Tesla Model 3 in Australia

[houdini]

If you really look at what drives Elon, it is desire to save mankind (or that is what he would have us believe). His mission is to get rid of fossil fuels in vehicles, and eventually everywhere it is possible. To do this in a world of sceptics and fossil fuel vested interests, he has done an amazing job of thus far achieving his goals. Of course, on the way, he has had to do whatever would work to keep the mission alive (the end justifies the means).
I would not be too upset at all his time frames, promises of product and whatever else he does to get to where he is now. I paid over $200k on the basis that I may end up with a car that in a few years will be worthless (for a number of reasons) however that was my calculated risk and one that I was prepared to take just to get to drive a car that was unbelievable in it's present state. Anything beyond was going to be a bonus.
Model 3 is less of a risk, but the same process of achieving his goals apply.

To date, no other EV has come anywhere near a Tesla experience, and may not for quite a while.

When Elon if and when finally says "mission accomplished", none of us will be driving his cars on the road, but rather sitting in them whilst we are taken to our destination.

Enjoy the ride while it lasts!

I agree that Elon/Tesla has done an amazing job and while I couldn’t afford an S or X have been cheering from the sidelines and supporting as much as I could.

I also think the 3 isn’t a risk at all now because thankfully Tesla is here to stay. I think it has achieved critical mass and size and there’s no way it’s going out of business (touch wood) - it has sold and is selling 100’s of thousands of cars.

I also agree the Tesla experience in car is fantastic (have hired one) but the other manufacturers are catching them and actually the IPace is one example of beating the Tesla’s on experience as it is far better built. Tesla’s win on some fronts but lose on others to Merc, Audi and Jag.

But back to the Tesla experience - yes I agree which is why I think the used S and X are a very compelling offer.

 

[Techno-phile]

I am happy to put up with worse service from Tesla, than is available from other car dealers (if that is true - not the case in my experience), until Tesla are profitable and "mission accomplished" is in sight.
I expect their service to improve, once the tipping point is reached and nobody sensible is contemplating buying an ICE.
In the meantime their cars are superb.

 

[houdini]

Press cars are also OK with me. To me the success of Tesla's mission - i.e. acceleration of transition to sustainable transportation - is more important than the car itself.

As for car dealerships, I had a particularly shocking purchase experience with my first car, and from my point of view, the different experience with Tesla is like chalk and cheese.

I think the S & X were absolute luxury cars, the 3 is mass market - that is why I am getting it. Sure we could get better service from Tesla, but then the cars would need to be more expensive. I knew from day minus 2 , that it would be a long wait for the Model 3.

As for competition - I personally do not find it compelling at the moment, but - just like Elon Musk - I welcome it!

I have bought enough cars to have experienced both good and bad at Stealerships. I had one of the best product purchasing experiences at a Car dealer when I bought my one and only new vehicle 10 years ago. But I’ve also had not so good one’s.

I can’t agree that the S and X are absolute luxury cars. they have many great things going for them and personally I don’t care about panel gaps and stuff like that but from a luxury perspective if you put them against similarly priced cars (non electric for sure) then they don’t stack up. Sit in a $150K Range Rover or Merc or many other brands and you will see chalk and cheese.

Now the 3 is not mass market by any definition. If there was the real $35K offering and that equated to a direct Aussie dollar conversion then it’s nicking the edge of mass market but come on - $73,000! Is not mass market. The mass market play in the $30-40K area. The mass market is where there are 100,000 cars of a model sold, not 4,000. $73K puts it as a luxury, discretionary purchase as the majority of people can’t afford a $73K car.

Don’t get me wrong I’m still a massive Tesla fan boy and I dream of the day I will drive home my model X (bought second hand after someone else has copped the depreciation) as it’s a unicorn car that no one - even Tesla will ever make again, but the gloss is largely worn off now.

I’m glad people are going to buy the 3, I think it will be a great car and I also want to see them become available to a lot more people when they’re second hand in three years time and are available for $35K, $40K - that will be awesome.

 

[1st in Line]

I have bought enough cars to have experienced both good and bad at Stealerships. I had one of the best product purchasing experiences at a Car dealer when I bought my one and only new vehicle 10 years ago. But I’ve also had not so good one’s.

I can’t agree that the S and X are absolute luxury cars. they have many great things going for them and personally I don’t care about panel gaps and stuff like that but from a luxury perspective if you put them against similarly priced cars (non electric for sure) then they don’t stack up. Sit in a $150K Range Rover or Merc or many other brands and you will see chalk and cheese.

Now the 3 is not mass market by any definition. If there was the real $35K offering and that equated to a direct Aussie dollar conversion then it’s nicking the edge of mass market but come on - $73,000! Is not mass market. The mass market play in the $30-40K area. The mass market is where there are 100,000 cars of a model sold, not 4,000. $73K puts it as a luxury, discretionary purchase as the majority of people can’t afford a $73K car.

Don’t get me wrong I’m still a massive Tesla fan boy and I dream of the day I will drive home my model X (bought second hand after someone else has copped the depreciation) as it’s a unicorn car that no one - even Tesla will ever make again, but the gloss is largely worn off now.

I’m glad people are going to buy the 3, I think it will be a great car and I also want to see them become available to a lot more people when they’re second hand in three years time and are available for $35K, $40K - that will be awesome.

houdini

As I wrote above, I only had ONE car purchasing experience in my life, and the Model 3 will be my LAST. I certainly did not have ANY positive experience with ANY of the car dealers I had contact with, but I concede that this is out of a SMALL statistical sample space.

Given that my current car is a 25 year old Toyota Corolla Seca, my definition of a "luxury" car might very well differ from yours. To me even the Model 3 is luxury well beyond anything I am accustomed to. However, the price points and some of the features of the S and X to me place them into the luxury category without dispute.

The way I look at things, production of the Models 3 is still in the ramp-up phase, but eventual production might run at 750,000+ units per annum. To me those numbers, as well as the fashion in which it is manufactured/assembled reflects its "mass market" status more so than its current production numbers and price point.

I have written elsewhere, that Tesla has to learn how to walk, before it can run. I am also keenly aware that in the real world, things are often far more difficult and complex than people imagine. To get to a AU$35k to AU$40k price point will take more than a Herculean effort (more like an Elonean effort).

Given what is humanly, technologically, and financially possible right now, I still think that Tesla is doing OK.

At the same time, I do not want to be a slavish Tesla fan-boy either. Any shortcomings need to be highlighted, so Tesla can improve and become even better. Constructive criticism is OK, petty criticism probably less so.

 

[aegidius]

Nitpicking over the definition of a luxury car is pointlessly subjective. I think of the Model S as being a big GT car, most like (in looks, shape, size and performance) Maserati, Porsche Panamera, Merc biturbo, and similar. Model S is cheaper to buy up front, much cheaper to run, will probably last longer and be cheaper to service over its life, and the P versions wipe the floor with any of the comparable cars in 0-100. So there's no contest in my view. I certainly don't worry about some alleged panel gaps. Mine doesn't have any, at least.

Model 3 will probably be compared likewise to BMW M3 and the like (indeed it already looks good in that company on both road and track)

 

[Renewablekid]

It’s up to anyone who’s purchased a model s/3/x to make sure the people in that price market are aware of the positives of electric cars. How many times do you drive around and see people in 3 series beemers or Audi A4s and question whether they even contemplate buying a model 3 for the same price, or are simply unaware. I know I do it every day.

 

[rioli33]

It’s up to anyone who’s purchased a model s/3/x to make sure the people in that price market are aware of the positives of electric cars. How many times do you drive around and see people in 3 series beemers or Audi A4s and question whether they even contemplate buying a model 3 for the same price, or are simply unaware. I know I do it every day.

In the Range Rover, Porsche and Audi-ridden streets of Moonee Ponds/Essendon, it's easy to think this. This is why I feel like advertising is a must for Tesla in Australia. It's so hard to break into the Australian market when half the bloody population thinks that an electric car goes 200km on a charge and looks like a shitbox. I've spoken to Porche owners who never considered a Tesla because they thought it would stop them from being able to go on a trip on the weekend, they knew of Superchargers that they'd seen but thought that it would take a couple of hours to charge. Australians have been misled by our government about EVs and the only way to turn this around is to get some butts in seats for a test drive or chuck some facts in front of them on the TV screen. Heck, I've even considered printing out hundreds of Tesla flyers and putting them in letterboxes in the area (unsure of whether it is legal).

 

[andygen21]

Not Blue, sticking with PearlWhite, like all so far. Rego Plate FuelFree3 (to go with existing FuelFree). This was my second attempt after wife refused to allow me to use the S3XY TESLA rego plates I had bought. Would suit a younger person apparently.

Love it!

I've got "Model 3" for WA, I wasn't sure it was worth the money but at least it'll be easy to remember.

 

[1st in Line]

In the Range Rover, Porsche and Audi-ridden streets of Moonee Ponds/Essendon, it's easy to think this. This is why I feel like advertising is a must for Tesla in Australia. It's so hard to break into the Australian market when half the bloody population thinks that an electric car goes 200km on a charge and looks like a shitbox. I've spoken to Porche owners who never considered a Tesla because they thought it would stop them from being able to go on a trip on the weekend, they knew of Superchargers that they'd seen but thought that it would take a couple of hours to charge. Australians have been misled by our government about EVs and the only way to turn this around is to get some butts in seats for a test drive or chuck some facts in front of them on the TV screen. Heck, I've even considered printing out hundreds of Tesla flyers and putting them in letterboxes in the area (unsure of whether it is legal).

rioli33

To bad you live in Melbourne!

I am a Sydney-based EVangelist. I would not mind spending the rest of my remaining days on this little blue planet offering test drives and talking my mouth off about the advantages of EVs over ICE polluters.

I intend to take every opportunity city to offer anyone interested to look at and experience what it means to drive an EV and to tell them all they want to know about EVs.

However, I will not even try to change the mind of those who are set in their ways and are of the firm belief that EVs are not any good and that man made climate change is not real. Life is too short to waste your time on them.

If you lived in Sydney, we could go and do some preaching together!

 

[ne0x]

I had T3SLA plates

I have these in storage - waiting the P3D they belong on

 

[houdini]

thinks that an electric car goes 200km on a charge and looks like a shitbox.

It was amazing how everyone who asked about the range on my Leaf suddenly became a road warrior and needed a car that could go 1000km and cross the Simpson desert even though they never had and never will drive anywhere without fuel/charge/gas or whatever.

I used to follow that with asking how many km’s per year they drove in their 700km range fossil car and it was usually 10-15,000km’s max. Oh that’s interesting I’d say, I have averaged 26,000km’s for every year I’ve owned my 100km range Leaf.

 

[m3y3addict]

Love it!

I've got "Model 3" for WA, I wasn't sure it was worth the money but at least it'll be easy to remember.

'P3D' here

 

[Renewablekid]

Model S and X now have free unlimited supercharging when purchased new in Australia.

So ah if you’re gonna sell your S or X do it now before the news breaks

 

[m3y3addict]

Yep got same message. I ordered SR+ white body

yes I got a text at 2:19 EST. Original reservation May 2016, ordered mid June 2019 and order amended early July ( colour change from black to white) when standard colour changed

 

[m3y3addict]

I was a bit upset too given how good the white looks and how useful it is in australian summer -At the end of the day it is probably a good idea to use seat covers anyway re: sun damage. Might as well just get the white seat covers from taptes for 300 usd. looks pretty much the same as white interior minus the wood trim in the middle and lack of white doorpanels. And cheaper too.

I changed my P3D order as soon as the configurator changed from black to pearl white and stuck with black interior(no additional cost although it did say that delivery date might change).
I had the text that everyone seem to have received yesterday at 2:19 EST: "Your Model 3 is almost here. We're preparing everything for your delivery and will be in touch with more details soon. Thanks, Tesla Team"

 

[m3y3addict]

Nice choice. My excuse is that I'm too old to remember my rego so personalised plates make it easier.

yes I went simple with P3D

 

[paulp]

I am happy to put up with worse service from Tesla, than is available from other car dealers (if that is true - not the case in my experience), until Tesla are profitable and "mission accomplished" is in sight.
I expect their service to improve, once the tipping point is reached and nobody sensible is contemplating buying an ICE.
In the meantime their cars are superb.

Tesla service in Adelaide is exceptional. No car company is even close.

 

[paulp]

I have bought enough cars to have experienced both good and bad at Stealerships. I had one of the best product purchasing experiences at a Car dealer when I bought my one and only new vehicle 10 years ago. But I’ve also had not so good one’s.

I can’t agree that the S and X are absolute luxury cars. they have many great things going for them and personally I don’t care about panel gaps and stuff like that but from a luxury perspective if you put them against similarly priced cars (non electric for sure) then they don’t stack up. Sit in a $150K Range Rover or Merc or many other brands and you will see chalk and cheese.

Now the 3 is not mass market by any definition. If there was the real $35K offering and that equated to a direct Aussie dollar conversion then it’s nicking the edge of mass market but come on - $73,000! Is not mass market. The mass market play in the $30-40K area. The mass market is where there are 100,000 cars of a model sold, not 4,000. $73K puts it as a luxury, discretionary purchase as the majority of people can’t afford a $73K car.

Don’t get me wrong I’m still a massive Tesla fan boy and I dream of the day I will drive home my model X (bought second hand after someone else has copped the depreciation) as it’s a unicorn car that no one - even Tesla will ever make again, but the gloss is largely worn off now.

I’m glad people are going to buy the 3, I think it will be a great car and I also want to see them become available to a lot more people when they’re second hand in three years time and are available for $35K, $40K - that will be awesome.

Tesla gave me a ‘luxury merc’ loaner last time I was there for a small issue to be rectified. The main centre screen faced the passenger not the driver so the driver couldn’t select music, and by the time I gave it back an hour later I realised that it was nothing more than old school fake luxury. It was a car to pretend to be wealthy in. I love clean minimalist lines. I love no clutter. These are the attributes that I associate with luxury. For me, tesla delivers minimalist luxury better than any other brand.

 

[paulp]

In the Range Rover, Porsche and Audi-ridden streets of Moonee Ponds/Essendon, it's easy to think this. This is why I feel like advertising is a must for Tesla in Australia. It's so hard to break into the Australian market when half the bloody population thinks that an electric car goes 200km on a charge and looks like a shitbox. I've spoken to Porche owners who never considered a Tesla because they thought it would stop them from being able to go on a trip on the weekend, they knew of Superchargers that they'd seen but thought that it would take a couple of hours to charge. Australians have been misled by our government about EVs and the only way to turn this around is to get some butts in seats for a test drive or chuck some facts in front of them on the TV screen. Heck, I've even considered printing out hundreds of Tesla flyers and putting them in letterboxes in the area (unsure of whether it is legal).

I was asked recently how many times I had to stop to charge to get from my local shopping centre to home. Australian’s are so out of touch with what tesla have achieved.

 

[paulp]

Model S and X now have free unlimited supercharging when purchased new in Australia.

So ah if you’re gonna sell your S or X do it now before the news breaks

Where did you read that?