Model 3 entry via ... keycard & app. No fob.

[Garlan Garner]

I think 15% of Model 3 buyers not having smart phones is quite unrealistic. 1-2% maybe.

Tesla's solution is pretty simple... either pony up for the more feature rich Model S or get a smart phone.

Pro Tip, getting a smart phone is cheaper.

Cheaper? Or Easier? or both? Just wondering.

 

[Alketi]

I have a Model 3 reservation and own Tesla stock and do not own a smartphone. If Tesla sells 2 million Model 3s in two years, and 15% of those people do not own smart phones, that's 300,000 people you're telling have no business buying a Tesla. What car do you suggest they buy? You need to expand your world view. BTW, I'm tech savvy, have engineering and law degrees, and were likely programming computers long before you were born.

Chris, to state the obvious, folks without a smartphone have three choices:

1. Buy a smartphone
2. Use the card key instead, which is also supplied
3. Buy another car

Tesla is using the smarphone-unlock to make the car ready for a future ride-sharing network.

 

[Garlan Garner]

I think 15% of Model 3 buyers not having smart phones is quite unrealistic. 1-2% maybe.

Tesla's solution is pretty simple... either pony up for the more feature rich Model S or get a smart phone.

Pro Tip, getting a smart phone is cheaper.

//addendum

If there's enough of an uproar over this then Tesla can always pivot and add this as an option or option package... "traditional keyless entry" and they add a push button start and a pair of key fobs to the car for $750 for those who insist on it.

I suppose that's one way of anti-selling the Model 3.

 

[Chris L]

Roughly three-quarters of Americans (77%) now own a smartphone, with lower-income Americans and those ages 50 and older exhibiting a sharp uptick in ownership over the past year, according a Pew Research Center survey conducted in November 2016.


Again: why should Tesla move in the "wrong" direction on this trend?

Baffling logic! A quarter of Americans do not own smartphones, so Tesla should refuse to sell them a car because they are in a minority? Why not just offer a fob to lock and unlock doors, trunk, etc and turn on the car? Good enough for Model S. Some people just have no need for a smartphone — so they should nevertheless pay $1000/year just to get into their car?

 

[Garlan Garner]

"Feel good" as in, a car company who is actually trying to do good for the environment ALSO has to take time out of their production ramp to hold the hands of a shrinking minority of citizens who refuse to move on to smartphones?

Look.....they've built a compelling car that's fulfilling an important mission. Meet them in the middle, ffs.

Look I ether have to agree with you or else there won't be a discussion at all. I see that so.......absolutely I'll do whatever you want. I'll meet them wherever they are.

 

[ModelNforNerd]

I think 15% of Model 3 buyers not having smart phones is quite unrealistic. 1-2% maybe.

Tesla's solution is pretty simple... either pony up for the more feature rich Model S or get a smart phone.

Pro Tip, getting a smart phone is cheaper.

//addendum

If there's enough of an uproar over this then Tesla can always pivot and add this as an option or option package... "traditional keyless entry" and they add a push button start and a pair of key fobs to the car for $750 for those who insist on it.

A quick Google search will show that you can get a "burner" cricket wireless phone with bluetooth and NFC for $29.99.

Cheaper than a fob.

 

[voip-ninja]

Baffling logic! A quarter of Americans do not own smartphones, so Tesla should refuse to sell them a car because they are in a minority? Why not just offer a fob to lock and unlock doors, trunk, etc and turn on the car? Good enough for Model S. Some people just have no need for a smartphone — so they should nevertheless pay $1000/year just to get into their car?

They already offer a workaround which is the NFC card.

Seems to work well enough for the engineering test models.

 

[gregincal]

I have a Model 3 reservation and own Tesla stock and do not own a smartphone. If Tesla sells 2 million Model 3s in two years, and 15% of those people do not own smart phones, that's 300,000 people you're telling have no business buying a Tesla. What car do you suggest they buy? You need to expand your world view. BTW, I'm tech savvy, have engineering and law degrees, and were likely programming computers long before you were born.

Wait, who's saying you need to own a smartphone to buy the car? The smartphone is just to enable the fancy auto unlock on approach feature. The vast majority of cars out there require you to pull something out of your pocket to unlock the car, and that will work just fine with the Model 3. There's a lot of people that don't even like auto unlock and turn it off.

 

[kavyboy]

I'm just tired of the prevailing attitude that there has to be SOMETHING to complain about on here. Do you have a phone? Cool. Are you interested in a Model 3? Cool. You're gonna be OK.

Are you interested in a Model 3, but can't wrap your head around spending $150 to get yourself into the cheapest Android smartphone?

Then a Bolt or Leaf may be for you.


But seriously.....you're going to need your smartphone ANYWAY to check on Supercharging status, pre-condition the interior, etc etc. Tesla's just adding the key fob functionality to an app that already exists.

Not having a smart phone, it means I have to basically buy two $150 single-purpose Android fobs (one for me, one for my wife) that are HUGE compared to the old fobs and that we have to keep charged constantly. I've had no use for those other things you mention except on road trips, where my wifi tablet (with the broken screen and dead battery) does just fine.
But I totally concede that I'm an edge case, and it makes no sense for Tesla to cater to potential buyers like me. I'm not complaining, just stating my case. Maybe if I express a need, a vendor will fill it. Or, maybe Tesla will give us an option.
And yeah, it may sound stupid, but this issue has caused me to start looking at a Leaf or Bolt or other EV. It seems like even though I have a model S, apparently I am not cool enough to stay in the Tesla club.

 

[ModelNforNerd]

Baffling logic! A quarter of Americans do not own smartphones, so Tesla should refuse to sell them a car because they are in a minority? Why not just offer a fob to lock and unlock doors, trunk, etc and turn on the car? Good enough for Model S. Some people just have no need for a smartphone — so they should nevertheless pay $1000/year just to get into their car?

Of the quarter of Americans (75 MILLION) by the way who don't have a smartphone, it would probably be important to understand WHY they don't have a smartphone.


The top 3 reasons I can think of are:

Lack of service in their area

The person's age

The person's financial situation.



Those 3 factors alone pretty much eliminate you as a potential customer for a Model 3.

If you think they need to cater to someone outside the TARGET.....TARGET....TARGET....demographic, then you're not going to do well in Marketing.


Now...I highlighted the word TARGET. What do you do to a TARGET? You hit it. You don't spray all around it. You focus in on it and you nail it.

I think Tesla has done that here. I'm glad Elon hasn't listened to this insane little focus group and their "what about..." scenarios. I just want my car.

 

[Chris L]

Chris, to state the obvious, folks without a smartphone have three choices:

1. Buy a smartphone
2. Use the card key instead, which is also supplied
3. Buy another car

Tesla is using the smarphone-unlock to make the car ready for a future ride-sharing network.

That's certainly not obvious. Why should those "folks" buy a smartphone if they have no need for one? The functionality of the key card is unknown, other than if you slap it against the side of the car, it will unlock. How will it lock the car? What if you're bringing bags of groceries to the car, will the key card open the trunk without getting in the car? Your third choice is absurd. Your last statement is also absurd; are you suggesting that everyone buying a Model 3 will be enrolling it in Tesla's ride-sharing network. What percentage of buyers do you think will own the Model 3 for their own personal use? Should they also buy a different car?

 

[ModelNforNerd]

That's certainly not obvious. Why should those "folks" buy a smartphone if they have no need for one? The functionality of the key card is unknown, other than if you slap it against the side of the car, it will unlock. How will it lock the car? What if you're bringing bags of groceries to the car, will the key card open the trunk without getting in the car? Your third choice is absurd. Your last statement is also absurd; are you suggesting that everyone buying a Model 3 will be enrolling it in Tesla's ride-sharing network. What percentage of buyers do you think will own the Model 3 for their own personal use? Should they also buy a different car?

You could always get a Model S.

 

[voip-ninja]

That's certainly not obvious. Why should those "folks" buy a smartphone if they have no need for one? The functionality of the key card is unknown, other than if you slap it against the side of the car, it will unlock. How will it lock the car? What if you're bringing bags of groceries to the car, will the key card open the trunk without getting in the car? Your third choice is absurd. Your last statement is also absurd; are you suggesting that everyone buying a Model 3 will be enrolling it in Tesla's ride-sharing network. What percentage of buyers do you think will own the Model 3 for their own personal use? Should they also buy a different car?

I don't think it's absurd. I think that we are seeing two factors at work here;

1. Tesla wants to position the Model S as the premium choice and offer additional capabilities for that nearly 5 year old model compared to the minty fresh new Model 3. They are almost guaranteed to make tremendously more profit on a $90K-$130K Model S than a $45,000 Model 3.
2. Tesla has made very obvious efforts to squeeze every tiny bit of cost out of Model 3 possible in order to make the product profitable. Elimination of traditional keyless entry, steering wheel controls, instrumentation, etc., all probably amounts to saving them $1K or more per vehicle in just their production costs.

We'll see how it pans out once regular joe schmoes get these cars.

 

[ModelNforNerd]

Why should those "folks" buy a smartphone if they have no need for one?

But now they do need one. To operate their Model 3.


It's like saying you want an XBox, but have no need for a TV.

 

[Alketi]

That's certainly not obvious. Why should those "folks" buy a smartphone if they have no need for one? The functionality of the key card is unknown, other than if you slap it against the side of the car, it will unlock. How will it lock the car? What if you're bringing bags of groceries to the car, will the key card open the trunk without getting in the car? Your third choice is absurd. Your last statement is also absurd; are you suggesting that everyone buying a Model 3 will be enrolling it in Tesla's ride-sharing network. What percentage of buyers do you think will own the Model 3 for their own personal use? Should they also buy a different car?

What isn't clear? You have those three choices. Whether you like them or not won't change the situation. You may classify them as absurd or anything else. I explained to you why Tesla has chosen their current direction and you also classified it as absurd. So, we appear to be at a stalemate.

 

[Garlan Garner]

I don't think it's absurd. I think that we are seeing two factors at work here;

1. Tesla wants to position the Model S as the premium choice and offer additional capabilities for that nearly 5 year old model compared to the minty fresh new Model 3. They are almost guaranteed to make tremendously more profit on a $90K-$130K Model S than a $45,000 Model 3.
2. Tesla has made very obvious efforts to squeeze every tiny bit of cost out of Model 3 possible in order to make the product profitable. Elimination of traditional keyless entry, steering wheel controls, instrumentation, etc., all probably amounts to saving them $1K or more per vehicle in just their production costs.

We'll see how it pans out once regular joe schmoes get these cars.

For this option they did indeed squeeze the cost out of the Model 3 and passed it on to the car buyers. I can afford it and I understand smart phones....so I don't really have a problem, however I'm not just concerned for myself.

 

[ModelNforNerd]

What isn't clear? You have those three choices. Whether you like them or not won't change the situation. You may classify them as absurd or anything else. I explained to you why Tesla has chosen their current direction and you also classified it as absurd. So, we appear to be at a stalemate.

Not really, you and Tesla will move forward. Tesla towards their intended rollout. You towards your Tesla, and those in disagreement will hold their breath, stomp their feet, and learn that they're either going to have to pay $500+ for an aftermarket fob (whose functionality likely won't be supported by Tesla...and god help you if you try to claim an issue with bluetooth access on your warranty), or you're going to have to buy a $30 burner phone.

 

[Garlan Garner]

You could always get a Model S.

Really? That's the same thing Elon says. Its just a matter of choice?

 

[ModelNforNerd]

HOLD THE LINE!!! STOP THE ALIEN DREADNOUGHT!!! ELON!!! NO!!! STOP!!!!






a very small subset of people are unhappy with your future vision. Let's scrap the entire rollout for a few months while we negotiate and source a key fob provider, and allow them time to ramp up and send us parts (a full month after the "nearly impossible" drop dead date for suppliers).



Nope. Life's not always fair. And technology moves fast.

If these people can't be bothered to get a smartphone....I can imagine the sounds of disgust when they learn about the center touchscreen.

Sometimes, it's best to not listen to ALL feedback about a product.

 

[ModelNforNerd]

Really? That's the same thing Elon says. Its just a matter of choice?

If you can afford a $35,000 (likely more, though) car......you can afford a pre-pay smartphone. And if not.....what are we even talking about?