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Late entry level M3 (out of general)

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Intl Professor

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May 17, 2013
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The Wild Boars is the name of the soccer team trapped hiking in Tham Luang Cave, Thailand. To ad another example to the six degrees of separation hypothesis, my wife is from a village near Mae Sai, the nearest subdistrict of government. Her sister teaches the Chinese language at her high school were she graduated years before. She has been put on alert as others have to be on call for translation services if needed. Now unlikely she will be needed. It happens the Wild Boar scheduled for the ill-fated hike did not join his comrades because he was called to work; he is a student at her high school.

We do not nor is it at all likely we shall have any information of interest that is not already reported or will be. I'm working on a piece which will be controversial for a US audience on the different cultural discussion of this saga, a military junta regime with some of the most corrupt police forces in the world, responds, in comparison to our drama with separation and then attempted uniting of children by our most advanced country in the world renowned for attracting immigrants—especially those seeking asylum from repressive governments. (Of course at best that might be acceptable on the Market Politics thread and background radiation distance from topic here.)

But a snippet.

As part of this effort I've been doing some research and uncovered signs of Thai superiority in reporting and another which on the face of it has some earth shaking news which may be based solely on rumor or symptomatic of government intervention in controlling the Thai press.

As one would expect my wife has her iPhone tuned to You Tube channels of TV from her native country while I watch and read what we have to offer here in the English language. Overall, the picture is the same. CNN may have stolen graphics from the Bangkok Post; the diagram of the way they guys are swum through the water, for example, are very similar as one might suspect.

A positive from Thailand was a TV a reporter interviewing a foreign journalist covering the saga. He was from Germany or the Netherlands and spoke fluent English with but a bit of accent. It was not British. The Thai reporter asked him how things were playing in his country, why this was of interest to his viewers, etc. I was very impressed with his fluent use of our language. Then she summarized what he said in English, or elaborated on something, in the staccato pace of a sports reporter in equally impeccable English with no perceptible accent! Then she continued in Thai for her local audience.

Now the earthquake news from the Bangkok Post elaborating on the first four rescued: "That fourth person taken to hospital was the boys' football coach, Ekapol Chantawong, 25. He was said to be in one of the worst conditions because he had given the boys his share of the group’s meagre food supply before they were found.”

There's always confusion in reporting. This may have been based on solid reporting or it might be another effort at cover-up when later in the article, the four boys rescued are referenced and not the first rescue of the coach. I could understand the government's interest in suppressing this. There is an overwhelming need to arrange the release of the boys with care for the feelings of the families and friends. I've heard reference to the families refusing to budge from the scene until all are released because they are in solidarity with each other and do not even know if their son was released until all are. I haven't the foggiest whether this is true, a sign of Buddhist patience in the face of tragedy, or just messaging by the Thai government. Further casting doubt on this reporting is a letter published in many western sources about the affected families pulling for the coach and stating he is blameless.

Narongsak Osottanakorn, recently removed as Governor of Chiang Rai Province, is directing the operation overall and doing a great job. Announced before this drama, social media in Thailand credited his removal to refusing to authorize unneeded projects like building an elephant statue in the middle of a river. (Apparently 70 percent of the cost was for graft.) Sounds like a typical bureaucratic ploy—put someone in charge of a likely-to-fail operation so he gets the blame. Apparently Thai media caught Narongsak chewing out some police executive for turning away volunteers of food, supplies, etc., without first extracting a license from him! The locals love Narongsak.

Source from Bangkok Post:
First 'Wild Boars' emerge from nightmare cave ordeal. View our policies at Bangkok Post: Terms and conditions of use and Bangkok Post: Republishing policy. © Post Publishing PCL. All rights reserved.
 
I've been thinking and thinking about this for days, but I don't get it. Tell me again why Tesla is creating demand for the model 3 p version by having test drives when they haven't even gone through the whole back long from the first day reservation holders? EVERY SINGLE ONE of those reservation holders should be built first, no matter what option, before they try and grab new customers.

I've been waiting over 2 years now, I would like my car. They didn't specify in 2016 who would get what version first. We've been through they had to make the high margin version cars first from the res. holders, but now, they are going to skip over people who want THE CAR THEY ADVERTISED IN 2016 for new people who want a p version?

35k model so far is VAPORWARE. Where is it!?!?! I loved everything about this company and spread their name wherever I went, but now, I'm a disgruntled future customer.

Give me all the "disagrees" you want to, but I don't care. I'm frustrated to no end and can't believe its turned out this way.
 
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I've been thinking and thinking about this for days, but I don't get it. Tell me again why Tesla is creating demand for the model 3 p version by having test drives when they haven't even gone through the whole back long from the first day reservation holders? EVERY SINGLE ONE of those reservation holders should be built first, no matter what option, before they try and grab new customers.

I've been waiting over 2 years now, I would like my car. They didn't specify in 2016 who would get what version first. We've been through they had to make the high margin version cars first from the res. holders, but now, they are going to skip over people who want THE CAR THEY ADVERTISED IN 2016 for new people who want a p version?

35k model so far is VAPORWARE. Where is it!?!?! I loved everything about this company and spread their name wherever I went, but now, I'm a disgruntled future customer.

Give me all the "disagrees" you want to, but I don't care. I'm frustrated to no end and can't believe its turned out this way.


The base M3 was always going to be bottom of barrel. If your that upset, I would recommend canceling and buying something you can get your hands on now. That being said, I just took delivery of ours 3 was ago and it is so much better than I expected!
 
Turned out pretty much as I expected, I'm not the least bit surprised. I'm also waiting for a SR RWD car. Tesla needs to make money, I'm not sure why you fail to grasp this simple concept.
Tesla needs to make money? Now? Why not with the S or the X? I've been a shareholder since 2012, come on....

Next, I gave 1k to them for free basically then. **** that. That's a scheme. THEY are the ones who advertised the 35k version, nobody else. It's not that hard to understand either.
 
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The base M3 was always going to be bottom of barrel. If your that upset, I would recommend canceling and buying something you can get your hands on now. That being said, I just took delivery of ours 3 was ago and it is so much better than I expected!
ha! can't because nobody else has a 200 mile EV cheap enough and Tesla bragged about it in 2016, that's why I put down a deposit and was ready. WHERE IS IT?
 
I've been thinking and thinking about this for days, but I don't get it. Tell me again why Tesla is creating demand for the model 3 p version by having test drives when they haven't even gone through the whole back long from the first day reservation holders? EVERY SINGLE ONE of those reservation holders should be built first, no matter what option, before they try and grab new customers.

I've been waiting over 2 years now, I would like my car. They didn't specify in 2016 who would get what version first. We've been through they had to make the high margin version cars first from the res. holders, but now, they are going to skip over people who want THE CAR THEY ADVERTISED IN 2016 for new people who want a p version?

35k model so far is VAPORWARE. Where is it!?!?! I loved everything about this company and spread their name wherever I went, but now, I'm a disgruntled future customer.

Give me all the "disagrees" you want to, but I don't care. I'm frustrated to no end and can't believe its turned out this way.
I understand your frustration, but I don't think this was a surprise to those who were paying attention.

You realize the target schedule was accelerated after the reservations opened, right? Folks putting their initial reservation were expecting initial production in 2019, and then they'd have to start working through the backlog from there.

Tesla aimed to accelerate that by a full 2 years.. and there were bumps along the way and they haven't hit the rate they've wanted yet. But if they had held to the original schedule the current build rate would be a whopping 0 cars per week.... and remain that way for months still.

Perspective...
 
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I've been thinking and thinking about this for days, but I don't get it. Tell me again why Tesla is creating demand for the model 3 p version by having test drives when they haven't even gone through the whole back long from the first day reservation holders? EVERY SINGLE ONE of those reservation holders should be built first, no matter what option, before they try and grab new customers.

I've been waiting over 2 years now, I would like my car. They didn't specify in 2016 who would get what version first. We've been through they had to make the high margin version cars first from the res. holders, but now, they are going to skip over people who want THE CAR THEY ADVERTISED IN 2016 for new people who want a p version?

35k model so far is VAPORWARE. Where is it!?!?! I loved everything about this company and spread their name wherever I went, but now, I'm a disgruntled future customer.

Give me all the "disagrees" you want to, but I don't care. I'm frustrated to no end and can't believe its turned out this way.
Well, all I can say is that your words echo what happened when regular production Model Ss were shipped before all the Signatures had been shipped, and again for the Model X, and so on. In my own case, a co-worker with Model S with VIN 0006x got his before we got our VIN 00029! I wanted to be the first in the company! I ordered days before him, and had to wait about four years. But Tesla can't afford to hold back cars, or even certain kinds of cars, while waiting for others to be delivered. Trust me, within a week of getting your car you'll be telling people the wait was worth it.
 
I understand your frustration, but I don't think this was a surprise to those who were paying attention.

You realize the target schedule was accelerated after the reservations opened, right? Folks putting there initial reservation were expecting initial production in 2019, and then they'd have to start working through the backlog from there.

Tesla aimed to accelerate that by a full 2 years.. and there were bumps along the way and they haven't hit the rate they've wanted yet. But if they had held to the original schedule the current build rate would be a whopping 0 cars per week.... and remain that way for months still.

Perspective...
I remember all that, it's how the are executing that I have a problem with. They fumble the beginning of the manufacturing, then bump back 3 times, then announce the P version, then announce test drives.

Again, why is everyone glossing over the fact they are not going through the reservations first?
 
I've been thinking and thinking about this for days, but I don't get it. Tell me again why Tesla is creating demand for the model 3 p version by having test drives when they haven't even gone through the whole back long from the first day reservation holders? EVERY SINGLE ONE of those reservation holders should be built first, no matter what option, before they try and grab new customers.

I've been waiting over 2 years now, I would like my car. They didn't specify in 2016 who would get what version first. We've been through they had to make the high margin version cars first from the res. holders, but now, they are going to skip over people who want THE CAR THEY ADVERTISED IN 2016 for new people who want a p version?

35k model so far is VAPORWARE. Where is it!?!?! I loved everything about this company and spread their name wherever I went, but now, I'm a disgruntled future customer.

Give me all the "disagrees" you want to, but I don't care. I'm frustrated to no end and can't believe its turned out this way.

An average P model probably has an ASP of ~$80K versus something like $42K for an average standard battery model. A significant chunk of this is margin and the difference between making money and losing money at this early stage in production.

Trying to build the base model before the production lines are humming would cause Tesla to lose more money, risk its future and end up with fewer people getting their cars sooner.

Tesla is trying to ramp the Model 3 from 5K to 10K/week as quickly as possible to get as many Model 3s in the hands of customers as possible, and also generate cash to be in position to build the Model Y and Semi as quickly as possible to fulfill its mission to accelerate the transition to clean energy. Rushing to build the standard battery when it would still lose money would hurt the mission.

By waiting a few more months on the standard battery until it can be profitable instead of lose money, Tesla will have cash to finish the Model 3 ramp to 10K and be ready to begin building the Model Y and Semi factories.
 
An average P model probably has an ASP of ~$80K versus something like $42K for an average standard battery model. A significant chunk of this is margin and the difference between making money and losing money at this early stage in production.

Trying to build the base model before the production lines are humming would cause Tesla to lose more money, risk its future and end up with fewer people getting their cars sooner.

Tesla is trying to ramp the Model 3 from 5K to 10K/week as quickly as possible to get as many Model 3s in the hands of customers as possible, and also generate cash to be in position to build the Model Y and Semi as quickly as possible to fulfill its mission to accelerate the transition to clean energy. Rushing to build the standard battery when it would still lose money would hurt the mission.

By waiting a few more months on the standard battery until it can be profitable instead of lose money, Tesla will have cash to finish the Model 3 ramp to 10K and be ready to begin building the Model Y and Semi factories.
If all of you automatically go to the "financial" story, then they weren't ready for a "Cheaper" version in 2016 and are still not.

I'm not some ****ing short, I've been around here for years almost every day. There were things that were communicated that are not happening. So I'm calling them out AND complaining. :)
 
If all of you automatically go to the "financial" story, then they weren't ready for a "Cheaper" version in 2016 and are still not.

Tesla obviously underestimated the challenge of ramping production. But as someone who has been following the company for 15 years, I am glad that at this pivotal moment in their history they are making the difficult but IMO correct decision to get their financial house in order.

This will enable them to put as many EVs on the road as possible in the short, medium and long term, and at the same time increase the pressure on the legacy carmakers to make the transition to EVs by making their ICE vehicles uncompetitive and showing that EVs can be profitable.
 
If all of you automatically go to the "financial" story, then they weren't ready for a "Cheaper" version in 2016 and are still not.

I'm not some ****ing short, I've been around here for years almost every day. There were things that were communicated that are not happening. So I'm calling them out AND complaining. :)

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If all of you automatically go to the "financial" story, then they weren't ready for a "Cheaper" version in 2016 and are still not.
No, you're right, Tesla is not yet ready for the cheaper version. All because of the delayed ramp. One of your earlier rants could be interpreted that you think Tesla slowed the ramp deliberately... presumably just so they could delay the date that YOU specifically get your car. They're good at strategic planning, but I don't think they're that good. (I know you don't really think that... but you're so angry right now you're starting to sound like you do think the entire world should be there just for you. Take a break, man.)

I'm not some ****ing short, I've been around here for years almost every day. There were things that were communicated that are not happening. So I'm calling them out AND complaining. :)
I hear your frustration. Hard not to with multiple, multiple complaining posts. But if you've been around TMC for years, almost every day, it seems as though you haven't been paying attention. So I'm calling YOU out. You've been told about a hundred times why the base model isn't being built yet, and all you do is complain more.

This probably won't help, but spend a full day thinking about it: "Things generally work out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out." - Art Linkletter. The real message in there is, instead of just being angry and lashing out, start thinking about how you can make things better.

I'm not judging, really. But I am tired of the repetitive rants. It (obviously) starts me ranting.