Tesla cancels contract with Model 3 supplier = delayed launch?

[McRat]

I hope you are right. GM's track record from the very beginning has been terrible. But I will be happy if you are right because we need as many EVs on the road as the car makers are willing to build.

My dislike of GM goes way back. I was born in L.A. and when I was very young L.A. had a marvelous system of trollycars: Electrified public transportation. GM was part of the consortium that bought that system, dismantled it, and replaced it with (GM-built) fossil-fuel busses that ran so seldom that nobody who could manage to buy a car would use them. My last few years in L.A. I spent many cumulative hours waiting at bus stops for connections to busses that ran once an hour. In order to sell cars, GM forced poor Angelinos (those who couldn't afford a car) into transportation hell. And did it by tearing out a wonderful public transportation system. Just to force people to buy cars which turned the air into carcinogenic filth.

My mother (RIP) was single and poor so I was almost born on a bus in SoCal as my mother had no way to get to the hospital that she could afford. You might not know this, but different bus routes run on different schedule, and can be adapted to an expanding suburban region, and up to 8 buses can run the same route. There are some that are 15 minutes apart I used growing up to go to college.

Rails in California are not for the poor.

 

[McRat]

Which makes the Roadster an oddity, huh?

Lithium changed a lot of things. The Roadster was close to the same weight as the EV1 even though the original EV1 was lead. GM also made an non-halo EV at the same time called the S10 EV which had the EV1 drivetrain. There are examples on the street today.

 

[Model 3]

Somebody fed you false data. The Opel ordering began less than 6 weeks ago for summer delivery.

Norway to Kick-off Start of Opel Ampera-e Sales in Europe

Someone is fed by incomplete data. Opel *pre*ordering (with contracts! But no money down) started in sept. last year. About 6 weeks ago they finally had the options and prices ready, and opened up for the preorders to confirm on an actually binding buying contract for summer/autumn/winter/spring/summer? deliveries, and for new customers to get into a new contract with deliveries in the summer of 2018 or later. The preorders had until the 11th this month to confirm. The cars will be delivered in the (pre)ordering order according to Opel Norway. They confirmed that they had all the contracts they could deliver during 2017 long before they had the prices ready and could open for a normal buyers contract.

 

[McRat]

Someone is fed by incomplete data. Opel *pre*ordering (with contracts! But no money down) started in sept. last year. About 6 weeks ago they finally had the options and prices ready, and opened up for the preorders to confirm on an actually binding buying contract for summer/autumn/winter/spring/sumer? deliveries, and for new customers to get into a new contract with deliveries in the summer of 2018 or later. The preorders had until the 11th this month to confirm. The cars will be delivered in the (pre)ordering order according to Opel Norway. They confirmed that they had all the contracts they could deliver during 2017 long before they had the prices ready and could open for a normal buyers contract.

General Motors does not have a pre-order system. I wish they did. I wanted the new track car in 2014 for the 2014 season, but come August, no car. I placed a Pre-Order (cough) with a dealer in December. I missed the season, there was a rule change for 2015 so I cancelled.

 

[Model 3]

General Motors does not have a pre-order system. I wish they did. I wanted the new track car in 2014 for the 2014 season, but come August, no car. I placed a Pre-Order (cough) with a dealer in December. I missed the season, there was a rule change for 2015 so I cancelled.

Normally they do not, but the pressure on the dealers here (from the customers) was so intense that some dealers opened up for pre-orders, and then Opel Norway decided to formalize it so the cars could be delivered in the pre-ordered order.

 

[McRat]

Normally they do not, but the pressure on the dealers here (from the customers) was so intense that some dealers opened up for pre-orders, and then Opel Norway decided to formalize it so the cars could be delivered in the pre-ordered order.

Oddly enough, unless tariffs and other interference kicks in, I believe the Opel will outsell the US Chevy version by a significant amount. Americans have cheap gasoline still, and an aversion to EV tech.

It was tragic that the Ampera (Volt) was a dismal failure in Europe. If I understand it right, it was priced where luxury cars are, but in the US, we buy them for 1/3 under the mean sales price for automobiles. They cost what a Prius does.

 

[scaesare]

I do not have any numbers, but as far as I know they did at least deliver Model S Signatures "nation wide" in 2012. Maybe even to Canada?

The first time I saw one in person was not too long after a someone here in VA took delivery of one in late 2012.

It's what really got me thinking about buying one... and 6 months later I had one.

 

[scaesare]

Rails in California...

Happy viewing:

 

[Model 3]

Oddly enough, unless tariffs and other interference kicks in, I believe the Opel will outsell the US Chevy version by a significant amount.

I think you are right, except that it does not seems like GM want to produce that much cars for the European market. But if they did, and opened up for the UK market, you would probably be right. It is the right size, has a long range, not too expensive and here there is a lot of CCS chargers around.

 

[Krugerrand]

The actual reasons of the Model X delay are of course clouded in secrecy.

And yet you managed to list three things that we know for a fact held up the Model X. That's some secrecy.

Then again, Model S without any falcon wings was similarly riddled with a slow ramp-up.

More cloudy secrecy? Or perhaps because it was their first vehicle from the ground up and they had difficulty getting all the parts of manufacturing on an assembly line in order? Don't answer. You're being purposefully obtuse in order to engage people in one of your circular discussions; which I liken to a dead goldfish being flushed down a toilet but that never actually disappears.

 

[McRat]

Happy viewing:

They should get their MC license. Or move to the same general area as where they work. Too simple, I know.

When I worked 75 miles away in the most impacted freeway in California, I rode an MC. As I got more successful, I moved my business close to my home.

Why did I see so many buses in London? Did GM bomb the UK rails during WWII? No, that was the German rails.

Why are most cities globally using buses? GM doesn't sell buses.

 

[daniel]

My mother (RIP) was single and poor so I was almost born on a bus in SoCal as my mother had no way to get to the hospital that she could afford. You might not know this, but different bus routes run on different schedule, and can be adapted to an expanding suburban region, and up to 8 buses can run the same route. There are some that are 15 minutes apart I used growing up to go to college.

If there were busses in L.A. running every 15 minutes in the late 1960's, there were not very many, and none in the part of town I lived in. And the smog was so thick that just living in L.A. was the equivalent of smoking several packs of cigarettes per day.

Rails in California are not for the poor.

They were when I was very young, before the trollycars were torn out. And there were plenty of them on each route.

The elimination of fast, frequent public transportation in L.A. forced people to buy cars, and that fueled the urban sprawl which made public transportation ever more difficult, and pushed ever more automobiles onto the streets. GM made a very good move for its profits, and didn't give a rat's patootie for the effect on people. "What's good for GM is good for the nation," was the cynical slogan of a pack of avaricious villains.

BTW, when I lived in Guadalajara, Mexico, for a semester, there were two trolly lines. They were wonderful. Less than a drop in the ocean among all the busses, but the trollycars were a delight to ride. Quiet, smooth, no engine vibration, and they did not contribute to the air pollution.

 

[Model 3]

Someone is fed by incomplete data. Opel *pre*ordering (with contracts! But no money down) started in sept. last year. About 6 weeks ago they finally had the options and prices ready, and opened up for the preorders to confirm on an actually binding buying contract for summer/autumn/winter/spring/summer? deliveries, and for new customers to get into a new contract with deliveries in the summer of 2018 or later. The preorders had until the 11th this month to confirm. The cars will be delivered in the (pre)ordering order according to Opel Norway. They confirmed that they had all the contracts they could deliver during 2017 long before they had the prices ready and could open for a normal buyers contract.

Just to back up on this - this article came just out:
With "4 Digits" Worth Of Pre-Orders, Opel Will Launch The Ampera-E In Norway In June

With “4 Digits” Worth Of Pre-Orders, Opel Will Launch The Ampera-E In Norway In June

... just a few notes: Yes it will be here in June, but that is not "accelerating sales by three months", as it was promised "in the spring". So it is more like it is 3 month delay But at least we get it before anyone else in Europe

Most speculations is that it is around 2-4.000 (pre)orders, and 1-2.000 deliveries. This is the first time I have heard any hint about "with an inference by the source that the number may be approaching 5 digits/10k". So I think that may be an exaggeration. But who knows?


... and if you don't get what I said "... they had all the contracts they could deliver during 2017 long before they had the prices ready ..." to match with "... the company guaranteed that all orders placed before December 13th would be produced in 2017…", then remember it is about 2-3 month delivery time from the US to Europe. So "produced in 2017" is far from "delivered in 2017".


.... but enough OT now

 

[mrsandman]

I think the biggest threat to schedule is the UAW infiltrating the workforce and causing a strike. They will have all the leverage as Tesla will be in the midst of its biggest milestone to date. Scary times. Lets hope Tesla's automation efforts relegate the workers to that of just pushing buttons aka monkey work. Machines building machines.

 

[Electroman]

There are many Bears as I read in Seeking Lies and other outfits, rooting for an UAW initiated strike just around the corner of M3 launch. They are desperate and want something bad to happen. A meteor strike on the Fremont factory would be the best, but short of that they are hoping and praying for UAW to come to their rescue.

I can easily see UAW, fueled by powerful dealer lobbies, could be working to infiltrate Tesla workforce to create trouble. Billions are stake for shorts to lose if M3 rolls out as planned.

 

[22522]

I believe the Opel will outsell the US Chevy version by a significant amount.

That is only because it is yellow!

 

[LectrikPower]

I think the biggest threat to schedule is the UAW infiltrating the workforce and causing a strike. They will have all the leverage as Tesla will be in the midst of its biggest milestone to date. Scary times. Lets hope Tesla's automation efforts relegate the workers to that of just pushing buttons aka monkey work. Machines building machines.

It takes a long time to organize a card campaign, vote a union in, then negotiate a contract. All that has to happen before a strike. Unless it is some non organized strike.

 

[Model 3]

That is only because it is yellow!

Actually Opel has dropped the color "Yellow" from it's option list. So they will not sell any in that color here