Model 3 official test drives coming this year.

[PRSIST]

No sign of this on my Tesla page yet, but it's really good news. The ingress/egress evolution, cockpit checkout and test drive are mandatory items for me.
Robin

Agree, but test drives that late in the year are a little late for people getting their rear wheel drive versions that are expected to be the first cars on the street. It also presumes that we will have to configure the car we want to buy, possibly put more money down, and then later in the year we get to test drive one???

Test drives should happen in late July, when the configuration website starts up.

 

[Dilbagh]

I'm a current owner with an early M3 reservation in Cal. No test drive message on mytesla account or on the model 3 page.
Although, I am totally fine with ordering the car before test driving but I hope to see it in person to finalize the color and wheels.

 

[SD_Engnr]

By the way, be careful with the test drive section of that website. I was fooling around with it but never submitted a request, but sure enough, 10 minutes later I got a call from Tesla to see if I wanted to test drive a car. They were very good about not trying to upsell me when i declined, and offered to reach out to me later this year when Model 3 test drives are available.

I had the EXACT same thing happen to me. Though, I let mine go to VM. Sure enough, I received an email shortly afterwards with this line:

"We do not have any Model 3’s available for viewing or driving at this time.
Which vehicle are you most interested in test driving?"
​

Found it odd to throw that info about the Model 3 in the email...

 

[strykeroz]

This would be bad news for Tesla. The 3 is make or break and this would most certainly break.

To me this sounds like good news and right on schedule

 

[tracksyde]

I did what WileyTheMan said.. went to Model 3 page.. clicked through some pictures.. scrolled up and down the screen.. probably 30 seconds or so later, the window popped up.. I'm not logged in either.

 

[timk225]

This topic isn't news to me, I EXPECT to be test driving a Model 3 no later than September, even if my front-of-the line Day 1 reservation takes months longer to get to.

 

[mmd]

This is again looking like the Powerwall story back in May 2015. It was also coming "this summer", but did not show up in 2015. Finally, in 2017 Powerwall 2 is selling some.

What confuses me the most, is that early deliveries to employees is scheduled to start next month. What prevents them from offering test drives to others? I bet those low paid Tesla factory workers will earn some handsome money offering test drives in their off work hours.
Rumor has it that Tesla employees haven't heard anything about configuring Model 3. That's yet another mystery. If they did, the option prices would have leaked out by now.

Hint: Time to connect with Tesla workers on linkedin or befriend them on facebook.

 

[BluestarE3]

Test drives should happen in late July, when the configuration website starts up.

I suspect they will be happening in July... but for employees only in private events held in Fremont, Hawthorne and maybe Sparks.

What prevents them from offering test drives to others? I bet those low paid Tesla factory workers will earn some handsome money offering test drives in their off work hours.

Nothing. Employees are customers too and they will be privately owned cars. Once these employee-owned Model 3s start showing up in the wild, I'm sure people will approach the owners with lots of questions. Like some early Model S owners, some of them may be happy to answer your questions and maybe even let you sit in their cars or even take you for a quick spin (here's hoping!).

 

[Waiting4M3]

I'm still debating between buying a base RWD or a larger battery with D for max range. I already like the RC looks and know what color I want, so if I go with the base RWD, I will buy without a test drive. I bought my 2004 Prius that way, still driving it and loving it.

 

[shrspeedblade]

I couldn't get the pop up in the Tesla website, logged in or not.

I wonder if they somehow have record/memory of that last test drive a year and a half ago in that P90DL?

 

[aronth5]

I couldn't get the pop up in the Tesla website, logged in or not.

I wonder if they somehow have record/memory of that last test drive a year and a half ago in that P90DL?

I opened the Tesla web site in a new window and then went to the Model 3 page. About 2 minutes later the message popped up.

 

[jgillispie]

Edit: Sorry, I missed the bit about the AWD 3s in December.

No, there's no chance. The AWDs will be summer 2018 at the earliest. I could see them trying to push a bunch of the reservation holders who want/need AWD up to an early P85D CPO. I've got one of the first P85Ds off of the line, and I'll be lease returning it in December.

It's an awfully nice car and is wonderful to drive in the winter! And it'll be a good while before you get a 3 that performs like this thing does.

I'm expecting the first M3 AWD's getting delivered mid to late spring of next year, just a few months off those early MS AWDs. I wonder what the cost difference will be between a new M3 75D(?) vs a CPO 85D(similar relative options).

 

[dsvick]

It all depends on what their idea of "late 2017" is. I never expected test drives to be available until the October/November time frame anyway so this, to me is just confirmation that everything is still on schedule.

 

[ecarfan]

I opened the Tesla web site in a new window and then went to the Model 3 page. About 2 minutes later the message popped up.

Interesting. I can't get that message to appear by viewing the Model 3 page whether I am simulataneously logged into MyTesla account or not. I reserved on 4/1/2017 and am in the SF Bay Area so would be on the early customer delivery list after employees get their cars.

 

[BluestarE3]

Interesting. I can't get that message to appear by viewing the Model 3 page whether I am simulataneously logged into MyTesla account or not. I reserved on 4/1/2017 and am in the SF Bay Area so would be on the early customer delivery list after employees get their cars.

I finally got the pop-up to appear on my Android tablet (I never got it to come up on my Linux or Windows PCs). However, when I clicked on the option to schedule a test drive, the only vehicles listed were Models S and X. No option for Model 3.

 

[sandpiper]

I disagree, I think ~3 month (not 6month) is typical for industrial machines delivery/installation time. The hundreds of "alien dreadnought" robots at Fremont factory had something like 15-20 wk installation schedule. I expect the battery tooling order to start getting filled in ~2 month time (end of July), and ramp up to completion in another 2 months (end of Sep), so by beginning of Q4 Oct I think Tesla will crank out a lot of cars.

It sounds like they're talking tooling, not standard machines, The tooling is the custom hardware that adapts the machines to an application. In any case, I could see 3 months for delivery of the tooling if it's already largely designed. So, September- ish. That accords well with the first actual full production cars by end of September. And then the painful process of ramping up the process, and tuning production begins.

Again, I don't see anything that runs counter to my timeline,

 

[sandpiper]

I like your thought process on a ramp schedule but I think it'll be tighter/quicker than that.

July: NADA, except some hand built RCs as they have now. Tesla may claim that they're off of the line, but that's a bit fuzzy. These cars will be a mix of hand & machine assembled, using some production components and sub-assemblies and some prototype parts.

early August: 300 - the first cars completed almost entirely on the actual production line, with all going to employees
late August: 700 - employees
Month of September: 2500 - employees
Month of October: 5000 - employees and California
Month of November: 7000 - California
Month of December: 9000 - Start of general release just before new years to be able to say they got some outside of CA in 2017.
Mar 2018, they open up the extra battery pack option
April 2018 they open up the dual motor option
By May 2018, you'll see production of about 5,000 per week.

Hopefully you're right.

 

[JeffK]

The modal code is in the Model 3 page source code for everyone...

<div id="test-drive-popup-modal" class="modal fade modal fade modal-alternate">
  <div class="modal-dialog">
    <div class="modal-content">
      <div class="modal-throbber hidden"></div>
      <button type="button" class="btn-close modal-close" data-dismiss="modal">
                <span class="sr-only">Close</span>
            </button>
      <div class="modal-header">
        <h4 class="modal-title">Test Drive a Tesla</h4>
      </div>
      <div class="modal-body">
        <p class="section-description">
          Model&nbsp;3 test drives will begin late 2017. First priority will be for current reservation holders. Model&nbsp;S and Model&nbsp;X test drives are available now.</p>
        <div class="btn-group">
          <a href="/drive" title="Schedule Test Drive" class="btn-primary btn--test_drive">
        Schedule Test Drive    </a>
          <a href="/model3/reserve" title="Reserve Model&nbsp;3" class="btn-secondary btn--reserve">
            Reserve Model&nbsp;3        </a>
        </div>

      </div>
    </div>
  </div>
</div>

 

[Mark Z]

Tesla can lower performance for a test drive on a performance EV to match a slower model. I wonder if they plan to add a Model 3 mode to their Model S test drive vehicles? That would allow some early purchasers to test the feel of Model 3 acceleration. If the customer isn't satisfied, then crank up the power and upsell the customer to Model S.

 

[JeffK]

Tesla can lower performance for a test drive on a performance EV to match a slower model. I wonder if they plan to add a Model 3 mode to their Model S test drive vehicles? That would allow some early purchasers to test the feel of Model 3 acceleration. If the customer isn't satisfied, then crank up the power and upsell the customer to Model S.

That wouldn't be the same one would think... the handling will likely be different and it'd be hard to simulate the center display with no instrument panel. You'd need a real Model 3.

That said, I hope they do have performance models for test drives and I hope you can turn down the performance to match other models. As a matter of fact it'd be nice if you could customize performance in a driver profile... For example, I want a performance model but if my wife is driving the car we'd probably want to limit performance (she can be a little clumsy).