Model 3: $1000 reservation

[danp]

I really don't think people are going to be camping out. It's not an iPhone you get your hands on right away to be the first one to get it. And even then, not a lot of details about the car will be actually revealed. It's not like they're actually going on sale that day and people can walk out with actual product.

That would be the rational expectation, but I think the Model 3 is going to tap into the Millenials' rejection of the (automotive & fossil fuel) establishment in a way similar to the Bernie movement. It's going to be almost a bragging right to have a Model 3 reservation, and be (relatively) first in line, even with the understanding that higher optioned configs will come first.

Or perhaps I've just had too many glassed of wine tonight. :love:

 

[Az_Rael]

That would be the rational expectation, but I think the Model 3 is going to tap into the Millenials' rejection of the (automotive & fossil fuel) establishment in a way similar to the Bernie movement.

My experience with millenials (at least here in CA) is they don't want cars at all. EV makes no difference. My coworkers have kids that are all millenials. One didn't want to take her drivers license test at all - didn't see the point (she failed when she was forced to go). His son didn't do his until he was 18 because he didn't care. My other coworkers kids (in their late 20s) are just now thinking about maybe buying a car. And its a chore they don't really want to do. Its all pretty incomprehensible to me, a Gen X'er who counted down the days until I was old enough to get my permit. Back then a car meant freedom. Now social media does.

They would rather just take Ubers and not deal with it. Maybe they will care about a Tesla and think its cool, but paying that much will still be well out of their budget.

The people who WILL be buying model 3's are techies and green-oriented folks who are in the entry-level luxury market and can afford to buy a "experimental" car. More likely to be closer to their 40s and higher vs their 20s I would guess.

 

[Lonnie123]

My experience with millenials (at least here in CA) is they don't want cars at all. EV makes no difference. My coworkers have kids that are all millenials. One didn't want to take her drivers license test at all - didn't see the point (she failed when she was forced to go). His son didn't do his until he was 18 because he didn't care. My other coworkers kids (in their late 20s) are just now thinking about maybe buying a car. And its a chore they don't really want to do. Its all pretty incomprehensible to me, a Gen X'er who counted down the days until I was old enough to get my permit. Back then a car meant freedom. Now social media does.

They would rather just take Ubers and not deal with it. Maybe they will care about a Tesla and think its cool, but paying that much will still be well out of their budget.

The people who WILL be buying model 3's are techies and green-oriented folks who are in the entry-level luxury market and can afford to buy a "experimental" car. More likely to be closer to their 40s and higher vs their 20s I would guess.

Thats crazy... I use my car ~20 times a week at least (4-5 errands a day some times), not really sure how that would work with Uber. Hell, I get out of work at midnight. I could understand if everyone was working online these days, but are they?

- 5 day a week job = 5 round trip rides (Just checked: it would be $14 ONE WAY for an uber to my job, yikes. $100/week, and I only work 3 days/week, $150 for 5 days... $600 month to uber my way to work)

- Grocery shopping = 3-6 rides ($10 round trip to the store 1 mile from my house... $20-60 weekly. I actually walk this right now, but it takes like 60 minutes round trip and I dont have kids, not everyone can do that)

- misc = 4-10 rides (go to movies, gym, friends, family, etc... $100+ weekly easily)

I dont really see the massive savings of using Uber as your primary form of transportation for a "regular" life.

I get it if you're visiting a town and need a ride from your hotel to a function... but for daily life it just doesnt seem convenient. How do you do anything further than 30 minutes away from your house? Looking at these rates now it just doesnt really seem as reasonable as I've heard it to be, and the drivers cant be making all that much from it either.

More power to them if it works and they save a bunch of money that way some how, but it doesnt seem to be a viable alternative to having your own car.

Oh well... Every Uber user is One less person to compete with for a reservation ;-)

 

[Red Sage]

The people who WILL be buying model 3's are techies and green-oriented folks who are in the entry-level luxury market and can afford to buy a "experimental" car. More likely to be closer to their 40s and higher vs their 20s I would guess.

Heh. I'm one of those guys who's rather blessed, in that though I'll turn 50 next year, most would be hard pressed to guess I might be 25-30. The so-called 'millennials' tend to think they are older and more experienced than I am. I am indeed a geek, a dweeb, a nerd, a dork, and whatever else, absolutely tech oriented. But all my Nieces and Nephews absolutely adore driving and couldn't wait for the opportunity to do so. Yes, there are those who are incredibly over-protected, to the point they can barely ride a bike or roller-skates... Because they are propped on the couch playing videogames all the time and have no actual experience with 'playing' in the real world. Others are perpetually captivated, or 'captured' perhaps, by their mobile devices. Often to the point of not seeing anything around them, ever. I hold out faith that at least around Los Angeles, where public transit is nowhere near where it should be for a metropolitan area, most kids will somehow learn how to drive, or at least have cars that drive better than their parents do, some day.

 

[houdini]

I was going to wait at my local service center and hand the guy a check as he unlocks the door for business at 10am. How are these in person deposits at the service centers going to be sorted? Is there someone on site who will enter it into a computer and that will time stamp my deposit? Will folks on the east coast have a 3 hour head start in placing deposits this way? I'm just curious since it does not really matter to me to be first, but as long as my place in line is on the first day, I'm good with that.

My question exactly. I will have a 10 hour head start at least

 

[Red Sage]

I want to know if there will be a layaway plan.

 

[houdini]

???? The reveal is on 3/31. Reservations start in store on 3/31 right after the reveal. What's the problem?

(Perhaps you thought that by everywhere I meant in-store and online at the same time. I just meant that in-store reservations start everywhere at the same time.)

He said Global! Problem is 9am on the 31st in Melbourne is on the US 30th. If the reveal is 1pm on the US 31st it would be 8am or something here, so maybe the store is going to stay open late on the 31st here and still be open for the reveal in the USA??

- - - Updated - - -

But what does being first in line at a local gallery (competing with hundreds of other galleries) actually get you? EM already said they're not going to make cars in Reservation order. Waiting one day to reserve online isn't going to change your position much at all, depending on the config you choose -- sometime in 2017!!

What does climbing a Mountain get you . The ability to say you did it. If I can get my reservation in as number 1 I'm there for the night. Just because. :biggrin:

 

[DavidM]

Oh well... Every Uber user is One less person to compete with for a reservation ;-)

In the USA, there are 160,000 Uber drivers. I suspect about 10,000 of them might want a Model 3. So they might be in line with their deposit.

 

[Twiglett]

I'll be happy if I get a reservation <10K
Delirious if its <5000

 

[fiksegts]

seems like a play from the Apple marketing book....

There is a very high chance that people are going to line outside the stores to get early reservation. Or am I wrong?

 

[Molehill_Mike]

Am I being daft, or is there nothing on the Tesla website about the 3 yet? If so, where would I go on March 31st/April 1st to reserve online? Guess the website will be updated... but it means extra clicks rather than straight to the URL to reserve

We don't have many stores across the UK

 

[vjason]

If the weather is nice I might show up a couple of hours early and sit there with a laptop getting some work done. Any excuse to sit outside in early spring, and since I can work from remote just as easy as the office why not.

seems like a play from the Apple marketing book....

 

[vinnie97]

I want to know if there will be a layaway plan.

Me too...I'm needy like that.

 

[McHoffa]

Am I being daft, or is there nothing on the Tesla website about the 3 yet? If so, where would I go on March 31st/April 1st to reserve online? Guess the website will be updated... but it means extra clicks rather than straight to the URL to reserve

We don't have many stores across the UK

Yeah, you won't see a thing about the 3 until after the reveal. Even then, probably not much. A full page and pictures of the X were added to the site right after the original reveal back in 2012.

 

[omarsultan]

Why? I've done it for non-Tesla cars before that weren't yet released.

Exactly. Non-Tesla cars are sold through locally franchised dealers. Up to this point, even if you head into the Tesla store, you end up making the purchase and exciting your reservation online. If you go into the store on 3/31 and they still park you in front of an iMac, then nothing changes. If they are taking payments and executing the reservation agreement in the store, I wonder if some states would object to that as dealer-like behavior.

 

[strider]

Am I being daft, or is there nothing on the Tesla website about the 3 yet? If so, where would I go on March 31st/April 1st to reserve online? Guess the website will be updated... but it means extra clicks rather than straight to the URL to reserve

We don't have many stores across the UK

During or soon after the reveal there will be a page with photos and a link to order. Nothing until then. Considering they have teslamotors.com/models and teslamotors.com/modelx I'd safely assume the URL will be teslamotors.com/model3 Or the current Reserve link for a Model X is: teslamotors.com/reserve?source=modelx-features0 so maybe replace the x with a 3 in that URL?

 

[Transepoch]

I really don't think people are going to be camping out. It's not an iPhone you get your hands on right away to be the first one to get it. And even then, not a lot of details about the car will be actually revealed. It's not like they're actually going on sale that day and people can walk out with actual product.

The prototype revealed is a Matchbox, available as a token to those who pony-up. Two birds, one stone.