I spent a good amount of time rehearsing my responses to those types of criticisms when Liz and I were showing our cars at the St. Louis Auto Show. I got the usual handful of haters but most people were willing to listen. One guy was incorrigible about solar companies sucking off the teat of the government, yadda yadda, and I just basically had to step away from him and let him vent and move on. Another gentleman came up and said "is this the car company Obama gave all the free money to that makes them overseas?" I had to correct him that no -- that was Fisker -- that these Model S's were born in California, that the government assistance was a low-rate loan that was being paid back faster than expected, and that Tesla was putting 3,000 people in California to work. That shut him up and made him ask about the car!
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I spent a good amount of time rehearsing my responses to those types of criticisms when Liz and I were showing our cars at the St. Louis Auto Show. I got the usual handful of haters but most people were willing to listen. One guy was incorrigible about solar companies sucking off the teat of the government, yadda yadda, and I just basically had to step away from him and let him vent and move on. Another gentleman came up and said "is this the car company Obama gave all the free money to that makes them overseas?" I had to correct him that no -- that was Fisker -- that these Model S's were born in California, that the government assistance was a low-rate loan that was being paid back faster than expected, and that Tesla was putting 3,000 people in California to work. That shut him up and made him ask about the car!
strider
Active Member
I say that it follows BMW 5-series pricing. It starts at $50K and goes up to $100K depending on performance, same as a 5-series.
More accurate would be to compare the regular MS with a 535 GT (Gran Turismo), which is also a four-door with a hatchback. That model has a 2011 base price of $53K, and a fully-loaded price of $84K or so... and it's probably gone up in the last two years since we bought it. It's exactly the same price range, and even the dimensions are all within six inches of each other.
On the whole asking/telling thing, I'm not shy about discussing prices. Because my ideal goal is to educate, I start out with the "base $50K" comment and show how it's superior to ICEs in every way I can think of. But I do note that larger batteries mean longer range, and that batteries or options or performance can push it up to about $100K. I mention that it's priced comparably to a BMW 5-series and how amazing it is that Tesla's first production electric car came in that cheap. I'll keep talking Tesla as long as they'll let me. But if someone asks how much mine cost, I tell them.
Arnold Panz
Model Sig 304, VIN 542
I have had plenty of "haters" who ask about the "Obama loans" (actually, the program is from a law passed in 2007), and generally thinking I'm a tree-hugging enviro-commie for buying an EV. My response is always the same -- whether your issue is the environment, national security or the funding of America's enemies, there is no good reason not to love EVs. I point out that every time they fill up their gas tank, they are (indirectly) giving money to some of the worst regimes in the world. We might not buy oil directly from Iran, for example, but the price of a barrel of oil is set globally, so demand from the US only increases prices for everyone who exports tons of oil (Iran, Russia, Venezuela, Syria etc. etc.).
I had one right-wing friend, who is absolutely convinced that global warming is a giant hoax perpetrated by Al Gore, tell me that he hates environmentalists so much that he'd never thought about this aspect of our use of oil, and he was going to look into a hybrid or EV for his next car! Even (or especially) in deep, dark red Nebraska (and other places like it), these arguments work because they're easy to understand and 100% right on the merits. This is why Tesla has done a remarkably good job of not being seen as a particularly environmental company -- they want to appeal to everyone left and right and in between, and there's good reason for everyone to support them.
As someone who is waiting for the Gen3 I wonder how many people will be asking how much it costs?
I bet the question will come up frequently even 3-4 years from now.
I'm still waiting to see my first MS in the wild and will be sure not to ask how much it costs. It will be much
for fun to ask what firmware version they are using:smile:
I bet the question will come up frequently even 3-4 years from now.
I'm still waiting to see my first MS in the wild and will be sure not to ask how much it costs. It will be much
for fun to ask what firmware version they are using:smile:
Nikoli
Member
The first rule is don't talk about it. The second rule is don't talk about it. At least that's how I'm trying to cope, and no eye contact.
toto_48313
CAN P #5
I usually say that I place my order in march 2009 when I was about to change my 2002 Saab 9.5 that I finally kept until I got my model S. So my old 40,000$ car last 4 more years than initially plan, and I had those 4 years to save enough to buy the MS.
On the top of that, now I'm starting saving on gas, so buying it make me save money since I place my reservation.
On the top of that, now I'm starting saving on gas, so buying it make me save money since I place my reservation.
toto_48313
CAN P #5
another answer for those asking for the price of the CAR, my answer is: Car? I just bought a computer that have wheels..." and they usually doesn't come back to the price question.
bonnie
I play a nice person on twitter.
mod note: some posts have been moved to snippiness . If you were an innocent bystander and got moved with the rest, well ... be careful who you hang out with. 
- end of public service announcement, please carry on -
- end of public service announcement, please carry on -
SCW-Greg
Active Member
mod note: some posts have been moved to snippiness . If you were an innocent bystander and got moved with the rest, well ... be careful who you hang out with.
- end of public service announcement, please carry on -
Thanks Bonnie.
My last answer eluded to staying above any snippiness you might encounter, answering the public with class (hopefully). I want to help Tesla succeed, for many reasons, one of which so ill have a place to get it serviced in 5 years. So I try to act as an ambassador for them.
Like ElSupreme' s signature suggests.
AustinPowers
Total Smeghead
Really? Come over here for a change. We talk about car prices all the time. No big deal really. Perhaps Germans are more car-crazy (which I doubt) or more relaxed about such things (which I doubt even more), but I for example know the exact prices my colleagues, neighbours and friends paid for their cars as they do the price of mine. What is the problem of telling someone the car cost 90K Euro? They will either say "wow, great car, I knew it would be expensive" or "phew, EV or not, that is too much for my liking". Upon which you can start explaining about savings in energy etc. Or you can just leave it at that. And in the unlikely event that they have money to burn they might even say "hey, that sounds like a bargain" ;-)
I have always encountered Americans as very open and friendly, even if they didn't know me at all. Far more relaxed than us Germans. Are some really so uptight like you describe/infer when it comes to talking about something as generic as car prices?
Well, man made global warming is a hoax but that's a subject for another thread.
I think the issue is that the government shouldn't be in the business of funding private companies, period.
Solyndra, disaster.
A123, disaster.
Fisker, disaster.
Billions of tax payer money wasted.
But that's also a subject of another thread
In general, the right answer is to say the car ranges from 50k to 100k.
The novice can't tell them apart anyway.
Agreed here. This was my scenario. My previous car before the S that I just got rid of was a Range Rover Evoque Dynamic. I think the final cost including taxes was around $57,000. I had put $5k down and had a loan for around $52k 2.75% for 60 months - payment was $937/month. I do 90% highway driving, and the Evoque was rated 28mpg. I drive roughly 3000 miles/month. The ACTUAL mileage I got from the Evoque was about 20mpg (side note: that really ticked me off). At $4/gallon for premium fuel, I was spending $600+/month on gas. Now my cost per month was $937+$600=$1537.
Now lets look at the total monthly cost for the Model S. For me, where I park daily has free charging. I will most likely charge there, not at home (when the mobile app is out, I'll probably set it up to slightly charge/warm up the vehicle right before I leave every morning). So essentially, "fuel is free". Total cost for my pretty much loaded P85 is $103k (no EV sales tax in NJ). Lets assume I put no more money down besides the $5k reservation, so I finance $98000. If I go for a 72 month loan (I know, not exactly apples to apples), but I think it's relatively easy to get a 72 month loan at 2.49%. That monthly cost is now $1466, cheaper than what I was paying for the Evoque. I could also probably do an 84 month loan at 3.49%, That's now around $1316/month. Not bad for a car that costs almost double what the Evoque was costing me. (side note: I'd love to see if I could get that lower, anybody know any banks offering good 84 month loans?)
This doesn't even take into account that I won't be needing to pay for oil changes or brakes either and the myriad of parts on an ICE car that could break that I no longer need to worry about. Even if I do the same 60 month loan, while total monthly price would be slightly more, I'll still save a TON over the life of the vehicle (and I plan on having it at least 10 years).
My point is simple - for me, ESPECIALLY TCO over time, even though the Model S is almost double in price what the Range Rover was, the total cost of ownership is actually A LOT cheaper. THAT is how I can afford a $100k car. I mean come on, price of the Evoque +$7200/year every year I owned that car? Over 10 years that's $57k+$72k=$129k. LOL. Ridiculous. (besides, the Range Rover would NEVER last that long anyway, so I'd have to buy a new car there too before end of 10 years haha.) And all this still doesn't even factor in the $7500 fed rebate or the home charger rebate either, so really the savings are even more than I've pointed out above.
Trev Page
Member
Wow, this kind of thing is still going on? I'm in Canada and I can assure you that would NEVER happen. The banks and tight-wads with debt-service ratios and adverse to all risks. I'd love to have a Model S and I talk about the car all the time but reality sets in that we'll only be comfortable with a GenIII price range when they come out in a few years.
whatever... the government has been subsidizing businesses and industries for the past century. the internet wouldn't exist without government subsidies for the small businesses who helped get it off the ground. most pharmaceutical advances too. ever heard of Lockheed Martin? Northrop Grumman? think they don't get any government money (that is NOT paid back, unlike Tesla?).
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bonnie
I play a nice person on twitter.
Mod Note: Let's keep the politics off the thread, guys. I'm not in the mood to be moving posts.
Well, man made global warming is a hoax but that's a subject for another thread.
I think the issue is that the government shouldn't be in the business of funding private companies, period.
Solyndra, disaster.
A123, disaster.
Fisker, disaster.
Billions of tax payer money wasted.
But that's also a subject of another thread
In general, the right answer is to say the car ranges from 50k to 100k.
The novice can't tell them apart anyway.
^This
I think it's important to be honest and very matter of fact about the price range of the Model S as it can be purchased from Tesla, as well as discussing Tesla's plans for future lower cost cars, but not your specific car. It assumes the best (people are asking because they might want to know if it is something they could possibly afford). I've never had anybody push it past that and ask how much *my* specific car cost. I personally don't consider it rude to ask how much the cars cost in general, but I do think it's rude to ask how much I paid for the car.
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