Probably just trying to convince them to drop the res and get an S now. Last year I spoke to someone from Tesla displaying an S and he said not to expect X till 2017 and 3 till 2019-2020, why sell what you don't have.
Someone in the UK, who has reserved a Model ☰, was told by someone at Tesla that a production run of RHD is schedule for the 1st Q of 2018. If it's true, I would hope it would include the orders from Australia and NZ.
Hmmm. Mine says the same in Canada. It is possible that the Model 3 will have steering by wire, in which case right hand drive will be very simple, and would move production forward. Otherwise, I think that you will be well into 2018, if no 2019 . It is possible that the rebates in USA will delay their deliveries somewhat in order to maximize the benefit to the USA customers by timing the 200,000 order to be at the beginning of a quarter. In that case it is possible that foreign orders will squeak in sooner.
The only offical word from Tesla on Model 3 deliveries is that all current reservation holders as of October will be completed before Mid 2018 worldwide. That is displayed on the website for millions of people to see - "Delivery estimate for new reservations is mid 2018 or later." I do understand why people speculate delays from there history of Model X ect.. but Tesla now make product updates and price adjustments almost monthly on there lineup and the new delivery estimate was put on the Model 3 page just last month. It's interesting that people will take the word of delays from a service centre but not trust the words written by Tesla's admin or back office team that would have much more of an idea on the correct timeline! Either way we can only wait and see
After experiencing delays/Tesla time with both Model S & X I think late 2018 is pretty realistic for Oz. Not necessarily a bad thing, will give them a year to work out the bugs
@rowdy exactly, I have a late 2015 Model S and had of I bought the late or early 2015 Model S I would have major "I need to upgrade" issues As an example: I have been looking at the body alignment of the Model S new face lift and I can see the front bumpers are often out by 2-3mm's to that of the front guards, just one example that it takes time for the Tesla manufacturing line to get things near perfect....body alignment on the Model S is pretty bad compared to it's competition. At the moment I am happy to keep driving my Model S until I get a spec'ed up Model 3 and replace the wife's Land Rover with a Model X....however there again we are tossing around the idea of just two Model 3's....we'll see...one thing is for sure I'll not be in a great rush to order as I'd love to see the initial bugs in manufacturing worked out. I put a reservation down mid-way through the Model 3 presentation and being a current Tesla owner I assume I will be in the camp of delaying my offer to finalise my Model 3 configuration/order rather than fulling it immediately.... -ECIT
I'm with you ECIT I am having devilish desires about upgrading to P100DL trouble is Tesla want $95K plus for a changeover- Not that I'm unhappy with my 85S- going beautifully 60K+ on but having been for a burst in P100DL it just sucks ya in............. As for you my better half- well she needs 4WD and all the safety equipment money can buy. Like you I'm a priority Model S order but Q1 2018 is such a long way away.
Tesla President Jon McNeill did have something to say in Hong Kong about a month ago. See here. Finally, he also commented on the Model 3 and said the vehicle would arrive in Hong Kong in late 2017, which would be surprising considering it’s a right-hand drive market and Tesla’s right-hand drive vehicles have historically followed left-hand drive production by about a year. This little titbit didn't gain any traction as news, maybe it was a slip of the tongue/keyboard, but it fuels the optimist in me.
Further to the above re LHD Hong Kong deliveries in late 2017, I heard from someone involved in setting up the New Zealand office that RHD deliveries will start in late 2018. <sigh> this seems realistic...
Another step closer to one day deliveries starting in Australia, with serial No1 finally rolling off the assembly line, gotta say the black looks stunning and would be the colour I am leaning towards at the moment. Tesla Model 3: pictures of the very first production unit at the factory
I thought that Elon Musk a few months ago said that the first RHD models would be built and shipped mid next year (Which in EM's world could mean anything from June to September)? It was in a response to a question on Twitter.
The biggest risk to RHD deliveries (and in fact international orders in general) is that given the latest guidance on "The Ramp Up", people are pretty sure that Tesla will hit 200,000 US deliveries (cumulative total for all models since Tesla's inception) in early January 2018. This is significant because it starts the clock ticking on the phase-out of the $7500 US federal tax rebate for purchasers of electric, plug-in hybrid or hydrogen vehicles. If they hit that mark in early January, the full rebate will be available until 30 June, before it halves to $3750 for another 6 months, then halves again before expiring completely. So many people think once the clock starts ticking, Tesla will go nuts delivering to the US market because they want to sell as many cars as possible and, for many Americans, the full tax rebate is a significant factor in their purchasing decision. Once the clock starts ticking, there is no volume limit. Every car Tesla sells in the USA from Jan-Jun will get the full rebate. If Tesla could make a million cars for the US market, they would all get the rebate. Even at full ramp-up in the first half of next year, with over 400k Model 3 reservations, and estimated more than 250k of those in USA, Tesla will still not get rid of the USA backlog in 6 months. So we'll see what happens with international deliveries, but as much as my heart wishes I'm wrong, I'm a little bit pessimistic as to when I will see my Model 3.
This can work in the non-US favour. If they look like hitting it in (example) late Jan, they can stop at 199,990 deliveries, concentrate on non-US until 31 March, and then deliver US vehicles solidly for a full six months before the benefit decreases. The downside being - "non-US" will almost certainly be Canada, at a stretch Europe - non Australia.
If they cross the 200k threshold later than about 4-5 weeks into the quarter they might hold off and switch to international deliveries for the remaining 7-8 weeks, and yes it will probably be Canada that benefits (since Canada will take identical versions to USA). Then it's back to Plan A. When Tesla is fully ramped up on Model 3 they could make the entire Australian shipment of about 7000 vehicles in 1 week... no-one would notice... so we need to keep the pressure up
Melbourne model 3 reservation holder says he's happy to wait somehow news corp puts a spin on it, Aussie customers in the dark about Tesla Model 3 delivery