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Model 3 standard range postponed until Early 2019
- Thread starter dm33
- Start date
I'm starting to think those of us who lined up to reserve a $35k Tesla were just free promotional props for Elon.
mtndrew1
Active Member
I honestly believe that they’re just adjusting to reality as it is presented to them. The company must make money (or break even) at some point and someone had a spreadsheet that says they need to prioritize the car that they’ll be delivering until volume or materials costs or whatever allow the base car to be profitable.
Honestly if they had launched the base car with mandatory PUP and EAP to drive up margins enough to make it worthwhile I would have been okay with that. I’ve worked for two major automakers and building cars is really really hard. I get it.
I just feel duped. The glitter around the Tesla concept has faded for me.
ℬête Noire
Active Member
So they did, I stand corrected on that! ((Mea culpa: I didn't initially watch the video at the time, I really was putting down money on 200+ miles...and the assumption there'd be better options because it was Tesla. Looking closer, it was the battery and the actual mileage still up in the air.....they weren't firm on 215 as the final number, just as a minimum.))
Ummm, well.....there was mention of higher performance models, right? I'm not sure how you could follow Tesla even casually and not realize that mean bigger battery and more $.
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mtndrew1
Active Member
Check out the Bolt. I never worry about not having enough range, 230+ is way more than I need.
mtndrew1
Active Member
I rented a Bolt on Maven and the car’s seats were painfully uncomfortable for me (I understand this doesn’t apply to everyone). The Bolt, even with all options, is dramatically under-equipped compared to the competition. No ACC is a big issue for me even if I could stand the seats.
Looks like I’ll be driving another stupid nerd Nissan. Care for a ride?
ℬête Noire
Active Member
You don't like driving from a lawn chair? Think of it as being at the beach!
Yeah, the seats suck.
ℬête Noire
Active Member
I edited in some extra stuff while you posted. Sorry about that.
Musk on stage mentioned better performance stuff would be there, in the video "...there will be versions of the Model 3 that go much faster...".
Bingo. Tesla is finding it much much harder to manufacture Model 3s than they had anticipated. Tesla had originally forecast a 25% gross margin on Model 3, but have been unable to reach that margin and would not be able to reach that margin if they introduced a lower price point at this time. Therefore Tesla will continue producing higher priced models until, if ever, they can produce a lower priced model that still achieves 25% gross margin.
It’s entirely possible that the standard range non-premium Model 3 may never be released.
Then we SR reservation holders are just publicity for financing and tech bytes. Perhaps they are looking for us to eventually cancel anyway. What a bait and switch scam! I'm so frustrated.
mtndrew1
Active Member
Try GM’s Maven app to rent one for the day. It’s moderately pricey ($90?) but you can put a couple hundred miles on the car and don’t have to interact with salespeople.
mtndrew1
Active Member
Oh, yeah, but I don’t think anyone would have bet that the “much faster” one would be the only one you could buy for 18 months! I recall seeing the debut and being fully convinced that it was reasonable to expect a 35k + mandatory options car in early/mid 2018. That’s not what we got at all.
I sincerely hope Tesla succeeds but they’ve priced themselves out of my garage for now. At least the ‘18 Leaf is less mediocre than the previous model. I’m hoping for a nondescript color and tinted windows so as not to be noticed or identified driving one.
ℬête Noire
Active Member
That's why I expect it won't happen, if at all possible. At the end of the day they'll roll out at least some $35K base cars even if it's at cost, to satisfy that commitment. They'll have the factory to build them (that the LR/AWD buyers paid for) and this bottom end is really towards their longterm goal that they've been building towards the last decade plus. EVs for the masses.
That $35K car represents the rationale for Tesla's very existence.
ℬête Noire
Active Member
18 months from "the end of 2017" stated? Remember, the beginning of production was ahead of that. If the SR start selling at their current estimated time, it'll be about 1 year past that.
Given that a lot of this delay (that you even expected some of, and I was of that mind, too btw) is scaled up more that one might expect because Tesla working so hard to get cars of any sort to the 1/4 million that signed up out of the gate in some sort of reasonable time frame (like 2020), if that doesn't count as a good faith effort and overall at least moderate competency then I'm not sure what does.
That's going to happen at the edges, people's lives interfere and they can't wait or they were on the bubble and missing a portion of this large tax credit will put them over. Especially considering just how many garages they are building themselves into, and the way the tax credit was worked. It's still going to get 10's of thousands of SR into early reserve folks at just about $31K pre-sales tax (and less in some states). Maybe a few below $30K, we'll see how that pans out.
But crying "bait and switch" (and I don't think I'm talking about you specifically here) is emotional ranting that's just not in line with reality.
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That’s exactly me.
If they had said they’re introducing a $49,000 car that would have been fine. But Elon said $35,000. Now it’s two years later and he’s letting everyone jump the two year old line if they cough up any more dough.
I do wonder if this was Elon’s plan all along. Get the hype and interest but sell a much more expensive car.
Elon has lost credibility. Betrayed trust of those who reserved early. Why believe him now that the SR will be available in 2019 or ever. What if they really plan to string people along, never produce the base model or raise the price.
It’s not the delay it’s letting others cut the line that is so bothersome.
The website still says 12-18 months for a brand new reservation. Is that true? My two year old reservation has a minimum of 12 months to go. Seems little advantage to have $1000 tied up to hold a place in line if I keep getting moved to the back of the line. I might as well reserve if or when they actually make a $35,000 model 3.
I went shopping this week. Looked at Honda clarity, 2018 leaf, bolt. There are some good choices. If I get a decent 2-3 year lease I can come back and see what Tesla is promising then. Model Y. FSD by then?
mtndrew1
Active Member
Fair point. I should revise it to be “$50,000 minimum for the first 12 months of production.” Even so it would have prevented me from making a deposit, which is sort of my litmus test for whether or not this was handled professionally with the information they had on hand.
I am indeed emotional to a degree. Monday I was genuinely excited to hear the Q4 conference call to get some color on the ramp. My internal target was to get a car by June so I could drive it to Arizona for an annual gathering, which included my buffer against the mytesla account page showing a delivery of standard range by February of 2018.
To be honest 2017 was a very difficult year for me and regardless of how silly it is, the Model 3 was what I was keeping as a positive turn for 2018. That rug was just pulled out from under me. It stings.
ℬête Noire
Active Member
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