Will SR AWD ever be available?

[Ryan H]

I was hoping for AWD with FSD for under $50k. I'm increasingly believing that will never happen. My original plan was to get SR (35k) + AWD (5k) + AP+FSD (8k) which comes out to $48k. Now Elon is saying the price for FSD will increase substantially over time.

I just have this limit that I've set, and I really don't want to spend more than $50k on a car. That's already more than double what I've spent on the only other new car I've bought.

What do you think? Is it time for me to get my deposit back from 3/31/2016?

 

[Nate977p]

I was about to post on this. I was wondering and thought I never from the 2016 event or the 2017 event that I there would be an SR AWD, but couldn't find anything on it when I researched.

Anyone recall?

 

[jpk195]

My guess would be no - SR with AWD will have less range and probably be marginally faster, if at all. Traction is the only benefit I can see.

Is there a reason you are set on AWD? I have a LR RWD and don’t miss AWD (had multiple Subaru’s before). If you can fit snow tires into your budget, my guess is you won’t miss it either.

 

[Ryan H]

I was about to post on this. I was wondering and thought I never from the 2016 event or the 2017 event that I there would be an SR AWD, but couldn't find anything on it when I researched.

Anyone recall?

On my Account page on Tesla's website, SR AWD was an option to select what I was interested in. That was 2016.

 

[Ryan H]

My guess would be no - SR with AWD will have less range and probably be marginally faster, if at all. Traction is the only benefit I can see.

Is there a reason you are set on AWD? I have a LR RWD and don’t miss AWD (had multiple Subaru’s before). If you can fit snow tires into your budget, my guess is you won’t miss it either.

My first car as a teenager was RWD. Let's just say I had an experience in the snow that I said never again.

 

[Knightshade]

I was hoping for AWD with FSD for under $50k. I'm increasingly believing that will never happen. My original plan was to get SR (35k) + AWD (5k) + AP+FSD (8k) which comes out to $48k. Now Elon is saying the price for FSD will increase substantially over time.

I just have this limit that I've set, and I really don't want to spend more than $50k on a car. That's already more than double what I've spent on the only other new car I've bought.

What do you think? Is it time for me to get my deposit back from 3/31/2016?

$50,750 is what the price on a LR AWD with FSD is after the $3750 tax credit right now.

So only $750 over your "max" for a lot more range, performance, and some interior upgrades compared to an SR car even if they did ever add AWD to it.

 

[Ryan H]

$50,750 is what the price on a LR AWD with FSD is after the $3750 tax credit right now.

So only $750 over your "max" for a lot more range, performance, and some interior upgrades compared to an SR car even if they did ever add AWD to it.

Yeah... My annual tax liability isn't high enough to get the full credit.

 

[jpk195]

My first car as a teenager was RWD. Let's just say I had an experience in the snow that I said never again.

The model 3 is different than most RWD sedans. Weight distribution from the battery and instantaneous traction control are two reasons. The consensus seems to be that snow tires are needed, but not AWD. This matches my experience.

 

[Ryan H]

The model 3 is different than most RWD sedans. Weight distribution from the battery and instantaneous traction control are two reasons. The consensus seems to be that snow tires are needed, but not AWD. This matches my experience.

I've been thinking about that. It makes sense. That "never again" has just stuck with me.

 

[Knightshade]

Are you driving an AWD with snow tires or all seasons right now?

Because for any winter-related task other than climbing steep hills in snow/ice, RWD with snow tires > AWD with all seasons.

Though FWIW, if you don't have enough income to take a $3750 tax credit I'd question the wisdom of spending $50,000 on a car

 

[Mo City]

My wild guess is the demand for SR AWD is fairly low.

 

[Ryan H]

Are you driving an AWD with snow tires or all seasons right now?

Because for any winter-related task other than climbing steep hills in snow/ice, RWD with snow tires > AWD with all seasons.

Though FWIW, if you don't have enough income to take a $3750 tax credit I'd question the wisdom of spending $50,000 on a car

I drive a FWD Civic with all-season tires. It handles much better than my grandfather's hand-me-down Grand Marquis.

Yep. I probably shouldn't be spending $50,000 on a car, but I've been saving for it since 2015. I was hoping the price would come down over time with economies of scale and whatnot. It appears that won't be the case.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

My wild guess is the demand for SR AWD is fairly low.

My wild guess is that Tesla would really not want to lose the upsell of AWD buyers to LR. Maybe if they get to release the Model Y, they'll eventually release a YSRD.

 

[Justin30624700]

Are you driving an AWD with snow tires or all seasons right now?

Because for any winter-y task other than climbing steep hills in snow/ice, RWD with snow tires > AWD with all seasons.

Though FWIW, if you don't have enough income to take a $3750 tax credit I'd question the wisdom of spending $50,000 on a car

.

 

[Knightshade]

I drive a FWD Civic with all-season tires. It handles much better than my grandfather's hand-me-down Grand Marquis.

Yep. I probably shouldn't be spending $50,000 on a car, but I've been saving for it since 2015. I was hoping the price would come down over time with economies of scale and whatnot. It appears that won't be the case.

Winter-Traction Test: What Price Traction?

Car and Driver tested FWD and AWD versions of a car, and RWD and AWD versions of a car.... and all seasons vs snow tires across all 4 cars.


The only significant place Snow tires on RWD/FWD didn't outperform all-seasons on AWD was climbing grades greater than 15%

Braking, handling, manouvering though? Tires > Drive-train every time.

Or as they summed up:

Four-wheel drive helps get cars going. When it comes time to brake or change direction on low-traction surfaces, the extra mass of the driveline becomes more of a detriment. Folks who live in hilly places that get snow may need the climbing capability of four-wheel drive. If it snows a lot in those hilly places, they should probably invest in winter tires, too. Even flat-landers who happen to have steep driveways may wish to consider a four-wheel-driver.

Almost everyone else will most likely be better served by using winter tires. Acceleration takes longer, but in an emergency, the handling behavior and improved lateral grip of two-wheel drive and winter tires -- in the slippery stuff -- are the safer bets.

 

[Mo City]

My wild guess is that Tesla would really not want to lose the upsell of AWD buyers to LR. Maybe if they get to release the Model Y, they'll eventually release a YSRD.

So why do you think there is no SR AWD option to date?

Since Model Y has even less range, a SR AWD option is even less likely.

 

[LyftupX]

Folks the actual range on a SR with AWD would be atrocious.

I have the LR and it gets .... 80% of it maybe ....

 

[TMThree]

Remember with the smaller battery, the power drain per cell increases significantly from the LR pack. Not something you want to do for longevity.

 

[Matt L]

I was hoping for AWD with FSD for under $50k. I'm increasingly believing that will never happen. My original plan was to get SR (35k) + AWD (5k) + AP+FSD (8k) which comes out to $48k. Now Elon is saying the price for FSD will increase substantially over time.

I just have this limit that I've set, and I really don't want to spend more than $50k on a car. That's already more than double what I've spent on the only other new car I've bought.

What do you think? Is it time for me to get my deposit back from 3/31/2016?

Why not just wish for under $40k?

 

[commasign]

Two reasons Tesla won’t:

1. Keep the lineup simple to maximize production efficiency. Even the seemingly popular configurations of SR RWD and LR RWD were just removed from the website.
2. Those who need AWD probably live in colder regions where range will take a big hit during the winter. It just won’t be a good experience with triple range hit from the cold, AWD, 90% daily change and trip planner recommended 10% lower buffer. The practical range could drop to as low as 100 miles.