Model 3 Delivery event as part of referral rewards? Am I reading too much into this?

[houdini]

I read the announcement about the new referral rewards and saw this:
Owners can refer up to 8 friends during the current phase of the program, lasting from January 16 to March 15, 2017.

7+ Qualifying Referrals
Owners who make 7 qualifying referrals will receive an invitation for themselves and a guest to attend our Model 3 delivery event.

So assuming the next Model 3 event is March 31 and it would theoretically be the showing off of the interior, some neat new features, that sort of thing. Wouldn't it be called reveal 2 or part 3 or something. I would have thought the referral reward would say an invite to the next Model 3 reveal. Or is it going ot be an invite to the delivery event in December? If so isn't that a long way away? What I mean is it seems strange to have the reward be gained when the program closes in March and your prize is not until December - a full 9 months away. That would be strange I would think.

 

[BluestarE3]

The delivery event could be earlier than December. This isn't necessarily the same as when "real" deliveries or production ramp-up begins.

 

[Dan Detweiler]

The first deliveries could be as early as October. That would still be 4th quarter. If the cutoff were in March that would give winners time to plan their trip etc. This event would not, I would think, coincide with the 3rd reveal.

Dan

 

[dsvick]

The first deliveries could be as early as October. That would still be 4th quarter. If the cutoff were in March that would give winners time to plan their trip etc. This event would not, I would think, coincide with the 3rd reveal.

Dan

Heck, they could be as early as August depending on when production starts. It does sound like something more than the next reveal though. If that reveal is at the end of March, closing the referral period on the 15th doesn't leave very much time. This sounds more like a big party at the factory where the first people will get their Model 3s. What will be interesting will be when they announce the dates for it ...

 

[Tam]

...delivery event...

I agree that Delivery Event is different from Unveiling/Reveal events.

Last Model ≡ Unveiling/Reveal event part 2 was a press announcement:

Tesla has an internal self-imposed mass production start deadline of July 1st, 2017.

First deliveries could happen anytime after that.

 

[dsvick]

Tesla has an internal self-imposed mass production start deadline of July 1st, 2017.

First deliveries could happen anytime after that.

They also called it the impossible date and don't really expect to meet it. But, yes, deliveries will start some time after that ...

 

[alseTrick]

They also called it the impossible date and don't really expect to meet it. But, yes, deliveries will start some time after that ...

Correct. It's not a production start date. It's a supplier deadline date. Big difference.

 

[Garlan Garner]

Didn't we already have M3 reveal 1.(weird) at the solar city thing-a-ma-doodle?

Also...what is a delivery event? What does that mean?

 

[BluestarE3]

Didn't we already have M3 reveal 1.(weird) at the solar city thing-a-ma-doodle?

Also...what is a delivery event? What does that mean?

• Reveal 1 was March 31, 2016
• Reveal 2 was when they announced AP 2 hardware would be available on all Tesla cars going forward
• Reveal 3, as mentioned by Musk during the Solarcity merger meeting, will be in a month or two. It is speculated by some that this is where the finalized interior will be shown
• Delivery event, if the past is any indication, is when the key fobs are handed over to the first handful of owners amid much fanfare and photo ops

 

[houdini]

• Reveal 1 was March 31, 2016
• Reveal 2 was when they announced AP 2 hardware would be available on all Tesla cars going forward
• Reveal 3, as mentioned by Musk during the Solarcity merger meeting, will be in a month or two. It is speculated by some that this is where the finalized interior will be shown
• Delivery event, if the past is any indication, is when the key fobs are handed over to the first handful of owners amid much fanfare and photo ops

Agreed. Delivery event for the X handed over the first few customer keys to people like the Google guy. But these were Signature or Founder style cars and Tesla stated there would not be any of these type of early vehicles for the 3 from memory. I assume the Delivery event will be the first half dozen cars to the first half dozen reservers.

 

[houdini]

They also called it the impossible date and don't really expect to meet it. But, yes, deliveries will start some time after that ...

I forgot about the July 1 thing. That was a supplier deadline which meant they would have supplies on hand to start mass production. Remind me how long the line is for Model S? I think it's a few days from stamping the panels to a car popping out the other end. Model 3 is a more mass production friendly car so I assume the same if not better. Elon Musk stated that even though the July 1 date is hard to acheive if the suppliers don't meet it they will go bye bye . Maybe my impossible dream is that the plant will start cranking out cars in July and first California deliveries will happen at this delivery event in late July or August.

 

[BluestarE3]

Agreed. Delivery event for the X handed over the first few customer keys to people like the Google guy. But these were Signature or Founder style cars and Tesla stated there would not be any of these type of early vehicles for the 3 from memory. I assume the Delivery event will be the first half dozen cars to the first half dozen reservers.

Since employees will be getting cars first, they could use the event to honor/recognize certain employees by handing keys to them on stage. Sort of like giving out invitations for the event to referral program winners.

 

[EV-lutioin]

All this talk about Model 3 reveal and delivery events is getting me pretty excited!

 

[ummgood]

Agreed. Delivery event for the X handed over the first few customer keys to people like the Google guy. But these were Signature or Founder style cars and Tesla stated there would not be any of these type of early vehicles for the 3 from memory. I assume the Delivery event will be the first half dozen cars to the first half dozen reservers.

It is possible that Tesla might pick some "special" people to receive their cars first. Because based on press employees are getting their cars first but I could see them giving them to people that have really helped Tesla spread the message like maybe Brooks from Drag Times, Bjorn, etc...

 

[houdini]

This analyst after discussion with Management and suppliers at the Gigafactory upgraded his rating of Tesla stocks. I know it's just analyst speculation but thought it was worth sharing:

"Following discussions with management and suppliers after a visit to Tesla’s Gigafactory, Mr Jonas now expects the Model 3 electric vehicle to have a soft launch in the fourth quarter, a year earlier than his previous forecast. He also boosted his projections for fiscal 2018 Model 3 volumes to 183,000 cars, from 114,000 previously."

Model 3 analyst projections

I'd love to know how many of the 350,000 odd current reservations are in the US and Europe. Hopefully these kind of volumes (if acheived) will fill up the USA and the RHD car orders in Eurpoe and mean I can get my Car in the first half of 2018.

 

[EinSV]

My guess (and it's pretty much a wild guess) is that the Delivery Event will be similar to the Model X Delivery Event, except that the first deliveries will be to a handful of employees. It would be very cool if they included long-time employees regardless of their position in the company. By all accounts, Tesla employees work very, very hard and this would be a great way to recognize their contribution. Probably in September or thereabouts.