Price gouging continues on the 3. Can't say I'm surprised.

[timk225]

Numerous issues with the prices on the 3.

Between the 2 batteries, it looks like around a 20 Kw difference. And with Teslas' battery cost below $150, I will be generous and say $150 per Kw. That's $3000 more in costs for the big battery. They are charging $9000. That is SIX THOUSAND DOLLARS PROFIT on the battery alone.

I would be ok with the big battery costing $4K to $5K. But $9K? Just say no.

Then the wheels. The FUGLY Aero wheels are free. The decent looking 5 or 10 spoke wheels, depending on how you count them, are $1,500. Should be $500 tops. Somehow I was thinking the Aero wheels would be the pricey option, I may have been wrong.

One good thing, although it wasn't specifically made clear - in the press packets, in the $5000 premium upgrades, it listed the glass roof. No mention of a sunroof or metal roof, but I presume not getting the $5000 premium pack means you get a metal roof? More clarification needed on that.

And what is up with the chargers? 32 amps for the small battery and 40 for the big one? Why not just bolt in the 48 amp Model S charger and give everyone faster charging? Why slow down the charging so much? 48 amps is slow enough already!!!

 

[CmdrThor]

You have a fundamental misunderstanding of what price gouging is.

 

[RiverBrick]

Is it free to design, build, and maintain the Gigafactory?

 

[AlanSqB]

Prices are not based on what things cost to the manufacturer, prices are based on what the market will bear. Many people like me are going to shell out the extra to get the Long Range option and be happy to do so. Others will wait for the lower priced options.

$1500 isn't just for a different wheel, it's for a premium, larger wheel with corresponding upgraded tires. Read the Motor Trend review on the car's handling. Those upgraded tires are going to be important for anyone who wants to sling the car around.

 

[TexasEV]

And what is up with the chargers? 32 amps for the small battery and 40 for the big one? Why not just bolt in the 48 amp Model S charger and give everyone faster charging? Why slow down the charging so much? 48 amps is slow enough already!!!

You do understand the point of the Model 3 is to make a less expensive car than the S, right? One way to keep the price down is to reduce the size of the charger especially in the less expensive version. If someone really wants faster charging that's a reason to buy a S. The Model 3 will charge overnight, that's what is important to most people. Remember it charges at a faster rate in miles/hr than the S, as it is a lighter car.

 

[timk225]

$1500 isn't just for a different wheel, it's for a premium, larger wheel with corresponding upgraded tires. Read the Motor Trend review on the car's handling. Those upgraded tires are going to be important for anyone who wants to sling the car around.

No, there is still a lot of profit margin in there. Think about it. You say the 19 inch tires are more expensive, and they may be. But then you aren't paying for 18 inch tires at all! What is the price DIFFERENCE between the 2 sets of tires? That is the justifiable cost of the price increase.

And as for "premium" wheels? I don't believe it. Tesla spent the money to design the 3 different wheels, and make the casting molds and all the attendant manufacturing costs. But do you expect me to believe that casting and machining one wheel is $1500 more expensive than the other?

And handling, shmandling. I'm not a rally autocross racer. I go fast off of stoplights and do top end runs, but I rarely try to take a 90 degree turn through an intersection at 80 mph.

This whole thing with the wheels is exactly the same thing Tesla is doing with the paint. Offer an ugly, undesirable option as the base, and an "upgrade" to anything else is loaded with PROFIT.

And it took time and money to design and build those 32 and 40 amp chargers, adding cost and complexity and more parts in inventory. They could have just made more of the 48 amp charger they already had in mass production.

 

[OBX John]

They really need to make Econ 101 & 102 mandatory in high school.

 

[timk225]

Is it free to design, build, and maintain the Gigafactory?

That's not my problem, I didn't ask them to build it so big.

 

[timk225]

They really need to make Econ 101 & 102 mandatory in high school.

Wouldn't do me any good, I'm almost 30 years out of high school. Wow, I'm getting old.......

I don't want a little for a lot, I want a lot for a little. That is the Tim economy!

 

[Big Dog]

I don't mind the price ($1500) for the 19's, except for the fact that the 18's are butt-ugly. And those are the size that I wanted. (Sure, the 19's are "look" cooler, but I was planning on the more comfortable ride and less expensive replacements of the 18's....but not with that look.)

 

[AlanSqB]

I'd encourage you to drop your reservation, but seeing as you're east of me, it won't help me anyway.

I get what you're saying. I think we're going to see some massive prices swings, option adjustments, and other major pivots over the next couple of years. It's what happened with the earlier models, it will happen again.

The affordable car is in there, somewhere.

 

[OBX John]

Wouldn't do me any good, I'm almost 30 years out of high school. Wow, I'm getting old.......

I don't want a little for a lot, I want a lot for a little. That is the Tim economy!

Sorry my post came across as elitist, rather I'd like to make the point that Tesla needs to make as much as possible from each sale to survive as a company. They should charge every bit of what the market will bear, and judging from the demand, it's under priced.

If you came into possession of one today at full sticker price, imagine how much you could sell if for - now that's closer to "price gouging", which doesn't really have a negative connotation as an economic term - it's just what happens when supply can't meet demand.

 

[a.void]

I don't think you've shopped for new cars for awhile. The options are always where the profit is regardless of car company.

Take a Honda Odyssey for example .. The base 2018 model is $30K, but the top of the line is $47K!
Mechanically, there isn't much more you get for $17k (better tranny). Mostly just premium upgrades

 

[Matias]

No, there is still a lot of profit margin in there. Think about it. You say the 19 inch tires are more expensive, and they may be. But then you aren't paying for 18 inch tires at all! What is the price DIFFERENCE between the 2 sets of tires? That is the justifiable cost of the price increase.

And as for "premium" wheels? I don't believe it. Tesla spent the money to design the 3 different wheels, and make the casting molds and all the attendant manufacturing costs. But do you expect me to believe that casting and machining one wheel is $1500 more expensive than the other?

And handling, shmandling. I'm not a rally autocross racer. I go fast off of stoplights and do top end runs, but I rarely try to take a 90 degree turn through an intersection at 80 mph.

This whole thing with the wheels is exactly the same thing Tesla is doing with the paint. Offer an ugly, undesirable option as the base, and an "upgrade" to anything else is loaded with PROFIT.

And it took time and money to design and build those 32 and 40 amp chargers, adding cost and complexity and more parts in inventory. They could have just made more of the 48 amp charger they already had in mass production.

It costs approximately 220 dollars for Apple to make an iphone..

 

[Yggdrasill]

I paid something like 17k USD for an additional 25 kWh. A mere 9k USD would have been awesome.

 

[zenmaster]

Prices are not based on what things cost to the manufacturer, prices are based on what the market will bear.

Everyone should understand this point and it would be stupid of Tesla to not take advantage of their current position. It will also greatly help them invest in even lower cost tech for the future - a future which will be much more competitive by design.

 

[agb7007]

No, there is still a lot of profit margin in there. Think about it. You say the 19 inch tires are more expensive, and they may be. But then you aren't paying for 18 inch tires at all! What is the price DIFFERENCE between the 2 sets of tires? That is the justifiable cost of the price increase.

And as for "premium" wheels? I don't believe it. Tesla spent the money to design the 3 different wheels, and make the casting molds and all the attendant manufacturing costs. But do you expect me to believe that casting and machining one wheel is $1500 more expensive than the other?

And handling, shmandling. I'm not a rally autocross racer. I go fast off of stoplights and do top end runs, but I rarely try to take a 90 degree turn through an intersection at 80 mph.

This whole thing with the wheels is exactly the same thing Tesla is doing with the paint. Offer an ugly, undesirable option as the base, and an "upgrade" to anything else is loaded with PROFIT.

And it took time and money to design and build those 32 and 40 amp chargers, adding cost and complexity and more parts in inventory. They could have just made more of the 48 amp charger they already had in mass production.

Th

 

[agb7007]

We live under a capitalism system, and as such there will be a balance between demand and supply, it is our job as consumers to get the product for as little as possible, and it's the sellers role to demand as much as the market will bear, simple economics! Since Tesla is sitting on more model 3 cars than they deliver for over a year, they would be stupid to leave money on the table. GM is having to give incentives to sell the Bolt because nobody is buying them - i.e. More supply than demand. We collectively gave Tesla the ok to increase prices when we (400k of us) in a matter of days dropped a $1K deposit.

Back years ago when I worked for a computer company and networking was new, we sold some products at a 12x markup between manufacturing cost and selling price. Why, because we had the only source for the product.

It's the same here with the model 3. If anybody else had an BEV as good, Tesla could not charge these prices. Tesla is simply a WORLD leader in EV cars, and I bet that other companies are frantically working to see how they can get a piece of the action. Many countries now have set mandatory conversion dates for the switch.

I for one think that Teslas prices are quite reasonable for what they are supplying.

 

[bonnie]

I think you and that poster actually agree and something may just have gotten lost in Internet translation. Seems like the point was that APPL charges whatever they want for the phones despite the fact they are fairly cheap to make because people will still buy them.

Not to mention the cost of designing and creating. Too many go by simply the Cost of Goods and forget the money that created the design must be recovered. And if no money is available for research & design, then what you see is the last thing that will ever be developed.

Tesla isn't gouging anyone.

 

[AlanSqB]

True @bonnie , and Franz needs a raise. That car is beautiful.