Is now the worst time to accept delivery of a Model Y?

[Jman841]

Just to put everything in perspective, My Model Y AWD (Long story, but it's the 4680 structural pack build) is scheduled to be delivered in November. Looking at everything going on at the moment, it seems like this could be the worst time to accept delivery of a Model Y for the following reasons:

1. Prices are at all time high and both new and used car demand is weakening very quickly. The idea that Tesla prices only go up is false and most likely will be coming down soon. Used Tesla prices are trending down quickly as we speak.
2. Removal of ultrasonic sensors with a yet to be proven alternative.
3. HW3 is over 3 years old with HW4 likely coming soon. Given that Tesla is betting everything on Camera + AI, HW4 will most likely be a significantly improvement over HW3 over the next 5-10 years if holding the car for a while.
4. Customer Service nightmares seem to become commonplace.
5. Quality control on the Model Y is still hit or miss, I was hopeful that Austin produced model Y's would be much better, but there seems to be a ton of reports of Quality issues out of Austin as well.

For an over $60k car, this seems like it's going to be a major regret at the moment. We do need a second car, but I'm considering something else for now and see what the EV Market is like in a year or so. Just would love other peoples thoughts who own the car and I realize this is going to be a biased audience towards Tesla.

 

[StayGreen]

Just to put everything in perspective, My Model Y AWD (Long story, but it's the 4680 structural pack build) is scheduled to be delivered in November. Looking at everything going on at the moment, it seems like this could be the worst time to accept delivery of a Model Y for the following reasons:

1. Prices are at all time high and both new and used car demand is weakening very quickly. The idea that Tesla prices only go up is false and most likely will be coming down soon. Used Tesla prices are trending down quickly as we speak.
2. Removal of ultrasonic sensors with a yet to be proven alternative.
3. HW3 is over 3 years old with HW4 likely coming soon. Given that Tesla is betting everything on Camera + AI, HW4 will most likely be a significantly improvement over HW3 over the next 5-10 years if holding the car for a while.
4. Customer Service nightmares seem to become commonplace.
5. Quality control on the Model Y is still hit or miss, I was hopeful that Austin produced model Y's would be much better, but there seems to be a ton of reports of Quality issues out of Austin as well.

For an over $60k car, this seems like it's going to be a major regret at the moment. We do need a second car, but I'm considering something else for now and see what the EV Market is like in a year or so. Just would love other peoples thoughts who own the car and I realize this is going to be a biased audience towards Tesla.

I think you have very good observations. An additional reason would be that Elon does not care what we want in the car. Example: 1.) Sirius/XM access. I guess he does not use so it is not on the car. I use it a LOT. 2) All cars are silly fast. I and many others may prefer less power and more range from the pack. 3) Tesla can/does change delivery dates often. We should have the same ability.

 

[CDrury]

I think you have very good observations. An additional reason would be that Elon does not care what we want in the car. Example: 1.) Sirius/XM access. I guess he does not use so it is not on the car. I use it a LOT. 2) All cars are silly fast. I and many others may prefer less power and more range from the pack. 3) Tesla can/does change delivery dates often. We should have the same ability.

I agree with Jman841 on everything except USS. I picked up my MYP in mid October and was happy it still had USS. I live in NYC and parking in lots and on the street is an everyday thing and USS shows me every inch. Not sure what it will be like without that. Hopefully all good. He is also right on pricing. There are a LOT of Y's now available and prices won't go up. Look at China for instance where they are discounting. Seems to me it would be best to wait til new HW comes out if you can wait.

 

[Jman841]

I guess I was right and should have taken my own advice of OCT/NOV being the worst time to take delivery of a Tesla Model Y/3. I took delivery of a Model 3 RWD on November 19th, now the car is discounted $7500 up front with 10,000 free supercharging miles.

That sucks.

 

[eleison]

I guess I was right and should have taken my own advice of OCT/NOV being the worst time to take delivery of a Tesla Model Y/3. I took delivery of a Model 3 RWD on November 19th, now the car is discounted $7500 up front with 10,000 free supercharging miles.

That sucks.

Don't feel so bad. Those that are buying now, will also regret their decision when they see lower prices in the future. If Tesla can do a $7500 discount and not bat an eye, you know they can go lower. After all, Tesla has the highest profit margin of all car makers right now. The $7500 (and probably even higher) discount will come back next year. Imagine that and the tax credit combined. It's almost like the model 3 will be the "cheap, affordable" EV that people initially thought it was going to be before people got all crazy and thought a $60k car designed initially as an ecobox was a "good buy". Things are just balancing itself out.

Sandy munro thinks Tesla can cut the Model 3 down to ~$30k:

( around the 7:30 mark)

With the bad economy, Tesla will have to lower their margins while trying to keep demand up... Their gigafactories cannot stand still.. Fun times... Sanity is coming back to the car market.

 

[Jman841]

A

Don't feel so bad. Those that are buying now, will also regret their decision when they see lower prices in the future. If Tesla can do a $7500 discount and not bat an eye, you know they can go lower. After all, Tesla has the highest profit margin of all car makers right now. The $7500 (and probably even higher) discount will come back next year. Imagine that and the tax credit combined. It's almost like the model 3 will be the "cheap, affordable" EV that people initially thought it was going to be before people got all crazy and thought a $60k car designed initially as an ecobox was a "good buy". Things are just balancing itself out.

Sandy munro thinks Tesla can cut the Model 3 down to ~$30k:

( around the 7:30 mark)

With the bad economy, Tesla will have to lower their margins while trying to keep demand up... Their gigafactories cannot stand still.. Fun times... Sanity is coming back to the car market.

All the more reason my prediction when I made this post back in October was dead on. Used values of Model 3's are going to tank so I'm really screwed, couldn't even sell it if I wanted to.

Oh well, lesson learned.

 

[Daekwan]

Don't feel so bad. Those that are buying now, will also regret their decision when they see lower prices in the future. If Tesla can do a $7500 discount and not bat an eye, you know they can go lower. After all, Tesla has the highest profit margin of all car makers right now. The $7500 (and probably even higher) discount will come back next year. Imagine that and the tax credit combined. It's almost like the model 3 will be the "cheap, affordable" EV that people initially thought it was going to be before people got all crazy and thought a $60k car designed initially as an ecobox was a "good buy". Things are just balancing itself out.

Sandy munro thinks Tesla can cut the Model 3 down to ~$30k:

( around the 7:30 mark)

With the bad economy, Tesla will have to lower their margins while trying to keep demand up... Their gigafactories cannot stand still.. Fun times... Sanity is coming back to the car market.

I still wouldn't buy it now. They have raised the price of these cars by as much as $17,000 in the past 20 months.. all due to temporary factors!!

My guess is the price of a new Model Y drops all the way down to $55K by the end of 2023.. and it will still qualify for the new $7,500 credit. That will bring us right back around what the price of an MYLR was in March 2021.. $48,990.

 

[Kokukenji]

For those that lost crazy value with their purchase in such a short span, we can just tell ourselves that we're helping the economy. You're welcome.

 

[Woggon]

I still wouldn't buy it now. They have raised the price of these cars by as much as $17,000 in the past 20 months.. all due to temporary factors!!

My guess is the price of a new Model Y drops all the way down to $55K by the end of 2023.. and it will still qualify for the new $7,500 credit. That will bring us right back around what the price of an MYLR was in March 2021.. $48,990.

You may be right, but my guess is that they’ll end a bit higher. I ordered a 2nd Y in February to replace my first Y which I received in December of 22. I was locked in at $58K.

I declined the first two delivery attempts in November/December.

My car was showing “cancellation pending” as I refunded my first two cars.

They’re were happy to reactivate my order this morning, and I will take delivery of a 2023 Model Y Long Range on Monday for $52,990 with 10,000 miles of super charging.

I have to think they would have declined to do this had it still not been profitable.

 

[str1der2903]

You may be right, but my guess is that they’ll end a bit higher. I ordered a 2nd Y in February to replace my first Y which I received in December of 22. I was locked in at $58K.

I declined the first two delivery attempts in November/December.

My car was showing “cancellation pending” as I refunded my first two cars.

They’re were happy to reactivate my order this morning, and I will take delivery of a 2023 Model Y Long Range on Monday for $52,990 with 10,000 miles of super charging.

I have to think they would have declined to do this had it still not been profitable.

I agree with you. I’m in a similar boat as you. My effective price will be $54K with a black paint and a tow. This is nearly the same price I would have paid if I bought the vehicle at launch price (around $50K) so I am unsure if there will be a better deal than this.

To put things into perspective, all those saying prices will come down - they likely will but there is a difference between “price reduction” and discounts. The former rarely happens as it has massive impact - it will bring a lot of vehicle owners “underwater” on their loans, it will destroy Tesla’s credibility on pricing, etc. etc. Discounts - which is a category where you can include the tax credits as well - are used all the time to drive volume, which is what tesla is doing today. When you go resell a car, what matters is the purchase price (minus discounts) - everyone buying this month is not going to get a bad resale value on their vehicle because they got discounts. Rather, they will profit in 2-3 years - assuming prices remain constant - on resale value as a % of what they pay today.

It is in Tesla’s best interest to not reduce “headline price” while playing around with discounts as needed. Given the vehicles will likely qualify for $7,500 credits, there really isnt a good EV alternative in the market today. For example, a Model Y at $65K comes down to $57.5K with the credit - why would Tesla reduce prices, when they are one of the only EV makers with access to the credit? I understand not everyone will qualify for the credit, but a high percentage will - so it makes zero sense for tesla to reduce list prices in the near term.

 

[eleison]

I agree with you. I’m in a similar boat as you. My effective price will be $54K with a black paint and a tow. This is nearly the same price I would have paid if I bought the vehicle at launch price (around $50K) so I am unsure if there will be a better deal than this.

To put things into perspective, all those saying prices will come down - they likely will but there is a difference between “price reduction” and discounts. The former rarely happens as it has massive impact - it will bring a lot of vehicle owners “underwater” on their loans, it will destroy Tesla’s credibility on pricing, etc. etc. Discounts - which is a category where you can include the tax credits as well - are used all the time to drive volume, which is what tesla is doing today. When you go resell a car, what matters is the purchase price (minus discounts) - everyone buying this month is not going to get a bad resale value on their vehicle because they got discounts. Rather, they will profit in 2-3 years - assuming prices remain constant - on resale value as a % of what they pay today.

It is in Tesla’s best interest to not reduce “headline price” while playing around with discounts as needed. Given the vehicles will likely qualify for $7,500 credits, there really isnt a good EV alternative in the market today. For example, a Model Y at $65K comes down to $57.5K with the credit - why would Tesla reduce prices, when they are one of the only EV makers with access to the credit? I understand not everyone will qualify for the credit, but a high percentage will - so it makes zero sense for tesla to reduce list prices in the near term.

Tesla needs to do everything possible to keep demand high. Even if that means lowering the headline price.

The price of a tesla will be based on "macroeconomic" factors. The discounts/prices can go as low as they can until tesla can no longer makes a profit.

Tesla wants to be the Walmart of EV so that they can help the environment and transition away from petrol.. that was elons stated goal.

 

[tangible1]

Tesla needs to do everything possible to keep demand high. Even if that means lowering the headline price.

The price of a tesla will be based on "macroeconomic" factors. The discounts/prices can go as low as they can until tesla can no longer makes a profit.

Tesla wants to be the Walmart of EV so that they can help the environment and transition away from petrol.. that was elons stated goal.

Tesla needs it's profit margins to continue to build out factories and scale up. That takes money.
Prices will not be changed to accommodate wishful thinking.

 

[Daekwan]

I agree with you. I’m in a similar boat as you. My effective price will be $54K with a black paint and a tow. This is nearly the same price I would have paid if I bought the vehicle at launch price (around $50K) so I am unsure if there will be a better deal than this.

To put things into perspective, all those saying prices will come down - they likely will but there is a difference between “price reduction” and discounts. The former rarely happens as it has massive impact - it will bring a lot of vehicle owners “underwater” on their loans, it will destroy Tesla’s credibility on pricing, etc. etc. Discounts - which is a category where you can include the tax credits as well - are used all the time to drive volume, which is what tesla is doing today. When you go resell a car, what matters is the purchase price (minus discounts) - everyone buying this month is not going to get a bad resale value on their vehicle because they got discounts. Rather, they will profit in 2-3 years - assuming prices remain constant - on resale value as a % of what they pay today.

It is in Tesla’s best interest to not reduce “headline price” while playing around with discounts as needed. Given the vehicles will likely qualify for $7,500 credits, there really isnt a good EV alternative in the market today. For example, a Model Y at $65K comes down to $57.5K with the credit - why would Tesla reduce prices, when they are one of the only EV makers with access to the credit? I understand not everyone will qualify for the credit, but a high percentage will - so it makes zero sense for tesla to reduce list prices in the near term.

Because Tesla already did lower prices. Several times in fact. Go check the price history of literally any vehicle Tesla has sold and the price has both gone up & down. Even the Model S had is price lowered to $69,420 when Lucid launched their Air.

Tesla Model S Long Range Plus Now Starts At $69,420 In U.S.

As Tesla's Elon Musk announced, the prices of the Tesla Model S Long Range Plus in the U.S. were further lowered to $69,420 (from $71,990).

insideevs.com

It’s amazing you guys seems to understand why they price goes up. But seem to think it’s impossible for the price to come down!

I say this as a person who bought my MYSR when Tesla formally lowered the price from $41,990 to $39,990 in February 2021. You know just last year! Wasn’t even that long ago lol.

Tesla reduces Model 3 and Model Y prices, now starts under $37,000

Tesla has updated its pricing across the Model 3 and Model Y lineup, including price cuts for both base models....

electrek.co

 

[eleison]

Tesla needs it's profit margins to continue to build out factories and scale up. That takes money.
Prices will not be changed to accommodate wishful thinking.

How much more can they scale up before their inventory starts to burst at the seams? I think they already scaled up enough -- especially if the demands lessens which according to many people, it has. From what I hear, Telsa gets more and more efficient at making cars as each day passes.. They are at full capacity now, and cars seeming are piling up fast.

 

[tangible1]

How much more can they scale up before their inventory starts to burst at the seams? I think they already scaled up enough -- especially if the demands lessens which according to many people, it has. From what I hear, Telsa gets more and more efficient at making cars as each day passes.. They are at full capacity now, and cars seeming are piling up fast.

Elon is on Twitter saying he's about to announce the location of a new factory (probably Mexico.....)
Apparently Elon isn't thinking like you.

 

[Yelobird]

How much more can they scale up before their inventory starts to burst at the seams? I think they already scaled up enough -- especially if the demands lessens which according to many people, it has. From what I hear, Telsa gets more and more efficient at making cars as each day passes.. They are at full capacity now, and cars seeming are piling up fast.

Has anyone Considered that they Want to reduce demand lead time? There is absolutely NO benefit to having a 6-12 month lead time on High value products!
1. As viewed by Thousands of posts, people get all bent out of shape when they wait this long.
2. Even with materials Rocketing 60% higher for many materials they Still had to honor 6 month old sale costs.
3. Building at Full throttle Does create QC issues. Fact.
4. It is dam near Impossible to make Any product change no matter how small with twisting everyone’s panties in a knot
5. Long leads for Any product eliminate irrational buying decisions.
7. Price increases or decreases light people up.
8. Long leads force symmetrical build plans meaning only making Red cars (etc) for a month straight.

There are actually Many more reasons this is something they Want to slow down! Raising prices didn’t help.

 

[Daekwan]

Has anyone Considered that they Want to reduce demand lead time? There is absolutely NO benefit to having a 6-12 month lead time on High value products!
1. As viewed by Thousands of posts, people get all bent out of shape when they wait this long.
2. Even with materials Rocketing 60% higher for many materials they Still had to honor 6 month old sale costs.
3. Building at Full throttle Does create QC issues. Fact.
4. It is dam near Impossible to make Any product change no matter how small with twisting everyone’s panties in a knot
5. Long leads for Any product eliminate irrational buying decisions.
7. Price increases or decreases light people up.
8. Long leads force symmetrical build plans meaning only making Red cars (etc) for a month straight.

There are actually Many more reasons this is something they Want to slow down! Raising prices didn’t help.

It's crazy that you list those things because you are absolutely right!

That list contains a bunch of reasons why car manufacturers switched to an independent dealer sales & service model 75 years ago. The other reason was that WW2 ended and you had a bunch of soldiers coming home with pockets full of money and couldn't wait to spend it on something.

 

[Happy Hippo]

I still wouldn't buy it now. They have raised the price of these cars by as much as $17,000 in the past 20 months.. all due to temporary factors!!

My guess is the price of a new Model Y drops all the way down to $55K by the end of 2023.. and it will still qualify for the new $7,500 credit. That will bring us right back around what the price of an MYLR was in March 2021.. $48,990.

wishful thinking.

 

[Yelobird]

It's crazy that you list those things because you are absolutely right!

That list contains a bunch of reasons why car manufacturers switched to an independent dealer sales & service model 75 years ago. The other reason was that WW2 ended and you had a bunch of soldiers coming home with pockets full of money and couldn't wait to spend it on something.

And forgot the happy #9 item. To Stop the car flipper market and price sellers.

 

[str1der2903]

Because Tesla already did lower prices. Several times in fact. Go check the price history of literally any vehicle Tesla has sold and the price has both gone up & down. Even the Model S had is price lowered to $69,420 when Lucid launched their Air.

Tesla Model S Long Range Plus Now Starts At $69,420 In U.S.

As Tesla's Elon Musk announced, the prices of the Tesla Model S Long Range Plus in the U.S. were further lowered to $69,420 (from $71,990).

insideevs.com

It’s amazing you guys seems to understand why they price goes up. But seem to think it’s impossible for the price to come down!

I say this as a person who bought my MYSR when Tesla formally lowered the price from $41,990 to $39,990 in February 2021. You know just last year! Wasn’t even that long ago lol.

Tesla reduces Model 3 and Model Y prices, now starts under $37,000

Tesla has updated its pricing across the Model 3 and Model Y lineup, including price cuts for both base models....

electrek.co

I’m not a Tesla fanboy so the ‘you guys’ doesn’t apply to me

I don’t think we are talking about a $2-3K price adjustment here which was the case with you. I would not be surprised if that happened. Lots of things have changed since you bought your car which you’re ignoring
1. Tesla qualifies for the credit again in 2024
2. Inflation has been rampant - Tesla took a LOT of price but general inflation (over two years) has been 10-15% in total. MYLR AWD was priced at $49.9K at its lowest. Apply 10-15% to that and the headline price just in line with inflation (overall) is $55-57K. Current price of $65K is too high - which I agree with as I’m jumping on the $7.5K discount as well else wouldn’t have bought the car
3. You ignore the fact that almost a year worth of Tesla inventory was sold at $58-65K (for the base model Y). Tesla reducing headline price significantly (let’s say to $57K) will bring a lot of those loans underwater, including cars financed by them!
4. It’s been two years since the whole EV craze spiked - name one solid EV competitor in this price range (after accounting for the tax credit) that can offer a similar tech experience and charging network as Tesla.

 

[Daekwan]

I’m not a Tesla fanboy so the ‘you guys’ doesn’t apply to me

I don’t think we are talking about a $2-3K price adjustment here which was the case with you. I would not be surprised if that happened. Lots of things have changed since you bought your car which you’re ignoring
1. Tesla qualifies for the credit again in 2024
2. Inflation has been rampant - Tesla took a LOT of price but general inflation (over two years) has been 10-15% in total. MYLR AWD was priced at $49.9K at its lowest. Apply 10-15% to that and the headline price just in line with inflation (overall) is $55-57K. Current price of $65K is too high - which I agree with as I’m jumping on the $7.5K discount as well else wouldn’t have bought the car
3. You ignore the fact that almost a year worth of Tesla inventory was sold at $58-65K (for the base model Y). Tesla reducing headline price significantly (let’s say to $57K) will bring a lot of those loans underwater, including cars financed by them!
4. It’s been two years since the whole EV craze spiked - name one solid EV competitor in this price range (after accounting for the tax credit) that can offer a similar tech experience and charging network as Tesla.

The laws of supply & demand work both ways. And you guys (yes, you) have to consider the same temporary socio-economic factors that sent the price of Teslas flying up.. have changed.. and are the same ones that will send the price back down.

So let's play this game. Let's look at exactly why the price of a Model Y went from $48,990 to $65,990 ($17,000 difference) in the span of only about 15 months. Why were people waiting over a year to get a new Model Y delivered? Let's break this down factor by factor.

1. Supply: Somewhere around the spring/summer of 2021 the wait to get a new Model started expanding beyond the typical 2-4 week which was pretty common for the past year. What has changed since then.. is that Tesla doubled the number of factories and currently has 4 factories running full speed. This has quadrupled the production of Model Y's available on any given day. Last year Tesla produced 500,000 cars annually.. meanwhile, their current run rate is now around 2 Million vehicles annually and they are still expanding & increasing production. And that's before the recent talk about their plans to open another factory in Mexico. It is also before we talk about the used market. There is an absolute glutton of low mileage Model Y's sitting around many used dealerships. A lot of these vehicles are almost brand new as they were bought and quickly flipped for a slight profit. The days of anyone waiting a long time to get a Model Y are over and they are NEVER coming back. You can't have it both ways. You can't say that Tesla is going to build upwards of 5-10M vehicles a year AND expect those vehicles to keep selling for record-high prices. The reality is the Model Y is a $50K vehicle.. that is based on the Model 3.. a $40K vehicle. It was always intended to be a high-volume, low-cost entry vehicle. Outside of the hatchback, height risers, extra speakers, foglights, and a few other cosmetic bits.. a current Model Y isn't that different than the promised $35,000 Model 3.
2. Gas Prices: It's easy to forget what just happened earlier this year. Russia's invasion of Ukraine basically doubled the price of gasoline and people started panicking. Gas got as high as $7 in some parts of the US alone. Of course, any incredibly dramatic spike in gas prices will cause the same dramatic spike for vehicles that dont use gas.. aka EVs. And this is what really set off the chain reaction of people lining up to buy a $70K Model Y. Even better, if did buy a $70K Model Y you turn right around and sell local dealer for $75K. None of this remains true. Gas prices have fallen so much in just the past few months, they are already UNDER the $3 mark in half of the US. If you think I'm lying go take a look for yourself: AAA Gas Prices. Granted nobody knows what's going to happen to gas prices going forward. But there is no reason to think they won't continue to go even lower.. after all that's been the weekly trend for about the past 6 months. Gas prices are literally lower right now.. than they were a year ago.. before the war in Ukraine even started. With the war being what it is & mid-term elections over.. there are just not many people speculating on gas prices right now. So once again we get right back to the point where the ONLY reason Tesla was able to sell so many EVs at extremely high prices.. is that gas prices were also at extremely high prices. Gas prices were literally the HIGHEST they have ever been in history. This was a temporary condition.. and it is no longer the case. If anything it's the opposite.
3. COVID/Chip/Component shortage: Tesla/Elon has gone on record mentioning that the cost of many components had increased during the COVID/chip/component shortages experienced from 2020-2022. And while there is a lot of truth here (everything got more expensive).. the reality is many of those components and chips are readily available again. For example radar. I have long believed the only reason that Tesla removed radar from the 3/Y.. switched to Vision only is they simply could not source enough radar units to continue supplying every new 3/Y with radar. Their engineers were able to get Vision-based AP to work well enough that they could remove it. Lo & behold.. in 2023 radar is already expected to return to the 3/Y made with the HW4 upgrade. Once again we see that temporary factors were just that.. Temporary. Practically everything that became hard to find in 2020-2022 (toilet paper, lumbar, metals, new vehicles) is back in stock again and starting to pile up.
4. Interest rates: Simple math is all you need to realize that financing any new vehicle is significantly more expensive than what it was a year ago.. even if the sales price has remained the same. Like many people, I was able to finance my new car purchase for around 2% in 2021. Interest rates right now on new Teslas are running around 7% (I've seen as high as 7.5%). The monthly payment on a $70K car loan financed for 72 months at 2% APR is $1,032. You would pay around 4,342.23 in interest to finance this vehicle over the life of the loan. Take the same factors and change the APR to 7% and the monthly payment jumps to $1,193. The payment jumps a noticeable $160 every month.. but the interest on the loan balloons to an absolute eye-popping $15,926.99. $16,000 in interest.. could buy another freaking car! And now you need to get approved. Higher APR means more restrictive loans. Banks put tighter limits on approvals, and debt-to-income ratios and require bigger down payments.
5. Competition: Name one solid EV competitor to Tesla. How about everybody? Open your eyes and look around. Everybody now has a brand new one for sale. Startups that were no-names just a few years ago.. to carmakers who have been in business for over 100 years.. have all announced shiny new EVs. So yes.. the Supercharger network is absolutely awesome and I'll be the first to admit it works better than everything else. But the real question is how many people really care about that? The reality is most EV owners do most of their charging at home. Many non-Tesla EVs come with 3 years of free charging on CCS networks. And some EVs now charge so fast.. you can go from 0-80% in 18mins. Biden has $ 5 billion to spend on expanding EV charging infrastructure. I own a Tesla + CCS1 adapter.. and use my wife's ID.4 free charging promo code to charge my Tesla absolutely free at any EA CCS charger. I can tell you with first-hand experience that while it has headaches, that having the option to charge free/cheap/350kW is so lucrative that I dont bother looking for Superchargers anymore on long-distance trips. And that's just charging networks. There are still plenty of reasons to choose a non-Tesla EV. Prominent features that are flat out missing on Tesla 3/Y vehicles like better build quality & noise insulation, comfort/adjustable suspension, CarPlay & Android Auto, 360 bird's eye view, ventilated seats, opening sunroofs, truly luxurious interiors, physical buttons, extra screens, drivers cockpit, HUD, etc. Hell even if you wanted an EV truck.. Rivian, GMC, and Ford all have been selling an EV truck over the past year, while Tesla has yet even to start production on the Cybertruck. And if the Chinese EV brands ever get their way in the American market.. they will do exactly to Tesla in the US.. what they have done to Tesla in China.
6. Tax Credit: It is awesome that the tax credit has now returned to Tesla. Many people love this credit because they carry heavy tax burdens and most of us hate paying too many taxes. That's exactly how we ended up with the ID.4. We didn't even want the car, we wanted the tax credit lol. That said the game has changed once again. New salary limits.. new vehicle limits.. even new battery construction limits.. mean that the credit is no longer as open or attractive as it was before. Only very specific versions of the 3/Y will qualify for it and there are still questions to exactly how much of the $7,500 applies to any given purchase. I think this is one of the reasons why see Tesla was able to clear out so much existing inventory with the $7,500 incentive + 10K free Supercharger miles promo.. As many people who were questioning if the NEW tax credit would apply to their particular situation.. hopped off the fence rather than wait around to Jan 1st to find out. Also, I dont think other manufacturers are just going to stand on the fence and watch Tesla scoop up the new credits. Ford already has its Mach-E positioned to take advantage.. and VW has started building the ID.4 in Tennessee so that its 2023 model year qualifies. Expect the Koreans to start building their EVs in America. What Im saying is sooner, rather than later the tax credit will apply to more EVs than just Tesla.. and it puts everybody on an even playing field again.
7. Elon: We dont want to talk about it, but we absolutely got to talk about it. His Twitter acquisition and his actual Tweets have turned off more potential customers than big oil or Tesla competitors ever could. The biggest enemy of Tesla's reputation used to be spreading FUD & anti-EV myths.. nows it's become Elon's ego. The more he spirals out of the control and continues attacking his largest target audience (liberals & progressives) the more people want to spend their money as far away from him as possible. Feel free to debate this, but also take a look a look how much the stock price of TSLA stock has fallen this year due to Elon's behavior, business decisions, and welcoming of hate-friendly speech. As I wrote this the stock is down $122 from a high of $405.. and has lost 70% of its value just this year alone. He is killing the company faster than anyone thought possible.