Is the model 3 too common now?

[angelman]

Kind of a dumb question but anyway. The model 3 is absolutely everywhere here in Los Angeles. The garage at work is stuffed full of them. I still give a cheery wave, let them into traffic in front of me etc. but I have to admit I feel a little less "special". My cars have always been a bit quirky so never had a problem finding them in a parking lot. The other day I tried to get into my car and after fiddling with the door handle wondering why it didn't open (no doubt activating sentry mode) I realised it wasn't my car..
I wonder also if the simple design, limited colour palette and only a single model available (no new exterior updates to the body, no special editions etc) kind of highlights the cars more than say a Prius. It really is phenomenal how many are on the road right now. There have been threads about the statement of Tesla saying this is the best selling car by revenue. Many people said this was nonsense but it's really no mean feat to get so many high value cars on the road in such short time. It's easier to sell millions of cheaper/mid range cars/trucks than high value cars.
It's an interesting situation because you have luxury car owners (BMW/Porsche/Mercedes) buying the car, but then you have less affluent people trading up from a Prius etc. often pushing their budgets to the limit. I wonder how the two different groups of owners perceive the car. For those coming from less fancy cars I imagine it must seem almost unimaginably luxurious, for those coming from high ends cars, maybe the interior seems cheap, the doors flimsy etc.

 

[willow_hiller]

Come visit the East coast! I consider it a good week if I see another Tesla.

On your point about perceptions, I've always tried to wave to Model S and X owners I pass, but I've never received even a glance in return... So it's possible there is some sort of socio-economic divide in enthusiasm.

 

[WilliamG]

It certainly depends on where you live. Of course in LA it's going to common as much. In Seattle they're quite common, but nowhere near as much as LA.

 

[Rockster]

I want them to be as common as the Honda Accord, BMW 3 series, and Toyota Corrolla, combined. And, yes, I own TSLA stock.

 

[newtonfb]

East coast here...seeing more and more but still not "all over the place" the closer I get to Boston the more I see, but out in the boonies where I live I'm still one of the only ones

 

[angelman]

Of course I should add that it's thrilling to see the cars are becoming so common at least on West coast and large metropolitan areas like LA. I feel that as more and more people get used to the car then it will start a tidal wave, a wave that is already and visibly building up and getting larger every day. It's no mean feat to become such a visible presence in a city with as many cars as LA.

 

[Sully151]

Meh, just cover it in bumper stickers and call it a day

 

[TomServo]

Try living in the mid-west, I see more Corvette's than Tesla's. But on the up side I bet the Super Chargers are empty.

 

[fajitamondays]

I'm about 45 minutes outside of Seattle, and Teslas are still fairly rare in my neck of the woods. It's a treat if I see at least one other Tesla on a local drive. Still haven't seen a Model 3 with the red brake calipers out here! I did see a matte black wrapped X at the local grocery store yesterday, which was pretty neat.

 

[ElectricLee]

not at all, bring on MORE!

 

[mbdionio]

its getting more common here in Austin but not a lot in San Antonio.
People would stop and stare in San Antonio.

 

[jjrandorin]

In southern california they are pretty common, and getting increasingly more common by the month. Of course, there is always the phenomenon that when you buy a particular car, you tend to see more of that specific car around (perception)... but there really ARE a lot of model 3s around here everywhere... Especially los angels and san diego.

To OP, I am one coming from BMW (as it says underneath my name). The interior of the model 3 performance I have seems pretty spartan, but I have gotten used to it. It definitely does NOT feel "premium" even though they call it their premium interior.

I love how the car drives, and I got used to the lack of dials etc much faster than I thought I would. As for looks, thats why there is an entire cottage industry of people providing wraps, etc for Teslas.

My own Model 3, I have carbon fiber wrap on the mirror caps, and the rear diffuser area, a chrome delete around the windows and on the logo's and camera repeaters, red tesla logos on the camera repeaters on the side of the car, 20% tinted windows (as well as carbon fiber vinyl wrap on the center console inside as well as the dash).

I can pick my model 3 out from multiple others as blue seems to be somewhat rare in general, and mine is the only one I have seen in my area with carbon fiber mirror caps and the chrome delete.

At some point tesla should sell some of these things. An example of this is, on the model 3 performance they should make the "chrome delete" a part of that specific model of the car. Most "performance" versions of cars do not have chrome everywhere, and most buyers who want to buy the "sporty" version of the car likely dont want chrome everywhere. If tesla was smart, they would do what some other manufacturers do and offer certain trims / colors / features only on the higher trim.

That (at least in the US) helps people decide to move up to more profitable (for tesla) trims; Tesla just cant do it because they need the efficiencies of installing the same thing on basically every car. if they offered a couple different exterior colors only on the performance model, or a "carbon fiber internal pack" they could make a lot of money on that stuff.. especially if they made it a feature you had to move up model to get.

I dont think there are too many, unless one was hoping to have a "rare" car. In that case, model S and X would have been a better choice, because as price increases, the number of people who can afford them decrease, and there is quite a bit of difference in someone who can afford a 40-50k car and someone who can afford a 90-120k car, as an example. Model S and X will always be more "rare" due to price point.. unless the pricepoint comes down.

 

[kayleia]

Try living in the mid-west, I see more Corvette's than Tesla's. But on the up side I bet the Super Chargers are empty.

Teslas are a pretty common sighting in the suburbs of Chicago, at least where I am. I see an average of 4-5 every day (not including my own) on my 4 mile roundtrip commute.

 

[Dana1]

Kind of a dumb question but anyway. The model 3 is absolutely everywhere here in Los Angeles. The garage at work is stuffed full of them. I still give a cheery wave, let them into traffic in front of me etc. but I have to admit I feel a little less "special". My cars have always been a bit quirky so never had a problem finding them in a parking lot. The other day I tried to get into my car and after fiddling with the door handle wondering why it didn't open (no doubt activating sentry mode) I realised it wasn't my car..
I wonder also if the simple design, limited colour palette and only a single model available (no new exterior updates to the body, no special editions etc) kind of highlights the cars more than say a Prius. It really is phenomenal how many are on the road right now. There have been threads about the statement of Tesla saying this is the best selling car by revenue. Many people said this was nonsense but it's really no mean feat to get so many high value cars on the road in such short time. It's easier to sell millions of cheaper/mid range cars/trucks than high value cars.
It's an interesting situation because you have luxury car owners (BMW/Porsche/Mercedes) buying the car, but then you have less affluent people trading up from a Prius etc. often pushing their budgets to the limit. I wonder how the two different groups of owners perceive the car. For those coming from less fancy cars I imagine it must seem almost unimaginably luxurious, for those coming from high ends cars, maybe the interior seems cheap, the doors flimsy etc.

My 3 replaced a BMW X6. Prefer the 3. Originally test drove the X and S (didn’t know 3 existed) until saw it in showroom. Minimalist interior won my heart immediately. I put diamond stitched mats in with contrast stitching for a little pizazz but otherwise love the interior as is.

 

[goldengate]

Northern California and I see them constantly... though rarely see my unicorn (silver, long range).
I am happy every time I see one. To me it means even if Tesla goes out of business, there will be aftermarket support provided by someone for all these cars on the road. And each one I see is one more step towards fixing this climate mess we've created.

 

[jjfash]

Still pretty rare in the Albany area. I drive about 25 minutes per day and it's about a 50/50 chance I see any model Tesla. When I do, there are typically 50+ and don't even look my way. I am seeing more Model 3s now that the SR has come out, but not as many as I expected by now.

 

[st_o_p]

Fairly common in the NYC suburbs

 

[bmah]

Kind of a dumb question but anyway. The model 3 is absolutely everywhere here in Los Angeles. The garage at work is stuffed full of them. I still give a cheery wave, let them into traffic in front of me etc. but I have to admit I feel a little less "special". My cars have always been a bit quirky so never had a problem finding them in a parking lot. The other day I tried to get into my car and after fiddling with the door handle wondering why it didn't open (no doubt activating sentry mode) I realised it wasn't my car..
I wonder also if the simple design, limited colour palette and only a single model available (no new exterior updates to the body, no special editions etc) kind of highlights the cars more than say a Prius. It really is phenomenal how many are on the road right now. There have been threads about the statement of Tesla saying this is the best selling car by revenue. Many people said this was nonsense but it's really no mean feat to get so many high value cars on the road in such short time. It's easier to sell millions of cheaper/mid range cars/trucks than high value cars.

If you want your car to stand out, wrap it, do a chrome delete, put some custom wheels on it, or something like that.

If you want to feel special, remember that you (and yes, those thousands of other Model 3 owners too) are still early adopters of EV technology compared to everybody else who's still driving on dinosaur juice.

It's an interesting situation because you have luxury car owners (BMW/Porsche/Mercedes) buying the car, but then you have less affluent people trading up from a Prius etc. often pushing their budgets to the limit. I wonder how the two different groups of owners perceive the car. For those coming from less fancy cars I imagine it must seem almost unimaginably luxurious, for those coming from high ends cars, maybe the interior seems cheap, the doors flimsy etc.

On that note: I once saw a talk by Marc Tarpenning (one of the founders of Tesla and coincidentally a former co-worker) where he said that when the Prius came out in the early 2000s, Toyota thought it would reduce sales of its similarly-sized cars (e.g. Corolla). It actually had the effect of cannibalizing sales of the higher-end Toyota/Lexus models. People who could have afforded nicer cars didn't buy them, because they wanted the Prius specifically. Also I remember a time when people criticized the Prius for being too expensive for its size class, due to the hybrid drive system, perceived costs of battery replacement, etc.

Anyway, there are a bunch of Model 3s in my town, but the Models S and X were also pretty common before that. Roadsters less so, unfortunately!

Bruce.

 

[GeoX750]

Teslas are a pretty common sighting in the suburbs of Chicago, at least where I am. I see an average of 4-5 every day (not including my own) on my 4 mile roundtrip commute.

I note you say "Teslas," not specifically the Model 3. In the northern suburbs, I see still more S/Xs than 3s. 3s have a lot of room to grow in the Chicago area.

 

[davewill]

...
.... For those coming from less fancy cars I imagine it must seem almost unimaginably luxurious, ...

Mid-priced cars are pretty nice these days. There isn't that all that much difference, especially if you weren't driving the base model. An upgraded Corolla, for instance, has TACC, "leather" seats and power everything.