It’s not as big a problem as it appears. People in Texas buy Teslas all the time. They don’t have to go out of state to buy it either. All it means is that you have to place your order online, instead of in a showroom. When your car is delivered, the title is mailed to you from Tesla HQ in Fremont, CA. Take that to the DMV for registration, and you are done.
It’s all about maximizing the quarterly delivery numbers. Typically, vehicles manufactured at the beginning of the quarter are put on a boat for Europe. Mid-quarter vehicles go to the eastern US, and end of quarter vehicles go to the western US. Obviously, this will change as Berlin and Austin come online.
www.businessinsider.com
You might want to reconsider FSD. I have had it on two Teslas and I am not impressed or sure it is worth it, especially for $10k. It's a personal preference, but I really don't miss it on my Model Y.
Its totally personal preference. I have bought it on all three of ours and never looked back. Just did a 600 mile road trip in the MY and I would have died without NoAP. But thats me, my husband barely uses it when he is driving. You can always do the subscription and cancel if you decide you dont like it or buy it outright if you think your going to keep the CT longer than 5 years and def want to have FSD on it permanently.
Definitely a personal preference, but if you have had FSD on all of three of your TESLAs, you may not be aware that EVERY Tesla comes with Auto-pilot. I have all the same features that FSD has, except for exit to exit drive, auto lane change, summon and independent stop and go at stoplights (when not behind another car. I just find $10,000 or $199 a month way too steep for those features I seldom use. Agree that you can buy it by subscription and also add it to your vehicle at a later date when more features have been released. I put that $10,000 into TSLA stock and in two years paid for my new Model Y (without FSD, of course).
Actually, no. They went to influencers that would perform the hype and guerilla marketing that Tesla uses to their advantage... Is what it is/world we now live in. Good on Tesla for exploiting this part of us to their corporate gain. Doesn't mean you need to buy in though... Here is one example (and Iike Marques, btw...).
Great marketing strategy, I'd say. Saves on the advertising budget and keeps the price down. Can you imagine how much a customer relations/PR department costs? I have found most (like the one above and Brooks at Drag TImes) to be balanced and fair reviews and critical when appropriate.
I am totally aware of the differences between AP and FSD as I've had AP since v1.0 and I've seen it go through all its various stages. Its completely up to what you find personally worth while. Some people think its crazy to pay people to clean their houses or mow their yards when they can easily do it themselves for free... While others would rather pay someone then spend their free time doing those chores. I would rather pay 5k (as I ordered my MY on launch day) or 6K as it was for launch day on the CT then wait until FSD is fully functional and have to pay whatever the cost is then all the while getting to use the features that I do find useful now. For me exit to exit driving and that "ding" when the light turns green is amazing. Even if I ordered a car today I would still pay the 10k for the FSD feature now or the 199 if I was leasing for the same reasons. But I have the advantage of buying it early and getting the cost savings which only helps reinforce my decision.
The yoke looks pretty cool but I think everything else about it is a downgrade. I mean if it had some sort of variable turn ratio so you didn't have to go hand over hand it would be ok with the buttons but once you move all the buttons to the yoke as that things spins round and round...dumb. I really hope they reconsider it for the production CyberTruck.
Tesla needs customers like you to keep funding the FSD development effort. It is just a shame they will not let you transfer your FSD purchase from vehicle to vehicle. IMO, the cost of FSD and auto AI in general is going to keep dropping in price not increasing. Once GM SuperCruise and others start showing up in mainstream vehicles what you are paying $10k or $199 per month now will eventually be baked into the price of the car, just like Tesla AP is now. We have seen this with backup cameras, pedestrian detection, lane keep assist/departure warning, dynamic cruise control with low speed/stop follow, blind spot monitoring, rear cross traffic alert, auto emergency braking. Sure, manufacturers will try to monetize the advanced capabilities for a bit but eventually competition will drive the price down of autonomous driving features.
Elon Tweeted about it already and has basically stated that the yoke wheel is here to stay and they will not be offering the option of a standard wheel. I think people will get used to it, just like they baulked at the display in front of the driver being removed in the M3 and now people are in love with the open space of the dash... its new, its different and it will take a minute to get used to but then we will all love it
I WISH we could transfer FSD from VIN to VIN. even if there was a 'fee' for doing it, it would be nice and they could make more money selling it to the new owner vs us who paid less for it. But now that they have the subscription model I don't see that changing any time soon.
The fat lady has yet to sing, on Texas built Teslas.
Tesla has to ship Texas-made cars to other states before it can sell them to Texans because of state laws
Texas lawmakers decided not to pass legislation that would allow carmakers, including Tesla, to sell vehicles directly to customers.
