isn't it?
Sorry I was editing my post after you quoted/replied, also added some comments regarding the sequential nature of train loading, vs parallel truck loading. I think trains definitely offer some interesting potential, but practically there are lots of issues to work out.
No way to get cars into the middle without splitting the train or having special ramp cars. The cars would drive on from the back at 1 MPH ( only takes an hour to load 1 mile at single level). The load speed is so slow, it could be done with summon
. I'm not sure they actually strap the cars down due to the train tracks being pretty smooth. Images show deep wheel pockets for some transports.
Waiting4M3
Active Member
I wish I could rate Informative, Like, and Funny at the same time. Imagine 3 miles of cars crawling at 1MPH.No way to get cars into the middle without splitting the train or having special ramp cars. The cars would drive on from the back at 1 MPH ( only takes an hour to load 1 mile at single level). The load speed is so slow, it could be done with summon
I'm not sure they actually strap the cars down due to the train tracks being pretty smooth. Images show deep wheel pockets for some transports.
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