surprised that I could get one in July if I ordered today.
If you are prepared to take a model that Tesla have surplus production vs. confirmed orders then I think July might be possible, but if not then September. Either way "not long"
I believe that the cost of the battery ... will fall to 20% within a couple of years
Are you prepared to wait two years - and not have had the opportunity / enjoyment driving one for that period? If so I recommend you wait, price will fall, market choice will increase. Of course if you are a high mileage driver you will lose out a lot on fuel-cost-saving.
all mainstream car manufacturers are investing heavily in EVs and bringing out more and more models and so increasing the competition
What like iPace and eTron? Both have come out 7 years after launch of model-S and can't compete with the original for range or performance. iPace beset with problems with its Infotainment (screens blanking etc.). Significant incompatibility between iPace and somewhat older 3rd party chargers (and pathetic max charging speed, even at chargers > 150kW the iPace still only charges at 70kW - far short of the publicised rapid charge speed, so you are looking at an hour for a decent recharge, as against 15-20 minutes for Tesla) . I have read [in UK Forum] of the excellent service of JLR [UK] in attending people with "cannot drive" cars, which is to be admired and applauded, but although I read of plenty of niggles amongst UK drivers in terms of annoyances or minor bugs in Infotainment (usually fixed by subsequent release after reasonably short interval), I have read of hardly any "couldn't drive" instances amongst UK owners. Far mre Tesla cars in UK ownership than iPaces ...
I wouldn't buy ANY other EV until public charging is at least as good as Supercharger. I've had a Supercharger Stall running slow once (I just moved to another stall), but never had one bust. At 3rd party chargers close to 50% that I have tried to use haven't worked. iPace drivers say they can't charge at almost all locations in Scotland. Supercharger is "Plug-in, walk-away". Can't do that with any 3rd party charging - my most recent episode took me 20 minutes to CONNECT. I would be done-charging at Supercharger in that time. Faster charging is coming, but currently 50kW is about as good as you are likely to get (as a against 120kW for Supercharger), and when Good 3rd party Charging is "everywhere" then as a Tesla owner you'll still also have all the Supercharger sites at your disposal too.
How many stalls are there are new 3rd party charger sites? Tesla have opened only ONE site with less than 8 stalls since 2015 !!
Tesla hold the top 3 slots in the USA Safety testing. No idea if USA testing is lousy ... but either way getting into the top 3 slots has got to make it better than the rest.
Tesla AutoPilot reduced the workload on the driver. On my regular long trips I arrive FAR more refreshed than ever I did driving with ACC. A recent update now alerts you if you are about to drive through a red light ... more to come on that front of course ...
... software enhancements have been impressive over the 3 years I've owned the car. One example: Car thefts soared once the crooks figured out how to defeat Passive Entry systems; within a couple of months Tesla released an OTA fix that prevented that; what of the others? I heard Merc have a really clever idea for a new key fob ... which you have to buy. Dunno about the others ...
Tesla is one of the few car companies where it's impossible to get a discount using a broker
Exactly. All other car makers provide a price to Dealers, and then the price you get is down to whatever you can negotiate with the dealer. The guy at the desk next to you might well get a better price. Tesla has a published price, you might score some minor Swag, but if there is an offer on (like "Free supercharging" on CPO at present) then that is public knowledge, so you won't be the sole unfortunate punter who didn't know to ask ...
Once the immediate demand for the M3 has been satisfied in this country I really think that competition will force prices down.
I doubt it. iPace was 10% less range at 75MPH, and eTron 20-25% ... since then Tesla has increased the range by about 10-15% ... the difference in range is also the same difference in "fuel" required too of course, and therefore cash.
I'd really miss my head up display if I bought an M3!
I've never had a car with one so no comparison point, but it occurs to me:
On the Motorway I'm on Autopilot. I don';t need to know what the speed limit / car speed etc. is, AP is taking care of that.
Similar in town car has various options to either alert me or prevent me exceeding speed limit.
Other than that would be the SatNav turning instructions. Given the car is doing the heavy-lifting of driving having to look at the main screen doesn't seem a significant drawback to me.
But maybe once I've had HUD I'll be a convert. Things like Central Locking I never know I needed ... until the first car I owned that had it
every month I wait to buy one is one more month of fuel I have to buy
Good point. If you charge at work the its free (i.e. no BiK tax to pay), if you charge at home Off peak then you save about £100 per month for each 10,000 miles you drive p.a. - if you charge at home on Off-Peak tariff it works out around 2p - 3p per mile (for fuel). Cheaper, and less frequent, servicing too. Set of brakes should last you 100,000 miles because of Regen. And so on.