Letter from George - 12/17/2011

[EVNow]

This pricing will be in effect for all current U.S. reservation holders.

What does that mean ?

Already reserved, reserving today, until formal announcement or until first delivery ? Maybe I should reserve today ...

 

[Cobos]

The interesting question is what does this mean for us European customers. I got the letter as well, but since I've got another year to go I'm really curious on the pricing for the EU model...

Cobos

 

[T@oo]

At least in Germany we pay US price = €. So expect the base Model to cost just short of € 60k. No substitutes for us of course since Daimler, BMW, VW etc missed the train and are at least two years behind...

 

[mwu]

I have not received the letter -- reserved on the 15th. Although I registered when the system was fubar. The Tesla employee who contacted me did so over email first and asked for my phone number for the account. That info was definitely part of the reservation process and whatever happened in their system also messed up my ability to post on the forums which has not been fixed yet.

Their vehicle design is great, their tech seems to be great as it powers the only EV on the market able to be driven like a normal car, but their site is truly atrocious. If I didn't have a great job already and wanted to move out to Cali, I'd apply for the web dev position they have available and clean that site up.

 

[Eberhard]

My reservation for Model S Sig Edition S32EUR disappeared from my tesla

 

[mwu]

Ouch! I wonder what exactly happened on their backend systems the other day -- I got double-charged for my reservation.

 

[doug]

Interesting that the letter confirms the price of the base model for 2012 but say that it won't actually be available till 2013. Might the price have changed by the then?

 

[europe]

i believe this change from miles to kw was necessary because of US law
if i promise such an amount of miles and someone cannot get it out of the battery he could file against
tesla and there are so many facts influencing the milage you can get out of it

 

[Robert.Boston]

Interesting that the letter confirms the price of the base model for 2012 but say that it won't actually be available till 2013. Might the price have changed by the then?

Not for those who with reservations made by [today/end-of-year/real-soon-now]:

This pricing will be in effect for all current U.S. reservation holders.

 

[WhiteKnight]

I am less sanguine about the base price remaining "as advertised" because all they have to do in order to raise the effective price is make more and more features that you thought would be standard into expensive options. So let's say the backup camera, which we all think should be standard, becomes a $1,000 option, well then that's a $1,000 price increase in my book.

 

[Lloyd]

Yes, but adust the price for inflation since the price was originally released. I'm very pleased that they are even able to say "as advertised".

 

[Trnsl8r]

What stuck out to me is that they are reaffirming the base pricing, but for the larger packs only mentioned their commitment to timing, not the aforementioned $10k increases, so what are the chances that we will see different prices there? Maybe $10k to 60 kWh but $12.5k to go from 60 to 85?

Bingo, I was thinking the same thing, but I'm the son of a lawyer. My impression of George is better than that, and if he would attempt to covertly slide in a price increase of the upgraded batteries with some tricky phrasing like that, I would be both disappointed and disillusioned. I'm hoping (and betting) that was unintentional wording on his part.

 

[AnOutsider]

Hmm, good points, but was the pricing ever being set in stone for the upgraded packs? I remember there being speculation and people getting numbers using math based on some things that were said... I know we all (myself included) assumed this was a given, but was it ever 100% stated that the 230 pack would be $10k more and the 300 pack $10k on top of that?

 

[Mycroft]

was it ever 100% stated that the 230 pack would be $10k more and the 300 pack $10k on top of that?

Yep. In fact it's still on their website. But then, so is the statement that leasing will be available.

 

[EVNow]

I'm happy to say that we will deliver Model S with the 40kWh battery at the price we announced in 2009 of 49,900 after federal tax credits. We will also stick to other commitments we made earlier this year regarding delivery of the 85kWh battery the middle of 2012, the 60 kWh battery about 3 months later and the 40 kWh battery around the end of the year.

I like the way they moved from miles to battery capacity. EPA rating will surely be much smaller than those previously advertised miles. I won't be surprised if the 160 miles become 113 miles & 300 come out to be 210 miles (that is what the 70% correction will do).

This also means, the base version will go on sale only in 2013 in any quantity.

 

[AnOutsider]

Yep. In fact it's still on their website. But then, so is the statement that leasing will be available.

Found it:

The 230-mile range option is priced at about $10,000 more than the base and the 300-mile option at about $20,000 more than the base.

Saying "at about" leaves plenty wiggle room to go from $10k to $12k, it could even be $9k. It also states the miles though, so we can be fairly sure that text will change.

Also, the verbiage about leasing is still the same and isn't inaccurate:

A full suite of payment options including leasing and financing will be offered.

We know that leasing won't be available in the first year, but we do know it WILL be available, making this statement 100% true. It's like saying that the statement regarding there being 3 packs is false just because the smaller packs won't be available until late 2012/early 2013

 

[Norbert]

This pricing will be in effect for all current U.S. reservation holders.

Interesting that to many this suggests that there will be two prices announced (one soon and another one later). Of course prices can change each year, or model year, or even in between, however I wouldn't expect this sentence to refer to that. To me it would suggest the opposite: that the same prices applies to all US reservation holders, regardless of when and how the reservation was made.

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

http://www.teslamotors.com/models (alone, the rest of the site's fine) is under maintenance! The changes are coming!

 

[Norbert]

http://www.teslamotors.com/models (alone, the rest of the site's fine) is under maintenance! The changes are coming!

Looks like the are going to replace the Model S with a new version of the Roadster... :wink:

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

False alarm It's back up with no apparent changes (not even Muir Red)...