POLL: perhaps Tesla should do this to improve efficiency and generate cash, in the short term

[Big Earl]

Well this past winter here gas was more like $2.05.
I did see as high as 7xx kwh/m with my P85 and that doesn't account for power used plugged in, battery heating to charge, vampire drain which ICE do not have. Extra preheat time because the frameless windows freeze and hang up. Yes the windows freeze on my truck but they aren't frameless.
Far as temps, average January high is 25 low 9 BUT I have seen -26 and we can spend days or a week at a time not getting above single digits. That is a lot colder than Denver. With a 7 mile each way drive the battery and cabin heaters are working hard every time you get in the car and to charge.

I have seen the truck fall as low as 12.7mpg but normal winter is 14-15 summer is 17mpg.

The people who talk about cold not being that bad don't know what cold is, and it is devistating to to EV efficiency. On a 60degree day my 45mph 7 mile drive registers 270wh/m get down around zero and it is 700+ unless you preheat from shore power which is still energy used.

I can't argue the waste in production of gasoline, but a casual buyer who needs to see ads to get interested in Tesla is not going to care about that, they are going to care about what their daily use is.

Range mode will help by not needlessly heating the battery. Just remember to turn it back off before you charge.

 

[R.S]

Jeep put the entry edition Gladiator pickup (4,190 for area code 419) on sale ($62,000) and sold out immediately.
4 door wrangler sales will take a hit, but Jeep is gonna sell the sha-poopie out of these things

When the model 3 came out, Tesla didn't hesitate to brag: woohooo 400k reservations!!!!!!
I haven't heard anything about the Model Y reservations yet.
If they put the pickup out we will hear: Woohooo 400k reservations!!!!!
It's all about the pickup

Yea good point, maybe they will talk more about the number of reservations in the Q1 report. But it doesn’t seem like they would be worth bragging about on Twitter, so not extremely good.

I would have also revealed the pickup earlier, than the Y, even if it enters the market later. The Y might keep some from buying a 3, or X as the release date comes nearer, but the pickup has no real internal competition.

So I‘d have revealed the pickup more vaguely, max range and base price, or so. And kept the Y a secret until it’s ready to be produced.

 

[CarlK]

Tesla has a lot of levers to pull, It can and will use any of them when it's necessary. Otherwise just stay on course and continue to do the basics to widen the technology leads over the rest. No need to respond to a crises when there is none.

 

[KJD]

OK it might not be a crisis or an emergency, but there are some things that are not right at giga factory 2 and maybe EM should look into these problems.

Elon Musk visits Gigafactory 2 in Buffalo as Tesla Energy prepares for 2019 ramp