White should be base color not Black!

[Doug Martoccia]

I'm fairly sure it's the paint companies that drive the price of the paint. Metallic is more expensive. That's all.

 

[Shock-On-T]

there use to be a solid white until they discontinued it

I have it on my S75D and it's wonderful. I would have paid extra for it, prefer it to the Pearl White.

 

[alseTrick]

Tesla should have made white the base color of the car simply because white is a more efficient car as it reflects more light and reduces the need for air conditioning and cooling the battery when parked in a sunny parking lot.

Please Tesla make white the default!

Supporting research
Cooler-colored cars are up to 2 percent more fuel efficient than darker-colored ones

Preaching to the choir here. It's an indefensible decision Tesla has made. And yet, some people still defend it.

 

[alseTrick]

Oh sure, replace black with the only color I want less than black.

The "free" colors for Audi, bmw and Mercedes are white and black. What's unusual is to not offer a "free" white color at all, which is what Tesla is doing.

 

[timk225]

Tesla announced the 3 as a $35,000 car, then they realized "oh crap, we cannot make any profit at $35K". So they had to find ways to force people into more expensive option choices, to jack the price up. The 2 most outstanding examples of this are the ugly base black color and the ugly Aero wheels. The next, not-so-obvious choice is forcing the $5000 PUP package on us at the start, where many people may want this option or that option, but Tesla has said no, you're taking it all-or-nothing, for those who might want only the radio or only the glass roof.

Tesla is being like any scammy salesman in that regard, saying "You could could take this cheap version here, but what you really want is the $14,000 more expensive version here, it looks better". And we make more profit as a result.

 

[Brando]

We could all easily speculate that Tesla is trying to mitigate demand.
IF the Model 3 options/packages were "perfect/better" everyone would want their cars today.

I would suspect solid (non-metallic) colors will be offered later (surely white?) when they need to increase configuration selections/deliveries and at no extra cost.

 

[voip-ninja]

I'm fairly sure it's the paint companies that drive the price of the paint. Metallic is more expensive. That's all.

Automotive paint is fairly expensive, but we're talking maybe $60 per gallon in the quantities that auto companies buy it in and with the paint application techniques they use it only takes a gallon or two to do the whole car.

$1,000 for metallic paint when BMW/Audi/Merc charge hundreds less is kind of a clue that it's an area for some extra (and probably much needed) profit for Tesla.

 

[kev1n]

I have it on my S75D and it's wonderful. I would have paid extra for it, prefer it to the Pearl White.

i also prefer a more white color but i ended up with the pearl white, its actually not so bad. its more white than other white pearls ive seen that are a bit more on the yellowy side

 

[alseTrick]

Tesla announced the 3 as a $35,000 car, then they realized "oh crap, we cannot make any profit at $35K". So they had to find ways to force people into more expensive option choices, to jack the price up. The 2 most outstanding examples of this are the ugly base black color and the ugly Aero wheels. The next, not-so-obvious choice is forcing the $5000 PUP package on us at the start, where many people may want this option or that option, but Tesla has said no, you're taking it all-or-nothing, for those who might want only the radio or only the glass roof.

Tesla is being like any scammy salesman in that regard, saying "You could could take this cheap version here, but what you really want is the $14,000 more expensive version here, it looks better". And we make more profit as a result.

I like the aero wheels. I *WANT* the better range. Stop calling them ugly.

Stick to the white paint. "Stupid Tesla!"

 

[idleuser]

Judging by the responses, Tesla made the right financial decision to make the base color black because over half of the responses in here wants white instead of black.

*cast me as another vote for solid white as base*

 

[Jer2017]

The "free" colors for Audi, bmw and Mercedes are white and black. What's unusual is to not offer a "free" white color at all, which is what Tesla is doing.

I have had flat white when I lived in Fresno, California where summers are very hot. I have had silver, dark blue, yellow, and green having lived in very hot climates. When I purchased my last car, a BMW, the last ICE car I will own, I closed my eyes and touched every color on the lot during the summer when the temp was over 95 degrees Fahrenheit. White and Silver were o.k. to the touch. I also went to the used car lot and the graveyard for used car parts AKA "JUNK YARD" AND looked at the paint of cars 3-10 years old. It was amazing to see what the old paint looked like and felt like. My new car will be reflective white or reflective silver to reflect the sun as I can burn my hand touching a black, dark gray, blue, dark brown, dark green, etc. However, I park my car under a tree, in the garage, or cover it when the temperature
reaches above 80-85 degrees Fahrenheit. I also know that we are the first people to buy these cars and the Tesla Company has to build Super Chargers, pay programmers, researchers, engineers, around the world and I am aware that I cannot build a new car even if I had 100-1,000 years to accomplish that task. Therefore, paying more for multi-coat white, red, silver, etc. does not bother me. I am purchasing new technology, new engineering, and a safer product. Many Americans forget how many hundreds of auto companies there were in the ERA of the Model T Ford and how expensive they were. When my grandfather died he left a Model T Ford and Model A Ford on the ranch.
I looked at a very old Life Magazine covered with dust in the attic and based on the wages of that time the Model 3 by Tesla is CHEAP in comparison and if I could go back in time only the SUPER RICH would have been able to buy it. In fact it is possible no individual at the time would have been rich enough to have one. I recently found two of the earliest roads in California and walked them for about a mile or two. I even found a couple of those old cars down at the bottom of a ravine. I was amazed that my grandfather took 2-3 days by horse and wagon to visit the seaside. By car it took a full day. Before that I was told that only the brave ventured over the pass in a car. Be happy that Tesla has had the guts to venture into a new century.

 

[Uncle Paul]

For the customer, the color is a very emotional decision.

For the manufacturer the color is only a financial decision.

Not unusual for there to be a difference of opinion on what colors will be offered and for what price.

Most customers would like the color of their preference to be available at the lowest possible cost.

Tesla is painting their cars in perhaps the most expensive of all places to do so. California paint facilities cost tons more to complete due to intensive regulations and requirements. Would not be surprised to see they need to charge more than facilities in less expensive regions.

On another note, years ago customers complained that the Tesla paint was softer than they wanted. Now that Tesla has invested in state of the art multi million dollar paint technology, that complaint had mostly gone away.

My opinion is that the Tesla paint jobs are currently among the best available anywhere for large production systems.

 

[McRat]

White is better. Easier to read if you put lettering on it, easier to see in the dark, cooler, wax residue isn't as ugly, etc.

Nothing to do with fashion, everything to do with function.

It would be fun to be working at a restaurant when Elon or marketing folk sit down.

"OH!!! You wanted silverware with your food? Sorry, that's $10 more, but eating with your fingers is free. Today's special is lasagna."

Sure you'll pay the $10, just like we'll pay the $1000, but expecting folk to happy about it? That's unlikely.

 

[alseTrick]

I have had flat white when I lived in Fresno, California where summers are very hot. I have had silver, dark blue, yellow, and green having lived in very hot climates. When I purchased my last car, a BMW, the last ICE car I will own, I closed my eyes and touched every color on the lot during the summer when the temp was over 95 degrees Fahrenheit. White and Silver were o.k. to the touch. I also went to the used car lot and the graveyard for used car parts AKA "JUNK YARD" AND looked at the paint of cars 3-10 years old. It was amazing to see what the old paint looked like and felt like. My new car will be reflective white or reflective silver to reflect the sun as I can burn my hand touching a black, dark gray, blue, dark brown, dark green, etc. However, I park my car under a tree, in the garage, or cover it when the temperature
reaches above 80-85 degrees Fahrenheit. I also know that we are the first people to buy these cars and the Tesla Company has to build Super Chargers, pay programmers, researchers, engineers, around the world and I am aware that I cannot build a new car even if I had 100-1,000 years to accomplish that task. Therefore, paying more for multi-coat white, red, silver, etc. does not bother me. I am purchasing new technology, new engineering, and a safer product. Many Americans forget how many hundreds of auto companies there were in the ERA of the Model T Ford and how expensive they were. When my grandfather died he left a Model T Ford and Model A Ford on the ranch.
I looked at a very old Life Magazine covered with dust in the attic and based on the wages of that time the Model 3 by Tesla is CHEAP in comparison and if I could go back in time only the SUPER RICH would have been able to buy it. In fact it is possible no individual at the time would have been rich enough to have one. I recently found two of the earliest roads in California and walked them for about a mile or two. I even found a couple of those old cars down at the bottom of a ravine. I was amazed that my grandfather took 2-3 days by horse and wagon to visit the seaside. By car it took a full day. Before that I was told that only the brave ventured over the pass in a car. Be happy that Tesla has had the guts to venture into a new century.

None of that addresses the fact that every major car manufacturer either offers white as a free option or offers non-black colors as a free option, except Tesla. I don't understand why people keep trying to excuse this.

"Free" white paint:
Acura
Audi
BMW
Chevrolet
Chrysler
Dodge
Fiat
Ford
Honda
Hyundai
Infiniti
Jaguar
Kia
Land Rover
Lexus
Maserati
Mercedes Benz
Nissan
Porsche
Smart
Subaru
Volkswagen

No "free" white paint, offers "free" silver paint:
Mazda (white is $200)
Mini (white is $500)

No "free" white paint, only offers "free" black:
Tesla (white/silver is $1,000)

 

[AceSkywalker]

Black is the worst choice if you like your car looking clean and pristine all the time. Dirt and scratches will show up and be very obvious. In my area, the winds pick up the dust from the quarries an hour north and drop it all over our neighborhood. A couple days after cleaning your car, its caked in a thick layer of dust.

 

[Visscher]

None of that addresses the fact that every major car manufacturer either offers gasoline engine as a free option or offers hybrids as a free option, except Tesla. They offer long distance BEV.

ICE:
Acura
Audi
BMW
Chevrolet
Chrysler
Dodge
Fiat
Ford
Honda
Hyundai
Infiniti
Jaguar
Kia
Land Rover
Lexus
Maserati
Mercedes Benz
Nissan
Porsche
Smart
Subaru
Volkswagen

BEV SHORT DISTANCE
Mazda (white is $200)
Mini (white is $500)

BEV LONG DISTANCE
Tesla (white/silver is $1,000)



My 3 year old daughter makes a big deal about pink being her favorite colour on bikes and whatnot. Heck, if Black is the only free option, I'm taking it. It doesn't take much to ask for a colour instead of clear when I put the 3M wrap on anyway.

 

[Justmurr]

matte black would be cool...

I'm getting red so I always sort of expected the charge.

 

[McRat]

None of that addresses the fact that every major car manufacturer either offers gasoline engine as a free option or offers hybrids as a free option, except Tesla. They offer long distance BEV.

ICE:
Acura
Audi
BMW
Chevrolet
Chrysler
Dodge
Fiat
Ford
Honda
Hyundai
Infiniti
Jaguar
Kia
Land Rover
Lexus
Maserati
Mercedes Benz
Nissan
Porsche
Smart
Subaru
Volkswagen

BEV SHORT DISTANCE
Mazda (white is $200)
Mini (white is $500)

BEV LONG DISTANCE
Tesla (white/silver is $1,000)



My 3 year old daughter makes a big deal about pink being her favorite colour on bikes and whatnot. Heck, if Black is the only free option, I'm taking it. It doesn't take much to ask for a colour instead of clear when I put the 3M wrap on anyway.

I drove a Chevrolet recently that had 238 miles of all electric range. White was free.
BMW charges you for the ICE on the i3, it's not standard equipment.
AFAIK, nobody offers a Hybrid option for free.

 

[Brando]

I'm fairly sure it's the paint companies that drive the price of the paint. Metallic is more expensive. That's all.

Visit TeslaTap and the Features, Desired Features list and vote for white.
https://teslatap.com/features/

 

[Brando]

White and Silver were o.k. to the touch.

Fine post, good perspectives.

My White Saab noticeably cooler than silver, the last time I tried. So I'd suggest you test for yourself next time at the parking lot.