Might the new battery tech be worthy of a new vehicle order delay

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Wait as long as possible before buying.
It gives as much opportunity as possible for competition to enter the market.
Tesla responds to competition, either with enhancements or with price reduction.

But it'll be a while before the new battery technology can be manufactured at large enough scale to be implemented across the wider range of vehicles.

 

[P3dStealth]

Look at it this way. In a year or two from now..... There will be something else better coming a year or two from that lol. You will continue waiting forever.

 

[Uncle Paul]

Elon has adressed this issue. Says you can only buy the version that is available on the day you order (or slight variations while waiting for production). Says he intends to constantly improve their cars and make them more appealing to increase demand.

Says best policy is to order a car when you want/need one, and drive it untill the latest version is compelling enough for you to trade up to that latest model.

This way you will have a fantastic car to drive now, and you can determine when in the future enough benefits/improvements are released to upgrade.

With the internet, there will always be improved vehicles coming "soon".

Owners will have great cars to drive, and those with a bad case of FOMO will be waiting forever.

The new manufacturing processes will essentially be done to allow Tesla to make their cars faster and at less costs. Few benefits will be perceived by the person driving it around.

 

[closdeben]

Elon's comments mention the new batteries specifically for shorter range Y's (at first). Anyone know what unique need the shorter range vehicles have that the new batteries fill ? It almost seems backward.

I mentioned Lucid due to their faster charging, greater range. They may be later than their forecast of late 2021 but worthy of being in the conversation, and would have a bigger rebate for a little while at least.

And yes, I get it. There will always be future improvements. No need to repeat the obvious there but improvements aren't always linear. If an upcoming (ok next two years) may lead to a steep price drop AND range increase then it may be worth a delay if you have the option. I agree, a couple percent cheaper, a couple percent longer range don't make it worthwhile. My purpose was more to pose the question for those battery tech junkies whether the upcoming batteries are game changers that would be non-linear substantial improvements.

Sounds like from some earlier posts, these won't be as substantial as might worry a current buyer. Just explaining my criteria.

 

[Uncle Paul]

Elon mentioned that when he began using different batteries in the China production it would give less range and performance. Offset was less expensive and used fewer rare earth elements.

Tesla will be using different components in different markets.

 

[imola.zhp]

In my opinion, it is NOT worth a delay in ordering if you live in the US.

In the US, when the new cells start making their way into production vehicles, I cannot see them putting them into existing vehicles for some time. I see them putting the new cells into the Plaid Model S, the CyberTruck and the Semi LOOOOONG before the Model Y.

In the US, the Model Y hasn't even been in production for a year yet.

 

[MY-Y]

I'm so glad I ordered this year and received my car in June. I've had a lot of enjoyment from it over the last four months. Given how challenging 2020 has been, I'm glad I was able to enjoy my MY. I've been driving for 35 years, and never had a car this fun.

 

[mark95476]

Model S Plaid will get the new 4680 batteries first. Expect all Model S to get the new batteries afterwards.

Y is expected to be very high volume so Tesla will need high throughput (big factory) on the 4680 batteries.

I find it unusual that the Lucid Air is mentioned here. They definitely don't have anything significantly new for battery tech (supposedly based on 2170 cells). They do have an optional larger (~115 kWh) pack that comes with a very high price--like 2x-3x the cost of a Model Y. The Lucid SUV proto is more-or-less TBD.