Reserving your Model 3 (official Tesla blog)

[montreid]

There's been no mention of high optioned will have priority like Model X was--this is still speculation, though precedence was set.

Elon did specifically mention controlled rollout and tesla owners take priority in each region.
What he didn't elaborate are cutoffs of timing of priority (day 1, 1st week, etc) or shifts between regions with the sheer # of preorders in West coast. Will East coast Tesla owners wait 6months+ for their initial order? Wow.

 

[Justmurr]

Even though I reserved really early (45th in line by my unofficial count) I do have east coast delivery anxiety.
I am hopeful to take delivery by May 2018-ish?

 

[favo]

There's been no mention of high optioned will have priority like Model X was--this is still speculation, though precedence was set.

Elon specifically said this in the 2015 Q4 conference call.

Our default plan as we have done in the past is that the initial sales are relatively highly optioned versions of the car, because we’ve got to pay back the investment of the tooling and everything, so it makes sense to have the higher optioned versions first. That’s what we did with the S and obviously again with the X.

It's not totally clear whether, within a region, owners are ahead of non-owners regardless of options chosen.
From Teslarati:

Deschamps further tells us, from his dialogue with the Tesla store staff, “Each region in the country will have their own queue and yes owners will receive priority first, but only after optioned cars first. In other words, the optioned cars are grouped first (highest will be delivered first) but inside this sub-list owners will get theirs first. So, it will be possible to get my car before an owner if my car has more options and a higher list.”

But this is not from the horses mouth.

 

[lude33]

FRANCE, non-owner, reserved 3/31 at tesla store opening (8:30am french time). i am RN 1075xxxxx

Ps: Fun to realise that i am on the google map pics of bordeaux tesla store taken the 3/31

 

[robertntran]

I reserved 2 M3's on Saturday (April 2nd). One for my parents and one for myself.

I grew up down the street from SpaceX, been a fan for over 10 years, I actually saw Elon Musk back in the day at a gas station (go figure) at the corner next to SpaceX in his Roadster. My brother and I thought it was funny that he was at a gas station.

I have thought about getting a Model S, but 80-100k is out of my budget.

My parents will get the base of all base models.
I am planning on getting upgraded battery for more range.

I look forward to 2018/2019.

 

[vberber]

pre ordered mine

 

[Caligula]

Has anyone determined how/when reservations will be slotted into a preferred Strauss for current tesla owners?

 

[HanSolo]

The reservation number is no more than an reservation/account number and is not sequential. There is Reservation Sequence Number which Tesla is not sharing at this time that denotes your "place in line". At some point, closer to the production launch, hopefully they will share this number.

I am sure one of the reasons Tesla has dedicated to deliver cars to the west coast first is because of a lesson learned from the launch of the production Model X. After delivering the first several production hundred cars throughout the the country in January it learned it had some parts issues which required the cars be brought into the service centers. They had to ship the various parts throughout the country to be installed as they don't store spare parts at the Tesla Service Centers. The parts issue got worse and they eventually had to stop delivery. They then decided to deliver the next 2,000 cars just to CA buyers mainly those who were willing to pick their cars up at the Factory in Fremont CA. The factory was better equipped to follow up on these initial parts related production issues. They were suppose to be producing 1,000 Model X's a week but in the first three months were only about to produce about 200 cars per week.

I got one of the first 50 cars off of the production line. It was delivered to my service center in late January but wasn't delivered to me for another month because they had to wait for replacement parts. Finally I went to pick it up at the service center and during the delivery another part failed and delivery was delayed another two weeks. Ten days later I went to pick it up again this time I drove it 5-6 miles when another part failed and they had to take it back to the service center. Another ten days later I picked up it again and I have had it for several weeks. It still has minor problems. You don't expect to pay over $160,000 for a car and have these types of problems.

Even though I had many problems with my Tesla Model X I still love it and don't regret buying it. There is no car like it on the market. I liked it so much my wife and I have reserved three Model 3's we plan on ordering for ourself and family.
_______________________________________________
Log on to Model3Tracker.info and input the information about your Model 3 reservation.

What you stated is why I am not really concerned that it could be 2 years before production gets to my region. When launching something totally new on this type of scale, it is not going to be perfect. Let the west coast deal with the initial issues before it gets to Ohio is how I see it. If it does indeed take more than a year for production to get to my state, they should have implemented some of the fixes as well as improved their manufacturing processes for this type of mass production. Since I did not reserve for about a week after launch, it could be 2 years or more for me. If anything, it will allow for me to save up for a larger down payment which means I can add more options.

 

[roblab]

I reserved 2 M3's on Saturday (April 2nd). One for my parents and one for myself.

I grew up down the street from SpaceX, been a fan for over 10 years, I actually saw Elon Musk back in the day at a gas station (go figure) at the corner next to SpaceX in his Roadster. My brother and I thought it was funny that he was at a gas station.

I have thought about getting a Model S, but 80-100k is out of my budget.

My parents will get the base of all base models.
I am planning on getting upgraded battery for more range.

I look forward to 2018/2019.

Sorry, but have to mention again how so many people cannot envision paying $80K for any kind of vehicle, yet have no problem when their neighbor drops by with his new pickup for which he paid $40+K (average price of cars are now over $35K) and into which he will pump thousands of dollars of highly subsidized gasoline or diesel for the life of the truck, plus maintenance, amounting to just that kind of money.

This has been hashed out before. I sold my other cars and bought electric over a dozen years ago.

This kind of money is not out of your budget. You still pay for a Tesla. You just don't get to drive one.

 

[RVC]

Sorry, but have to mention again how so many people cannot envision paying $80K for any kind of vehicle, yet have no problem when their neighbor drops by with his new pickup for which he paid $40+K (average price of cars are now over $35K) and into which he will pump thousands of dollars of highly subsidized gasoline or diesel for the life of the truck, plus maintenance, amounting to just that kind of money.

This has been hashed out before. I sold my other cars and bought electric over a dozen years ago.

This kind of money is not out of your budget. You still pay for a Tesla. You just don't get to drive one.

What you said was exactly how I was finally able to wrap my head around the cost of my S85 which replaced a 10 y/o Civic. My wife used to drive a Volvo wagon, $35k new back in 97. We had that car for 15 years and put in over 250,000 miles. Add maintenance and repairs to fuel costs. We had already owned (an easily) $70k car without realizing it.

 

[400ev]

I reserved 2 M3's on Saturday (April 2nd). One for my parents and one for myself.

I grew up down the street from SpaceX, been a fan for over 10 years, I actually saw Elon Musk back in the day at a gas station (go figure) at the corner next to SpaceX in his Roadster. My brother and I thought it was funny that he was at a gas station.

I have thought about getting a Model S, but 80-100k is out of my budget.

My parents will get the base of all base models.
I am planning on getting upgraded battery for more range.

I look forward to 2018/2019.

He was probably getting a candy bar Or just trying to piss off the ICE car drivers.

 

[Lukas99]

I reserved mine April 4 and I was already thinking to reserve it on the 2nd... This means that my hesitation will cost me 1-2 years of driving the M3 )))... At least I found out that the SC is being built like 5kms from my house, so at least some small wins haha...

I am really wondering when will the first shipments hit Europe. It is stated that US comes first, west to east coast, so assuming that majority of the reservations come from US, it could take more than two years after the first shipments for the M3 to come to Europe, meaning end of 2019? :-(

 

[Jayc]

Remember Elon only stated priority order and expected approximate first delivery date. IMO it is possible and likely they will find a way to expedite production and they will know the value of doing so especially when competition starts heating up. Also note the wizardry in Elon and his team is not limited to coming up with a very focused product that sells. It is the whole package of creating an eco-system and that will include some out-of-the-box thinking for Model 3 production.

 

[Mr. Watts]

At what point do you all think Tesla will stop taking reservations in order to fulfill the number of orders they would possible have at the time? I think Tesla would need to ramp up production which I think they will need to purchase another already running full scale manufacturing site somewhere in the US/EU and update the equipment to the specs needed. This will allow them to produce 400k+ cars over the next 2 years. Would think it wouldn't be in their best interest to complete sales orig made in 2016 by 2019/2020.

 

[brianman]

At what point do you all think Tesla will stop taking reservations in order to fulfill the number of orders they would possible have at the time?

I can't speak for Roadster, but the track record for Model S and Model X is that they keep taking reservations without a limit.

 

[montreid]

Remember Elon only stated priority order and expected approximate first delivery date. IMO it is possible and likely they will find a way to expedite production and they will know the value of doing so especially when competition starts heating up. Also note the wizardry in Elon and his team is not limited to coming up with a very focused product that sells. It is the whole package of creating an eco-system and that will include some out-of-the-box thinking for Model 3 production.

Doesn't prevent Elon missing his delivery dates. And this one is going to be interesting because if they want to scale up fast and furious it's going to be very demanding to do. The pressure will be immense on US side as it hits 200k units and the 2 quarter time clock starts. Any significant delay in end 2017 will kill most incentives for Tesla. M3

 

[valkeriefire]

They won't stop taking pre-orders. The more pre-orders they get, the more news they generate, the more cars they sell. More pre-sales means more investment capital to help build more factory space to make more cars. Stopping Pre-orders would be a horrible idea. This is another reason they will sell up-optioned cars first. If I can only manufacture 200,000 M3s in a given time, it makes more sense to make those M3s all $55k optioned ones and generate more $$$ than to sell 200,000 $35k ones and generate a lot less money. Options are almost pure profit for car manufacturers and Tesla is operating at a loss right now, they need $$$ and they need it now. By buying an up-optioned car you support Tesla's mission and get your car sooner, win-win. If you plan on getting a base model you'll probably have to wait but you do get the joy of knowing you helped support Tesla in the meantime by giving them your $1000 and letting them use it to make the infrastructure necessary to make all this happen.

 

[Mr. Watts]

They won't stop taking pre-orders. The more pre-orders they get, the more news they generate, the more cars they sell. More pre-sales means more investment capital to help build more factory space to make more cars. Stopping Pre-orders would be a horrible idea. This is another reason they will sell up-optioned cars first. If I can only manufacture 200,000 M3s in a given time, it makes more sense to make those M3s all $55k optioned ones and generate more $$$ than to sell 200,000 $35k ones and generate a lot less money. Options are almost pure profit for car manufacturers and Tesla is operating at a loss right now, they need $$$ and they need it now. By buying an up-optioned car you support Tesla's mission and get your car sooner, win-win. If you plan on getting a base model you'll probably have to wait but you do get the joy of knowing you helped support Tesla in the meantime by giving them your $1000 and letting them use it to make the infrastructure necessary to make all this happen.

I get why keeping the pre-orders going would make sense financially. Dont agree with making all the initial ones higher optioned cars though. This isn't like the Model S/X where its the owners 2nd, 3rd car for the weekend or for some specific task like delivering the mail. The Model 3 will be available to a wider audience and will need to be available sooner than later. Some people might need a car sooner than when their model 3 is available. There's no point in reserving day 1 if you still aren't going to get your car 2+ years later. Competition is stiffening up (Google LeSee) as well and will mean Tesla will lose a significant amount of reservations due to competition or lack of patience.

My other concern was for production ramp-up. Not sure if Tesla can make 500k cars before 2020. Not to mention those that will cancel if they don't qualify for the federal tax credit. I would rather sell 200k cars period than think I can sell only to those that spent more money in the first year. Just means that I can reserve next year, chose to build a more expensive car and have my car delivered before people that did as soon as reservations were available. Not only will that piss most people off, I would cancel my order and just save for a Model S. I'd have 2-3 years to do that anyway. Delays could also spell doom for Tesla.

Realized I'm sounding pretty negative. I'm really excited for this car and will be happy to trade up from my Honda. I was 2nd in line when i reserved mine and would like to be rewarded for waiting and reserving earlier than most. Only seems fair regardless of how much my car costs. Only thing I really won't like about this.

 

[Dan Detweiler]

I get why keeping the pre-orders going would make sense financially. Dont agree with making all the initial ones higher optioned cars though.

It's a cash flow issue. They need to make as much as they can off the earliest cars to offset the expense involved in ramping up production. This is actually very common among car manufacturers. Same thing happened when I bought my Volt. At least Elon is being honest and up front by admitting that this is what they have to do. It's the price for being an early adopter.

Dan

 

[1000Down]

I get why keeping the pre-orders going would make sense financially. Dont agree with making all the initial ones higher optioned cars though. This isn't like the Model S/X where its the owners 2nd, 3rd car for the weekend or for some specific task like delivering the mail. The Model 3 will be available to a wider audience and will need to be available sooner than later. Some people might need a car sooner than when their model 3 is available. There's no point in reserving day 1 if you still aren't going to get your car 2+ years later. Competition is stiffening up (Google LeSee) as well and will mean Tesla will lose a significant amount of reservations due to competition or lack of patience.

My other concern was for production ramp-up. Not sure if Tesla can make 500k cars before 2020. Not to mention those that will cancel if they don't qualify for the federal tax credit. I would rather sell 200k cars period than think I can sell only to those that spent more money in the first year. Just means that I can reserve next year, chose to build a more expensive car and have my car delivered before people that did as soon as reservations were available. Not only will that piss most people off, I would cancel my order and just save for a Model S. I'd have 2-3 years to do that anyway. Delays could also spell doom for Tesla.

Realized I'm sounding pretty negative. I'm really excited for this car and will be happy to trade up from my Honda. I was 2nd in line when i reserved mine and would like to be rewarded for waiting and reserving earlier than most. Only seems fair regardless of how much my car costs. Only thing I really won't like about this.

I think the idea that Tesla will produce all the highly optioned cars first then move its way down to the Base model is incorrect. Yes, that is how it was done when Tesla was producing 40k cars a year and that is what EM said when he was only expecting 65-100k reservations, but clearly things have changed.

Tesla's ultimate goal is to produce 500k cars per year. Nummi is capable of that and Tesla had already made a huge investment in assembly equipment to move them closer to that goal. It is hard to say where they are at, but I am certain the absolute priority is to ramp up immediately to satisfy demand.

All notions of how production will be delivered based on previous behavior are really not relevant at this point. Tesla will need to be producing 300k+ cars a year to satisfy S, X and 3 production. They will be running multiple lines with multiple configurations of the Model 3. What happens with the Model 3 will determine the future of Tesla. Mass market producer or Niche player. We all know what Tesla wants to be. They have one shot at Joe lunch box and delivering Joe's Base Model M3 in 2020 will be a disaster. Telling Joe that spending $40k on a car (which is the most Joe ever spent on a car in his life) gets him pushed to the back of the line will be a disaster. Tesla needs to prove they can produce large volumes of quality cars at a reasonable price point in a short period of time. I think Tesla knows this, understands this and is busting their hump to ensure they do not screw it up.

They will want to deliver from West to East and ensure that they have the bugs worked out of all of the configurations even the Base. The delivery Matrix will consider several factors, one of which will be options level but geography and reservation number will also be important. Joe will judge Tesla by what he thinks is "fair" and if he thinks he is not being treated fairly, he will take his $1000 and move on and the next Joe won't even bother placing his order.