Model 3 Mule Sightings

[kingjamez]

That's pretty horrific logic.

Musk repeatedly touts Tesla's goal as accelerating the advent of electric vehicles in order to save the planet. How on earth is losing HALF of your orders because you refused to listen to customer feedback a good thing? How does that progress Tesla/Musk towards their goals?

It may be horrific to you, but business decisions are sometimes not what every consumer desires. I'm not saying they are going to loose half their orders, I'm saying EVEN IF they did, they'd still be busy for a long time.

Tesla's goal is to accelerate the advent of sustainable transport. In order to do so, they've got to make a profit so that they stay in business for a long, long time. If they make decisions that will allow them to maximize profit so that they can continue to disrupt the transportation market, fantastic. Now, there is certainly room for debate about those decisions and whether plussing up the interior will in the long run increase or decrease profits, but I think that Tesla gets that better than any of us do.

-Jim

 

[alseTrick]

It may be horrific to you, but business decisions are sometimes not what every consumer desires. I'm not saying they are going to loose half their orders, I'm saying EVEN IF they did, they'd still be busy for a long time.

Tesla's goal is to accelerate the advent of sustainable transport. In order to do so, they've got to make a profit so that they stay in business for a long, long time. If they make decisions that will allow them to maximize profit so that they can continue to disrupt the transportation market, fantastic. Now, there is certainly room for debate about those decisions and whether plussing up the interior will in the long run increase or decrease profits, but I think that Tesla gets that better than any of us do.

-Jim

Alienating half the people that want to support you - using your example - is an horrible way to conduct business and go about achieving ones goals.

 

[gregincal]

I'm pretty sure the nose hasn't changed from the Alpha's. We think it did because of cell phone cameras and reflections, but these latest photos show pretty clearly the lines of the duck bill and where they intersect with the turn signals.

That's funny, I also think this picture shows very clearly where the lines of the duck bill intersect with the turn signals and it is clearly different from the alphas. The line curves to above the lights instead of continuing straight along the inside edge of the lights.

 

[Garlan Garner]

How about

I'm pretty sure the nose hasn't changed from the Alpha's. We think it did because of cell phone cameras and reflections, but these latest photos show pretty clearly the lines of the duck bill and where they intersect with the turn signals.



Tesla doesn't really need to listen to feedback on anything; they have 300K preorders and even if they loose 1/2 of them, that's good for the first year of production. Once these cars get on the road the demand will continue to be STRONG.

For the folks that are upset by some feature whether it be the interior, the lack of a hatch, you name it, Tesla has the option of making changes in a year, 2, 3, once demand falls.

The pre-orders are working against the consumer here a bit because Tesla can essentially not care too much. I'm ok with that since in the long run I want Tesla to be profitable and if cutting some corners initially to increase their profit margin, that's fine by me.

-Jim

You really can't see the difference? I'm serious.

In the alpha...follow the duck bill crease going down in front of the fog lights.

Now in the blue car......follow the softer duck bill crease ending on TOP of the fog lights.

That's the FIRST change.

Look at the curvature of the front of the hood and the straight across hood of the grey alpha.

 

[Gen3Joe]

How about

You really can't see the difference? I'm serious.

In the alpha...follow the duck bill crease going down in front of the fog lights.

Now in the blue car......follow the softer duck bill crease ending on TOP of the fog lights.

That's the FIRST change.

Look at the curvature of the front of the hood and the straight across hood of the grey alpha.

Right. I don't see why people can't see the change. Tesla clearly moved the line up and attempted to blend it away so it wouldn't so obviously intersect the front turn signal. They should have left the designer's original vision alone. Now the lines no longer work together. I will definitely be looking for an aftermarket front fascia to restore to original look if one is ever offered.

 

[ohmman]

I don't think anyone should expect interior changes. There's a supply chain, and at this stage, I can't imagine they want risk any delays for some kind of interior change. So unless they had some new interior sorted out last September, I'm pretty sure WYSIWYG.

 

[kingjamez]

How about

You really can't see the difference? I'm serious.

In the alpha...follow the duck bill crease going down in front of the fog lights.

Now in the blue car......follow the softer duck bill crease ending on TOP of the fog lights.

That's the FIRST change.

Look at the curvature of the front of the hood and the straight across hood of the grey alpha.

I drew the yellow line right under where I believe the crease is. I certainly don't think the crease ends on the top of the fog lights. See how the reflection between the two images changes? I think that reflection is what is causing the confusion.
-Jim

 

[CT200h]

The car looks fantastic !!! , There will be a high rate of follow thru from reservation to delivery.
Eventually the market will soften ( it is a sedan after all and much of the us and other countries are SUV/CUV obsessed) and Tesla will tease the Y ( designed and planned into/off the 3 platform ) and scoop up another 500k plus ( and it could be a big plus) reservations. At this point the big 3 will be freaking and Audi and others will have multiple proclamations of just around the corner Tesla competitors you can "reserve". Or will be struggling to sell good looking mid range EV's somewhat crippled by undeveloped charging infrastructure.
Ok sorry for the rant prediction it's 1:30 am and I can't sleep

 

[alloverx]

A lot of pre-orders are simply the Tesla/Musk brand, and envisage a cool, fast electric car for $35K. Not going to happen.
Once folks see that
-you want the $35K version, see you in 2019
-$45K is where you need to be.
-interior is sparse with no screen/dials in front of driver.
-Audi/MB come out with lavish interiors for their EVs in a 1/2 years.
There will be a lot of cancelled orders. Its certainly an exciting time in the auto industry.

 

[MikeDog77]

A lot of pre-orders are simply the Tesla/Musk brand, and envisage a cool, fast electric car for $35K. Not going to happen.
Once folks see that
-you want the $35K version, see you in 2019
-$45K is where you need to be.
-interior is sparse with no screen/dials in front of driver.
-Audi/MB come out with lavish interiors for their EVs in a 1/2 years.
There will be a lot of cancelled orders. Its certainly an exciting time in the auto industry.

"cool" is something that is made up and not real. The fact that you are commenting on it already means that the M3 will be "cool". It has enough hype that people will stop to look at it just like they did with MS and MX. Even at 45k for US people they get the $7,500 off and have already put $1k down. Maybe some people that thought they were going to get the M3 for 25-28k will cancel, but not anyone willing to pay 35-40k. Once the tax credit is gone then Tesla will lower the cost and option cost. That is just economics 101.(maybe 201 or 301)

 

[AnxietyRanger]

I must say I think @kingjamez you are wrong on this one. The nose of the Model 3 has obviously been altered - the crease has been moved from folding down to the inner edge of the fog light to turning to the outboard side instead like a wider moustache. Also, to me it seems they have slightly extended, towards lower, the area between the bonnet and the nose. The nose seems lower and less tall and with the changed crease less duck-face-like. Finally, the crease seems a bit more rounded, less dramatic, to me, but this is harderd to tell from spyshot quality images.

See this image for example for the moved crease - even if we account for the reflections, they would not display that way on the car if there was the old crease IMO:

Source: Production-Ready Tesla Model 3 Spotted Testing - NDTV CarAndBike

Here is the Model 3 prototype's old nose as a photo and a PR image - you can see how the reflected shapes still end over the fog-lifght's edge, where on the production mule above the reflections turn at a point above the fog-light, more towards the outboard edge:

Source: Tesla Model 3 rare red prototype displayed at the Tesla Gigafactory [Gallery]

 

[Model 3]

-Audi/MB come out with lavish interiors for their EVs in a 1/2 years.

 

[tomas]

A lot of pre-orders are simply the Tesla/Musk brand, and envisage a cool, fast electric car for $35K. Not going to happen.
Once folks see that
-you want the $35K version, see you in 2019
-$45K is where you need to be.
-interior is sparse with no screen/dials in front of driver.
-Audi/MB come out with lavish interiors for their EVs in a 1/2 years.
There will be a lot of cancelled orders. Its certainly an exciting time in the auto industry.

There's no 35k car that isn't over 40k optioned out. The market is used to this. The S got leading US market share with its simple and contemporary interior, no reason the 3 cannot. Just have to wait until the whole car is there to be experienced to see if there are material cancellations. I'd expect if there are cancellations it will be more due to wait than any aspect of delivered car.

 

[tomas]

I don't think anyone should expect interior changes. There's a supply chain, and at this stage, I can't imagine they want risk any delays for some kind of interior change. So unless they had some new interior sorted out last September, I'm pretty sure WYSIWYG.

I agree that nothing structural or complex (e.g, clipped in and flush with other elements) will change in interior. I do believe there could be "bolt on" elements for which supply chain is established that we will first see in next reveal and were separately tested and omitted from miles for marketing reasons. I emphasize "could be" because it's equally probable to me that there are not. Which would be fine with me, I'm still buying 2.

 

[Dynastar]

I love the spy shots and picking over the details but I think it's really hard to tell how everything will feel as a package, interior and exterior, until you have the car "in the flesh". I know that there were a lot of details on the S that were picked apart from a distance when the first refresh photos showed up, but as a driver of the S I think the car works well design-wise.

I'm sure the 3 will have more compromises but I think the team at Tesla has earned the benefit of the doubt. I do think the 3 interior will be off-putting to some but coming from an S I really like the minimal interior. I sat in a Mercedes recently and thought it was rediculously overwrought. Even my Leaf feels needlessly cluttered.

 

[Dynastar]

A "Menu" button, a "Status" button, and an "EV" button. Don't get me started on the actual touchscreen UI. After 18 months of ownership I still have to hunt to find infrequently used options like changing the charging timer or setting the clock, and the navigation is useless. There's also a second, more primitive UI for the instrument cluster which is located by the driver's door. Want to change the instrument cluster clock? That's a separate action from changing the infotainment clock. This is where many new 3 owners are going to be coming from.

I'll take this design philosophy any day.

 

[bmah]

Looks like he is keeping up with foreign relations

He's "communicating".

Bruce.

 

[RubberToe]

The car looks fantastic !!! , There will be a high rate of follow thru from reservation to delivery.
Eventually the market will soften ( it is a sedan after all and much of the us and other countries are SUV/CUV obsessed) and Tesla will tease the Y ( designed and planned into/off the 3 platform ) and scoop up another 500k plus ( and it could be a big plus) reservations. At this point the big 3 will be freaking and Audi and others will have multiple proclamations of just around the corner Tesla competitors you can "reserve". Or will be struggling to sell good looking mid range EV's somewhat crippled by undeveloped charging infrastructure.
Ok sorry for the rant prediction it's 1:30 am and I can't sleep

Just go and read that Electrek story (pics too) about the hundreds of Kuka robots about to be installed on the Model 3 production line. Then ponder the concept of "automated production of autonomous electric vehicles".

Sweet dreams

RT

 

[gregincal]

I drew the yellow line right under where I believe the crease is. I certainly don't think the crease ends on the top of the fog lights. See how the reflection between the two images changes? I think that reflection is what is causing the confusion.
-Jim
View attachment 224466View attachment 224464

You can draw a line there if you want, but absolutely nothing in the picture indicates that there is a crease where you drew the line. Unlike every single picture of the original prototype under all lighting conditions where the crease was really obvious all the way down to the light.

 

[Whistle2Whine]

I'm not anticipating too many changes to the interior DESIGN. I've made peace with that. However, what I'm really hoping for is an upgrade in MATERIALS. That's what I'm waiting to see, as it's the main complaint I have with the interior of my S.