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Should I Wait for Battery Day to Buy a M3?

eric907

New Member
Feb 12, 2020
1
2
San Francisco
I heard that Tesla's Battery Day is in April 2020, where they are set to unveil next gen battery technology that has a million mile life. Does anyone know if what they're introducing in April will roll out immediately? In other words, should I wait to buy a Model 3? I would hate to buy a Model 3 right now just to miss out on a version with a better, longer range battery.
 

ElectricIAC

Devil’s Advocate
Dec 31, 2019
2,192
518
DFW
Might as well place an order now for an oddball type (SR base) and if a higher spec battery is announced just have the order changed to that. In the end it’s just $100 tied up and if that’s a big deal to you perhaps a Model 3 might be a stretch.
 

Misterbee

Member
Apr 2, 2016
177
248
Los Angeles
I doubt that the new battery tech will go to the Model 3 right away. More likely to the S & X, IMO. On the otherhand, I would look for a price drop on the 3 once the Y starts shipping in quantity.
 
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Kirby64

Member
Jun 28, 2018
485
485
Austin, TX
The question is always asked "should I wait for X to buy the Tesla Y" (X/Y being things, not their cars). The answer is always: if you wait longer, your car will probably get better. But you are probably going to keep waiting a long time if you want to get the 'best' Model 3.

I highly doubt there will be significant changes to the Model 3 on 'Battery Day'. Seems to me they'll be talking about changes for future models (Y, Cybertruck, or maybe the 'RoboTaxi' version of the other cars).

Do you want/need the car now? If so, just buy one and enjoy it.
 

mrbulk

Member
Sep 5, 2017
415
325
Las Vegas NV
One would think that for Tesla to even announce a Battery Day date, that they would have already taken preemptive steps to ensure no Osborne Effect -- Elon on Battery Day: "Yes folks, and these new batteries are ALREADY IN all newTeslas!" (cue uproarious cheering from maddened crowd)...
 

TLLMRRJ

Active Member
Dec 19, 2019
1,642
1,615
Houston
Teslas are like laptops used to be. You buy one when you need one. If you are going to wait for better and less expensive before you buy, you'll be waiting forever because they seem to always be getting better and less expensive.
 

bruce4000

Member
Jul 8, 2019
156
238
Seattle
For the new hw3 ai chip, when they had ai investor day, it was already shipping. Hoping the same is true for next gen battery day but may be wishful thinking. On the other hand, for m3, they probably wouldn’t increase the range, just use fewer battery cells/ improve profits so doesn’t upstage s& x.
 

OCR1

Active Member
Jan 28, 2018
3,747
4,093
Southern California
I doubt anyone on this forum has any idea how to answer your question. Even within the highest ranks of Tesla they seem to keep things very secretive. At best you are going to get a lot of speculation here. If you think something big may happen in April and don’t need the car right away it certainly can’t hurt to wait. But there have be no rumors in the press about anything imminent regarding updates to the Model 3.
 

BluestarE3

Active Member
Apr 2, 2016
4,083
5,154
Norcal
Elon on Battery Day: "Yes folks, and these new batteries are ALREADY IN all newTeslas!" (cue uproarious cheering from maddened crowd)...
And cue the plethora of threads created here by maddened new owners who feel cheated because they picked up their new cars just days before the unannounced switchover to the new cells (had I known, I would have waited...). And cue the calls for a class action lawsuit to force Tesla to take back their "obsolete" cars or compensate them in some way.
 

mrbulk

Member
Sep 5, 2017
415
325
Las Vegas NV
And cue the plethora of threads created here by maddened new owners who feel cheated because they picked up their new cars just days before the unannounced switchover to the new cells (had I known, I would have waited...). And cue the calls for a class action lawsuit to force Tesla to take back their "obsolete" cars or compensate them in some way.

Yup, it's Always been like that. Folks are free to wait though, I guess...
 

ElectricIAC

Devil’s Advocate
Dec 31, 2019
2,192
518
DFW
For the new hw3 ai chip, when they had ai investor day, it was already shipping. Hoping the same is true for next gen battery day but may be wishful thinking. On the other hand, for m3, they probably wouldn’t increase the range, just use fewer battery cells/ improve profits so doesn’t upstage s& x.
Yes and no.

The P3D (And to certain extent even the 3D), suffers from a serious case of voltage sag at WOT which over time can harm the battery. A 100kWh pack would help this condition greatly.
 

ElectricIAC

Devil’s Advocate
Dec 31, 2019
2,192
518
DFW
If you can wait why not? It’s scheduled for April and we’re almost half way through February now..
Considering there’s apparently folks with November orders still haven’t even gotten a VIN I wouldn’t hesitate. We actually have two different cars on order right now (3SR w/w and LYD b/w) and would not hesitate to change up even at the risk of order fee cost given a significant improvement in battery.
 

andrew1039

Member
Feb 2, 2020
202
43
Vancouver
I heard that Tesla's Battery Day is in April 2020, where they are set to unveil next gen battery technology that has a million mile life. Does anyone know if what they're introducing in April will roll out immediately? In other words, should I wait to buy a Model 3? I would hate to buy a Model 3 right now just to miss out on a version with a better, longer range battery.

If you need the car obviously get it now, but if you can wait might be worth it. With that being said even if they announce new battery tech and all that it will take time to implement and all that so you’d be waiting even longer at the end of the day up too you way the pros/ cons but if i were you and I wasn’t in a rush I’d wait to see what they say
 
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Florafauna

Member
Dec 17, 2019
47
107
Essex
For the new Maxwell batteries to be "suddenly" appearing in current models like the M3 surely Tesla would have had to build a massive factory to produce those cells. New battery capacity for 500,000 2020 cars doesnt suddenly appear. You can't hide it! They are also going to be in short supply and Tesla will be trying to build up yields, maximise production efficiency etc etc.

The company is clearly going to be producing its own Maxwell type batteries. The battery day will give more details.

Initial low production new batteries I suspect will be used in the:
Plaid MS and MX (in a 120-130kwh pack) - effectively a new more expensive model version so no effect on current orders
Cybertruck - new model so no effect on other orders
Roadster - same.

Model 3 AND Y will be using the current type batteries for some time yet. IMHO.
Model Y is only as cheap as it is because it uses huge amounts of model 3 bits - battery packs included.

Of course, Tesla is great as it constantly improves its cars - there may be some tweaking of the M3 bits - but no massive changes.

If you want an M3 buy an M3 now. (as long as you don't end up with a BMW).
 

ItsNotAboutTheMoney

Well-Known Member
Jul 12, 2012
10,237
7,331
Maine
I heard that Tesla's Battery Day is in April 2020, where they are set to unveil next gen battery technology that has a million mile life. Does anyone know if what they're introducing in April will roll out immediately? In other words, should I wait to buy a Model 3? I would hate to buy a Model 3 right now just to miss out on a version with a better, longer range battery.

You should wait.

Not because of battery day, but because the longer you wait to buy a new car the better off you'll be.

The event will just be talking about things Tesla is working on now for the future.
 
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house9

Supporting Member
Nov 16, 2019
333
353
California
I heard that Tesla's Battery Day is in April 2020, where they are set to unveil next gen battery technology that has a million mile life.

We don't know exactly what they are going to announce and I would assume whatever it is will not make it to production Model 3 for a long time.

Teslas are like laptops used to be. You buy one when you need one. If you are going to wait for better and less expensive before you buy, you'll be waiting forever because they seem to always be getting better and less expensive.

Truth.

Model 3 AND Y will be using the current type batteries for some time yet. IMHO.

I agree with this 100%. It would not surprise me if Model 3/Y battery technology was unchanged for all of 2020 and 2021 models.
 

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