Poll: 35k or 49k

[insaneoctane]

When the black is clean it looks absolutely amazing. Don't listen to the haters!

Black cars can be gorgeous. When kept clean, black is like a mirror and looks amazing. Unfortunately, like a mirror, they must be kept clean. They show even the smallest amount of dust and dirt. If you garage keep your car, wipe / dust between washing and wash your car frequently, then you will thoroughly enjoy a black car. If you tend to not wash your car frequently, you will not own a beautiful black car, but a dirty and dusty black car most of the time. While black is sexy, it is work and if you are not willing to do it look for another color.

Signed by the guy who bought a black car ONCE.

 

[kenbefound]

Same here.. but I am very tempted by those 19inch wheels.. damn

I'm considering a set of my own 19" rims (maybe the 5 double-spokes from the S) with some really good Summer tires for about $1200 and will keep the 18" for Winter use.

 

[sdorn]

You should be able to get long range without the premium package. So it's $9000 more, not $14,000

I really want the extra range, but when I crunch the numbers (with heavy use of abetterroutplanner.com) I've decided that I can live with extra stops at superchargers

I thought the first run was all long range and premium package such that the only option you can select is the tire size and color. Any other configuration means waiting until 2018 at the earliest.

 

[sdorn]

Black cars can be gorgeous. When kept clean, black is like a mirror and looks amazing. Unfortunately, like a mirror, they must be kept clean. They show even the smallest amount of dust and dirt. If you garage keep your car, wipe / dust between washing and wash your car frequently, then you will thoroughly enjoy a black car. If you tend to not wash your car frequently, you will not own a beautiful black car, but a dirty and dusty black car most of the time. While black is sexy, it is work and if you are not willing to do it look for another color.

Signed by the guy who bought a black car ONCE.

I've owned black cars almost exclusively for the past decade or so. For some reason the Tesla in black just doesn't look good though. It looks like a rental car. Same with the white as well. The red and the blue are the ones that really look good to me, at least for the Model S. I'm interested to see what the Model 3 colors look like in person once they are out on the road.

 

[BluestarE3]

I'm going with base + PUP + paint. Don't need the extra range.

 

[Robocheme]

it is true that an extra 90 miles for 9k is very reasonable at this time, but for me it's more of a matter of math.
In the busiest year I can imagine, I'll be taking 2 trips up to San Francisco from San Diego, with around 12 trips to Los Angeles.
*with aggressive estimations

• Trip to San Francisco: ~1000 miles round-trip (4 supercharger stops with LR, 7 supercharger stops with SR).
• Trip to Los Angeles: ~250 miles round-trip (No supercharger stop with LR, 1 supercharger stop with SR).

if 1 supercharger stop = ~40min wait time, then:

• 2 trips to SF means I'll spend ~4hrs more at superchargers per year.
• 12 trips to LA means I'll spend ~5hrs more at superchargers per year.

This means I'll be spending 9k so that I can save ~9hrs/year. Even if I value my time at $200/hrs (higher than my salary), it'll take 5 years for the 9k to be worth the time saved.
Everyone's situation is different, and I'm not taking into account battery degradation (~2% a year?), supercharging cost, acceleration time, etc. This is just my rational side doing the thinking for once
Please let me know if there's anything wrong with this logic!
*edit formatting

I think that you're assuming that the value and the LR and SR will be the same after five years. I'd expect the LR to higher, not 9K$ higher, but higher.

 

[cbutters]

Would have been nice if the poll had the "Wait for AWD" in it as well, (Since that is a valid option on tesla's website)

 

[Shock-On-T]

Black cars can be gorgeous. When kept clean, black is like a mirror and looks amazing. Unfortunately, like a mirror, they must be kept clean. They show even the smallest amount of dust and dirt. If you garage keep your car, wipe / dust between washing and wash your car frequently, then you will thoroughly enjoy a black car. If you tend to not wash your car frequently, you will not own a beautiful black car, but a dirty and dusty black car most of the time. While black is sexy, it is work and if you are not willing to do it look for another color.

Signed by the guy who bought a black car ONCE.

Agree totally.
I actually had a black loaner last week and ended up washing it myself. First time I've ever washed a loaner

 

[DrivingRockies]

I am guessing many folks are going to be disappointed with the real world, road tripping range of the SR M3...

As long as they go into it eyes open. I have a 60(75)D model X. I love it on road trips.

 

[timk225]

$9k for 40 percent range increase is more than reasonably priced IMO. Now I understand that it's too much for some people so I understand the frustration.

$4000 would be a reasonable price, and Tesla still makes a profit. $9000 is ridiculous.

 

[siggyfreud]

$4000 would be a reasonable price, and Tesla still makes a profit. $9000 is ridiculous.

How do you know they make a profit on that? Maybe if you ignore the R&D costs, gigafactory, etc.

 

[MiamiNole]

Okay, so the premium package, EAP, and midnight silver are must-haves for me, so this question pretty much comes down to the extended battery cost to as an independent variable to determine usefulness. I need some outside opinions on this so help me out guys. I live in Orlando and frequently travel to Miami and Tampa. My wife's family is from Memphis so we travel there at least twice a year. I also will probably make trips to Tallahassee to catch a football game at least once a year. I did the calculations for total time for each trip with both batteries, the longest charging time, and the total trip time differences.

Orlando to Memphis
Standard Range - 16:04 - Max stop: 51 mins
Long Range - 14:41 - Max stop: 30 mins
Time Difference: 1:23

Orlando to Miami
Standard Range - 4:23 - Max stop: 22 mins
Long Range - 4:08 - Max stop: 7 mins
Time Difference: 15 mins

Orlando to Tampa
Standard Range - 3:38 - Max stop: 12 mins
Long Range - 3:11 - No stops
Time Difference: 12 mins

Orlando to Tallahassee
Standard Range - 4:49 - Max stop: 33 mins
Long Range - 4:34 - Max stop: 15 mins

So the economic and reasonable side of me says that the $9000 cost wouldn't justify the time savings for my trips within Florida. So it basically comes down to the Memphis trip. That 51 min charge time in Tupelo, MS is a KILLER to me. And there aren't any other chargers currently in the works on the route between Birmingham and Memphis so it looks like I'm stuck with that stop. The long range battery makes that stop only 30 mins, and I also save nearly an hour and a half on that trip. BUT, is making that trip better worth the $9000 upgrade? I would probably make more than 2 trips a year to Memphis if EAP really makes road trips easier so the shorter trip time would be nice. But cost definitely is a factor for me, so the upgrade would definitely tighten our budget.

What do you guys think?

 

[03DSG]

$4000 would be a reasonable price, and Tesla still makes a profit. $9000 is ridiculous.

And you know this how?

 

[McRat]

... is making that trip better worth the $9000 upgrade? I would probably make more than 2 trips a year to Memphis if EAP really makes road trips easier so the shorter trip time would be nice. But cost definitely is a factor for me, so the upgrade would definitely tighten our budget.

What do you guys think?

The M3-310 has 3 things:
More range.
More power.
Faster charging, both at home and away.

The M3-220 will be fine for you.

But in the history of EVs to date, nobody has ever said:

"It has too much range."
"It has too much passing acceleration."
"It charges too fast."

For me, the 310 gives me a 100 mile combat radius, and I can pretty much drive any way I want.

 

[djkwanzaa]

The M3-310 has 3 things:
More range.
More power.
Faster charging, both at home and away.

The M3-220 will be fine for you.

But in the history of EVs to date, nobody has ever said:

"It has too much range."
"It has too much passing acceleration."
"It charges too fast."

Has anyone ever said "it cost too much"?

 

[DR61]

So the economic and reasonable side of me says that the $9000 cost wouldn't justify the time savings for my trips ...

What do you guys think?

Seems to me the cost is not $9000, but $9000 - (depreciated price of LR - depreciated price of SR) after x number of years depreciation. The LR model might depreciate much slower than the SR.

 

[djkwanzaa]

Would have been nice if the poll had the "Wait for AWD" in it as well, (Since that is a valid option on tesla's website)

Purposely didn't put that as I need to choose between these 2 to get tax credit. I am also considering resale and want to see which model has more demand.

 

[McRat]

Has anyone ever said "it cost too much"?

All the time.

The least expensive cars to build today are ICE cars. A Chevy Spark is $13,000.00. And actually, they are not that bad for a small car.

If range anxiety is kicking in Before you buy, you should probably test drive a Volt. Drive EV to work, but drive anywhere on the weekends.

 

[Neoforce]

I thought the first run was all long range and premium package such that the only option you can select is the tire size and color. Any other configuration means waiting until 2018 at the earliest.

Yes the first run is all LR and PUP. The second run is called "standard battery" in myTesla is when the SR model is available. The general consensus is when that happens, there will be three new combinations available: 1) <SR and PUP> and 2) <SR and no PUP> And 3) LR and No PUP

My current plan is for SR and PUP and I'm east coast whoI stood on line on 3/31. MyTesla shows a delivery estimate of Jan-Mar 2018.

 

[MiamiNole]

Seems to me the cost is not $9000, but $9000 - (depreciated price of LR - depreciated price of SR) after x number of years depreciation. The LR model might depreciate much slower than the SR.

Yeah, I was thinking about that as I typed it up. A feature I REALLY want on the Model 3 is the panoramic moonroof that is currently available on the S and X. I'd definitely consider selling my first gen 3 whenever that feature becomes available.