Why doesn't Tesla use traditional model years?

[CapeOne]

How hard is it for insurance companies, banks, and shoppers to just use the car year? Is that really so different from a formal "model year"? Every insurance company knows perfectly well what year the car was made from the VIN. Shoppers can check the month and year of manufacture from the door plaque. I don't get the "confusion" involved.

It becomes a potential problem if/when there is a significant redesign during the calendar year and two very different cars of the same model are identified by the same year. This hasn't happened with Tesla yet as there hasn't been a significant redesign of the Model S or X but I am looking more towards the future.

Insurance companies use pricing sources like KBB, NADA and others to come up with claim amounts for things like ‘totaled’ or stolen cars. Banks/lenders use price guides to determine a car’s value and how much of a loan should be acceptable towards the car. If the guides can't/don't distinguish an 'all-new' car from an 'old version car' because they both have the same year (e.g. both are 2019s), valuations can become a problem for everyone involved.

 

[CapeOne]

Because, as I said before, Tesla is constantly -- as in every single week -- introducing changes and improvements to the cars. Some minor, some major. The changes and improvements are made when they are ready to be introduced, not on some arbitrary "model year" schedule.

Tesla is not saving up all the internal and external cosmetic changes to introduce once a year, they are doing it as a continuous process.

I know it was stated upthread that other car companies make some changes without regarding to the annual "model year" marketing hullabaloo. That is true. But the fact remains they way the other car companies operate is that the vast majority of major changes to a model are introduced together at the start of the traditional "model year".

Tesla decided not to do that so they can continuously improve their cars in significant ways. It is unconventional, and confusing to some people. But since Tesla is selling cars as fast as they can make them, it clearly is not hurting them.

And as I've already said a few times before, no changes, improvements, etc. Tesla has made to the Model S would've had to have been delayed or impacted in any way by using model years. The argument that using model years would prevent Tesla from doing changes or making improvements how or when they want to is incorrect.

 

[CapeOne]

Adding to what @Dwdnjck said above, batching changes into a model year requires downtime. The plant gets shut down for days, weeks, or maybe months during this time. Tesla's model is more agile and doesn't require long shutdowns..

No factory shutdown is 'required' for a model year changeover. If Tesla can implement a significant redesign/all-new platform (which hasn't happened yet), handle all related factory retooling, etc. without a factory shutdown, more power to them. Regardless, It doesn't prevent using model years.

 

[aronth5]

Just get used to the idea that Tesla will not use model years like other car manufacturers.

 

[sandpiper]

No factory shutdown is absolutely required for a model year changeover. Inventory doesn't have to have anything to do with going with model years either. Even smaller automakers use model years. Tesla tends to discount their new inventory, which still includes '2015s' right now, more by length of time in inventory and/or accumulated miles. Sometimes quarterly sales needs are a factor too.

Tesla is in a different situation; the owners are still mostly early adopter and tech types and are much more focused on the technological changes between models. And as a new car / technology the changes are still rapid and significant. The difference between a 2016 and 2017 for an ICE is minor; likely small enough to be offset by a discount of a a few thousand. If, however, you announced that on august 1st, the 100D would be out with the new autopilot suite, what do you think would happen to current model sales? They would drop like a stone.

I had originally ordered a P85, literally a week before the P85D / autopilot announcement. And I was fortunate enough to be able to transfer over. I can tell you that there is nothing that would have pushed me to buy a non-AP P85 once the AP-P85D was announced. And from the profusion of noise / upset / excitement on the internet from people who got cars on either side of the demarcation line I can tell you that A LOT of people felt similarly.

Tesla is still at a very high level of Osborning risk. It will diminish as the cars mature and the owner base diversifies. Tesla will move to model years as that happens.

 

[Ludus]

Everything Tesla has done with the Model S could’ve still been done even if model years were used. I see some disadvantages to not using model years but no worthwhile advantage.

I see little disadvantage and some advantages. Whenever necessary Tesla's are just identified by the year they were built. That works for registrations, resale, insurance or anyone else who wants a model year.

Otherwise it helps convey the idea that Teslas are not like other cars and Tesla Motors isn't like other car companies. In this it's like selling over the website, not having dealerships, having fixed prices and many other novel approaches. None of them are necessary. Collectively though they produce some real brand differentiation.

 

[neroden]

I don't want model years, but I wish Tesla had used version numbers like they did with the Roadster.

 

[sandpiper]

I see little disadvantage and some advantages. Whenever necessary Tesla's are just identified by the year they were built. That works for registrations, resale, insurance or anyone else who wants a model year.

Otherwise it helps convey the idea that Teslas are not like other cars and Tesla Motors isn't like other car companies. In this it's like selling over the website, not having dealerships, having fixed prices and many other novel approaches. None of them are necessary. Collectively though they produce some real brand differentiation.

The major disadvantage is the high level of disappointment and frustration that buyers have when they unexpectedly "just miss" a major upgrade. A car is not like a cell phone. It's a lot more costly and people can't just toss it in a year or two to buy a new one. I speak as a guy who was very very lucky that I didn't barely wind up with a P85 instead of a P85D. Had I been on the other side of the line, I would have always felt a bit let down each time that I looked at the car.

 

[timk225]

I've looked at the body-off display model in my local Tesla store. The date of manufacture is stamped into the frame in several places, with one of those little computer controlled pin punch devices. It looks like an old dot matrix printer from the 80s. That's all we need for a model year.

 

[HEIDELCEDRIC]

What if they went with an apple style year scheme (Early, Mid, Late) or if that is still to confining due to the whole 20 changes a week, could they mark the model year with a month number, even if not on the title of the car but like on the plate that tells time of manufacture.
So in essence it would be like 1/2016 for a January model, then they could just wait a month to add the new things and have a list of new items added or removed every month.