As promised, Tesla has revealed the tally for first-week orders of the upcoming “affordable” Model 3 electric car, and it’s good news for the company.
It’s also bad news if you ordered late and are hoping to show off your ride anytime soon.
As of today, the electric automaker has taken over 325,000 reservations on the 215-mile range Model 3, which translates into an eventual $14 billion in revenue if no one backs out. With each buyer putting $1,000 down on their order, that means Tesla just made a cool $325 million that could be used to ready the vehicle, and the company’s facilities, for production.
Orders for the Model 3 opened on March 31, the same day a pre-production version of the curvaceous EV was launched amid great hype and fanfare. Billed as costing $35,000 before government incentives, a total of 115,000 reservations for the Model 3 were logged by the first night.
Tesla is clearly pleased with the enthusiasm that preceded the launch. Under the heading “The Week that Electric Vehicles Went Mainstream,” Tesla gushed on its website about the outpouring of interest in the vehicle.
“Unlike other major product launches, we haven’t advertised or paid for any endorsements,” the company stated, adding that the reservation numbers make this “the single biggest one-week launch of any product ever.”
Tesla founder Elon Musk now needs to boost production capacity so the new model can be cranked out at a clip that doesn’t keep annoy customers. Production is tentatively scheduled to begin late next year, with the first deliveries going to existing Tesla owners on the west coast.
Lots of suckers that are also going to whine like children when it takes Tesla four years to build half that number.
I waited 2 years for a 2011 LEAF. Some of us have patience. When agreeing final price with the dealer they cautioned me it would take 6 months for delivery. They were astounded I was fine with that. It boggled their tiny little minds.
Apparently Elon suggested that I good way to move up the preorder line is to buy a Model S or Model X in the mean time. Sounds reasonable.
WTF.
A company can’t use deposit money on non-existent product on capex.
The deposit money is essentially held in escrow under the terms of the reservation agreement.
“With each buyer putting $1,000 down on their order, that means Tesla just made a cool $325 million that could be used to ready the vehicle, and the company’s facilities, for production.”
This is such a fundamentally and errant statement that it’s incredible.
Deposit money can’t be used for any of th things mentioned.
Wrong.
As per the Tesla reservation agreement, “You also agree that we will not hold your Reservation Payment separately or in an escrow or trust fund or pay any interest on Reservation Payments.”
So they can basically use your money for whatever they please.
So do you have a link to the reservation/deposit agree,ent?
I’d like to read it. It’s beyond belief that Tesla would try to, or be allowed to, use deposit money on a vehicle that not only doesn’t yet exist yet, but that manufacturing capacity to build the vehicle doesn’t even exist yet, for just, you know, whatever.
If that’s the actual case, I’m in the wrong business and see a career change coming fast.
Post the link to the actual agreement if you would be so kind.
If you or anyone does, and I don’t respond quickly after reading it, it’s because I’ll be in meetings until well past 6:30 pm est.
@Deadweight Normally I would say to use use your Google-fu… but since you asked nicely…
https://www.teslamotors.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/model_3_reservation_agreement.pdf
Edit: redliner beat me to it with a better link!
@DeadWeight
Then maybe a career change is in order. :)
When I forked my money over, I assumed Tesla was going to put it to work toward building my car, not sidelining it in some escrow account doing nothing. That would be a waste.
I’m not sure why the lack of escrow is scandalous. If all of Wells Fargo’s customers made a run on the bank, Wells Fargo would sink to their knees in a matter of minutes. The odds of that happening are extremely low. Same with Tesla’s res holders suddenly rushing Tesla and demanding their money back. Maybe 10-20% will drop out, but might as well put the others’ money to work.
Wow.
I am really amazed.
That’s a well-drafted, clear, concise reservation agreement.
I still maintain that there’s a bizarre issue here that is being left unaddressed by that agreement, though, inasmuch as although it states a return of the $1,000 deposit is sole recourse in lieu of taking delivery of any future, potential Model 3, I’m not sure there isn’t case law or statutory law (UCC maybe?) limiting Tesla’s right to use the deposit in any way it sees fit.
Just because Tesla drafted a document to state what it clearly does, doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s complete as a matter of law and provides Tesla the ability to treat the deposit money as cash on hand for an indefinite period of time.
But don’t you think they can deposit that money in a bank, then ask the bank to borrow money against the future revenue those deposits suggest is coming? Surely they can get a good rate given the deposits.
Worst case, if Tesla can get the same yield on a savings account as me, they have access to an extra $200k/mo just from interest. No, that’s not much for a car company, but for one trying to make money, it can’t hurt.
The implication here, by repeating “car that doesn’t exist” implies Tesla doesn’t have a good track record.
They are currently the best selling luxury car in Europe.
Historically 70% of their reservations are not refunded. IE People are willing to wait. Regarding the model 3 -being conservative at a 50% retention rate, what’s 175000 x $42000?
The model x is being made to the tune of 800/week with a second quarter ramp up ready.
Another source of capital is stock and it up over 10% over 5 days.
A new paradigm takes some convincing, but how much has do be done before people realize the world has just changed.
I’m CALLING MUSK’S BULL$HIT AS A BRIDGE TOO FAR ON THE MODEL 3.
After researching Tesla’s current MANUFACTURING AND BATTERY CELL production capacity, I will bet that there’s no way that the Model 3 gets delivered before 2019, and likely closer to 2021, in even remotely adequate numbers as a % of pre-orders.
MUSK JUST PUT VOODOO ON TESLA. It won’t take long for the pre-order buzz to give way to increasing and real, sustained skepticism as each of the next 24 months ticks by.
Read the terms of the Tesla deposit. The money is not being held in escrow and they were quite explicit about it.
It’s funny money. They can do whatever they want with it, so long as they have the ability to come up with refund cash for those who pull out. Figure what, maybe 20%?
It’ll be more like 70%. the industry saw is that you could sell 100K of “the hot car” the day it is released. If you only had them.
The reality is that those pre-orders, which amount to a month of a kid working his part-time job are hardly some morally binding investment. In the intervening 3 years (not that Tesla will last that long)the majority will figure a different car is for them. The rest will not be able t afford a $40K+ car and will be self-eliminated.
Even if Musk had 300K of them fully developed, ready to sell, he might actually move 75K. If it’s not a collector car that they’re making 75 of for $200K+, pre-orders are nothing but fantasy.
I’m a reservation holder, and I intend to take delivery of the car.
And I put $1000 where my mouth is.
So, you will not change your mind over the next 2-3 years? You really believe Musk will be allowed by investors to burn another $1-2B of other people’s money to deliver your subsidized ride? You really believe that unlike everything that Musk has ever done, *this* will be delivered on time, at the price point he hypes it with? You really believe that *no* other company will have a better offer in 2-3 years?
Pre-orders for real, deliverable cars are pretty irrelevant beyond about 2 months. 2 years for vaporware? Maybe you’re so blind that you’ll actually do it. But I doubt it.
On time? I’ll be surprised if I get the car on time.
As for the other stuff, Tesla has actually delivered all of that before. I’m betting $1000 that they can do it again.
The Model 3’s competitors are the Chevy Bolt (similar price to th Model 3), and the still-under-wraps Nissan Leaf 2.0. I’ll be surprised if either of those are quite as compelling as the Model 3.
I had been in th Bolt camp, because its going to be available sooner, but some bad luck caused me to replace a car early – and now the Model 3’s timeframe (even with delays) is just right for me.
This car is going to make or break TESLA.
It’s nothing but seats and a steering wheel inside with a $99 LCD TV glued to the dash.
There’s no way that car’s going into production exactly like that. It’s a prototype – basically.
Still – it’s probably going to be a success so long as they can keep the price low. Buying into TESLA is going to be seen by Greeners as a marque more important than Mercedes, BMW and Audi.
Thing is, once the Germans and the Big 3 Domestics retool their production for PHEV and EV, Tesla will launch every single car into a sea of RED instead of Pink.
The VOLT is now more spacious – probably as spacious or larger than the Model 3 now.
The BOLT will probably be more practical since it sits more upright and crossovers are the new normal. Not to mention IT ISN’T GOING TO TAKE OVER 3 YEARS TO GET ONE.
Then there’s all the other new Hybrids and EVs coming to market.
VW needs PHEV and EV to rejuvenate themselves after they get picked to death by the greeners.
#5 What happens when people who bought $150,000 P90DL models end up waiting at stalls behind people with cheapo Model 3’s?
Them stallz are gonna get mighty tight!
#6 The $200,000 tax rebate inavalibility is a foregone conclusion UNLESS President Trump extends it in order to keep the MURICAN’ company: Tesla steaming ahead – possibly allowing them to build more Gigafactories and Model 3 production plants.
Put every last one of these greeners in an EV while I roll HELLCAT.
Good points.
Note that leasing a Bolt while waiting on Tesla is a route I may take. If Tesla take too long, I can either get something else or buy out the lease.
If Tesla and the car live up to their own hype, turn in the Bolt, buy the Model 3.
Almost every car that Tesla has made so far is a make or break car, Model-S perhaps more so than X, but as a small company spending capital at a rapid clip, they cannot afford any product to fail.
Tesla has a much stronger brand for electric car and a head start in logistics and know how. I am not convinced that Germans and Big 3 will catch up quickly.
1. Tesla has a more aggressive development culture with quick decisions and quick technology updates. It will slow down as the company is growing by leaps and bounds, but I feel it will still be more agile than the rest of industry simply because of Musks leadership by example and the level of talent Tesla is attracting.
2. Biggest worry for Tesla would be the rate they are burning cash and treading that fine line between meeting timeline for new car introduction vs. generating sufficient revenue through S and X sales to keep the ship afloat. If the cash burn is too fast and they are unable to attain sufficient credit, Musk might have to pull some strings with his buddies over at google for an investment.
If the Volt and Bolt beat Tesla at its own game, how come everyone who just preordered a Model 3 didn’t buy a Volt off the lot or preorder a Bolt for delivery this year?
Lol, because Tesla is the Apple of cars. ONLY the Tesla works, just as the iPhone is the ONLY thing some people will buy.
If Chevrolet had the Tesla on sale now, and had only rebadged it as a Chevy, people would still wait for the Tesla.
That’s how stupid they are.
Proles are badge whores without the capacity for critical thinking, this is not news.
Becaue Tesla is a luxury/tech/lifestyle brand that just happens to sell cars. Melody Lee is working for the wrong company.
She should submit her resume over at Tesla. As if!
“how come everyone who just preordered a Model 3 didn’t buy a Volt off the lot or preorder a Bolt for delivery this year?”
You know that’s a darn good question. See my post below. I have no doubt that over the long haul the Bolt is a much better engineered EV than any Tesla. But it sure isn’t generating the desire for an EV like the Tesla is. Not even close.
Is that a Honda CT70 in your avatar? Those things are cool.
“If the Volt and Bolt beat Tesla at its own game, how come everyone who just preordered a Model 3 didn’t buy a Volt off the lot or preorder a Bolt for delivery this year?”
Because they don’t beat Tesla at its own game.
The Volt is good-looking, but it still uses gas and has a tiny back seat.
The Bolt looks like the stereotypical EV science project of the 90s.
Volt and Bolt are GM products. Tesla is the aspirational brand; GM definitly isn’t.
I mentioned in the other post that people actually aspire to get a Tesla. There is your big difference between them and GM. Also the Volt is NOT a good looking car. Its downright boring and only slightly different then average.
Tesla took a page out of Apple’s play book – have your own one brand “show”. Don’t leak any photos of the product beforehand. Generate hype and excitement. One of these days the other car makers will learn. Ford figured it out with the new GT, but they still flashed it at standard auto show. Sorry but you lose all your showmanship in a sea of other product reveals, each claiming to be better then the other. New! Improved! After awhile these statements carry no weight. Instead tease people and have loyal fans cheering when your product finally appears.
The Volt is a different animal with different compromises.
The Bolt is a homely little thing. My wife, unprompted, said it looked like a roller skate. She also wanted me to put down a deposit for a Model 3 (I refused, partly because of delivery timeframe and partly because of the interior).
Now, now.
While I share concerns with interior quality, the Tesla touchscreens aren’t “a $99 TV”.
How much do you think a 15″ LCD panel costs directly from the supplier?
This LCD has to withstand harsh conditions like extreme heat, extreme cold and decades of vibrations. Not sure $90 LCD TV would do that.
A couple years ago I looked into buying 12″ lcd with a touch overlay a project at work. I could get ones with shock and environmental standards suitable for automotive use for $75.00 each if ordering 500 or more I imagine at the volumes they are talking it’s more like $25 maybe less.
“The VOLT is now more spacious – probably as spacious or larger than the Model 3 now.”
No so. Have you seen real people squished inside the back of a Volt – it’s tight. In contrast, the back seat occupants in the Model 3 test rides said they were pretty comfortable.
I pre-ordered a Model 3, but I agree on the $99 TV comment. That needs to improve.
The reservations for Model 3s, do they stipulate lease or buy?
No details – it was just a money slot, asking for name, phone, e-mail, and credit card number, followed with “we’ll get back to you”.
28CL – See my posts above.
This whole notion that deposit monies for vehicles that haven’t even yet been built (and who knows if, or how many, will be built and delivered) can be “cashed in” by Tesla and used in its business operations is nonsense.
These deposits are going to be put into escrow.
Ingenious move by Tesla.
1. Collect money for product not yet completed.
2. Use money to keep Ponzi game going.
3. Eventually deliver product, but in small enough quantities that it takes years to fulfill registered orders.
4. Repeat Step 1 for next product
SCE to AUX, Are you a stupid prole and badge whore, or do you prefer the Tesla’s styling and performance?
You added the “stupid” adjective, intelligent people are also guilty of such whoring.
Corey DL added “stupid.”
Fair enough.
And I’m not sorry about adding that word, either. :)
I have 2 Kias today, and I used to have a Leaf. If Nissan made the Model 3, I’d buy it from them instead.
Discuss. :)
“I pre-ordered a Model 3, but I agree on the $99 TV comment. That needs to improve.”
The interior design is not going to change much. They do not have the money to engineer a less austere/minimalistic interior for this car. It’s all about containing costs.
Agree my guess is the 3 will be very basic. In order to meet that and the price point I expect the interior will be pretty bad. Some one mentioned in a forum that when you account for the battery (even with giga factory) and power train a 3 will likley have to have every other part of the car equal about cost content of a Fiesta.
As usual, your post has a boatload of strawman arguments.
– I don’t personally believe there are 325,000 people who only want a model 3 for street cred.
– I don’t believe that the bolt ecosystem and tech package will come close to the model 3, even in three years.
– Even if it does, I don’t believe it will be nearly as pretty.
– I don’t believe the dealer “relationship” at these chevy dealers will be anything like the relationship tesla maintains with customers.
– I don’t believe feature upgrades will be uploaded to the bolt in it’s lifetime.
– I don’t believe there is enough battery capacity in all the land for the bolt not to be supply constrained, much as the issue may well be for the model 3. Remember the plan is for the gigafactory to literally double cell production for the planet.
I just bought a 2016 Mazda6, after waiting four months for the car I wanted from Japan. I put in a downpayment because mid 2018 or so is probably when I can expect my reservation to come up, and that works for me.
Yes, I care that it’s an all-electric car. I’d have a leaf today if it had range like this, no question, so there’s something to be said for first mover advantage on that front, and so the bolt will gain momentum in theory. But I also believe the 3 will be a more capable, more fun-to-drive car, which as a former RX8 owner, is of major importance to me.
A lot of your posts seem to suggest that anyone looking at these vehicles MUST be doing it for looks or status, and therefore, for example, model S owners will be put-out by 3 owners, etc. I think you are projecting there a bit – just because you can’t see a reason for these cars to exist other than as a status symbol does not make it so.
I see the status that comes with owning “a Tesla” as a disadvantage.
If you look at my comment history, you’ll see that I’m quite skeptical of luxury brands.
I’m buying a Model 3 *despite* the perceived status. But the engineering is interesting enough that I’ll put up with a car that makes me stick out like a sore thumb at PTA meetings. (I’d rather go to a PTA meeting than a country club. Seriously.)
There are true believers. But my guess is close to half the orders are mainly image buyers.
Perhaps they could partner with FCA to use some of Alfa Romeos excess production capacity.
That will certainly break Tesla.
(A joke, as the vaporware Alfa production capacity no exist.)
They could pick up the 2nd line from Chrysler 200 production at Sterling Heights though!
Incredible, I wish them all the best because I want one!
Tesla currently has the market to itself. So clocking up this number of orders probably shouldn’t shock us. But this car is still several years away.
Next year Jaguar (and I suspect they won’t be alone) will unveil the electric I Pace which is two years away from production and Land Rover won’t be far behind either. Others like BMW are already making electric cars and companies like Apple are no doubt also working on something. For me the questions will become has Tesla peaked to early? Do they have the legs to compete with the sheer volume of manufacturers entering this segment? And are enough consumers ready to buy cars like the model 3 when the recharge time is at least 30 mins and the range is 210 miles?
Personally I think Tesla has caught the imagination of the early adopters. But their success may also be their downfall
Nearly all EV consumers charge their cars at home, and use them for short drives, regardless of their range.
I wouldn’t mind a 30-minute break after driving 3 hours. When I do stop for such breaks now, it takes 20 minutes anyway.
Wouldn’t work for me. I can jump into car, drive 5 hours and only then stop. I often leave 6AM to beat busy area and to be at destination by noon. In Tesla this would be problematic
I fly on long distance trips. I don’t want to deal with the traffic, idiots on the road, and the loss of time. What takes 5 hours by car is an hour in a plane. Maybe two hours in a small plane. I have TSA pre-check so I don’t have to deal with the security lines.
A five-hour car trip is an hour IN the plane…
…and another half-hour of boarding…
…and another hour to make sure you don’t miss your flight while waiting in increasingly long TSA lines, which are just as long for pre-check (both our senators have just been squawking to TSA about this, with no effect)…
…and another half-hour to get out of the plane and airport on the far end…
…and another hour (estimated) to get to and from the airport on both ends.
So assume about four hours total. And you don’t have a car at your destination (unless you pay to rent), and you have to be crammed into a coach seat, and you have to go through the TSA checkpoint.
This is why I drive if the drive is less than about eight hours.
LOL, I fly a lot and I drive a lot, there is nowhere on the planet you can do a trip in an hour on a plane, even if you piloted your own plane. If you add in all the time needed to make the trip to the airport, check in, wait for takeoff, potential delays, landing, getting off the plane, etc etc, your time is much longer than 1 hour. In theory your trip may be an hour from point A to point B, in reality it is not.
I’ve stopped for charging just for the bathroom break – even when I didn’t need a charge. In slow heavy traffic, my Leafs battery does much better than my bladder.
For most of 2016 so far, I’ve just charged at home. In fact, most days I only drop one or zero bars on the Leaf charge level display driving around town.
If you can’t drive ~80 miles without having to stop to pee you should probably go see a doctor.
Also if a company like Dyson double the battery range and halve the recharge time but refuse to share their battery tech then where does that leave these brave pioneers. Personally I’d avoid Tesla shares like the plague. And I admire them!
Seeing AMERICA Producing a car INSIDE OUR BORDERS and selling it (exporting it) to other countries…
A product the WORLD wants.
…makes me feel so …
PROUD.
THIS is the ONLY way we’re gonna make AMERICA Great Again.
Production – NOT CONSUMPTION – grows our economy.
There are plenty of leeches out there who want to TRANSFER MURICA’S WEALTH to their own purposes, but we’re not gonna let that happen.
WE CAN MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN.
Elect me President
The rest of your choices are terrible.
“The rest of your choices are terrible.”
Well, he’s got us there.
I can MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN.
Rebecoming the greatness we never weren’t.
Sounds like you’re peddling fiction.
If elected do we get tax breaks based on horsepower?
Kidding aside I agree – this is an America company making a product people WANT. Also autopilot, other companies talk about such technology but Tesla actually did it. You gotta cheer for them. Plus they have ludicrous mode. I want a toaster with ludicrous mode!
I appreciate your fluid feelings about Tesla.
I’d vote for BTSR over Trump any day!
Just don’t forget, them man at the helm of all of this is South African, not American:)
Anyone besides me blown away that 325,000 people put a $1000 dollars down for a Tesla. I’m trying to figure out what makes a Telsa that much more desirable than other EVs. Because sales wise it seems to be flat out smoking everything else. Is it the styling? packaging? Value? I don’t find any of the tech in the battery pack of a Tesla to be anything special or class leading. Just the opposite really. I’m glad to see the interest but frankly I just don’t get it. If they have trouble keeping up with demand once they start spitting these things out the end of an assembly line, good for them. I hope they have that problem.
I agree. I don’t see the appeal of another jelly bean car with an interior designed by IKEA.
.
.
Right now Tesla is THE electric car manufacturer. Other automakers might kick out occasional battery conversions or a purpose-built EV here and there, but Tesla absolutely owns that mindspace. Somewhat analogous to the way that the Prius was (and is to a lesser extent) the first and only hybrid most people were aware of.
@Carlson
As a res holder, II can speak for myself, when looking at other EVs:
• Performance — a big one for me. None of the other EVs come close. They’re not even trying.
• Styling — all of the other EVs look like science experiments, or have really funky styling.
• Range — not as big a factor for me as for some, but Tesla gives at least 200 mi. Everyone else is 100. Or less.
• Software updates/improvements — over the air upgrades. The car continues to improve even after you buy it.
• Direct sales — I think the time has come, and I really resent those dealership protectionist laws. Buying a Tesla is like a big middle finger at those shady laws.
So all of the above. Any questions?
The Model S is Tesla’s ONLY attractive car, the Model 3 looks like a car that a gummy bear would drive.
Yeah I don’t get the love I like the S but this think really doesn’t do it for me. I like the bolt more.
@healthy skeptic – No & thanks for the reply. Even here in Minneapolis/St. Paul MN Tesla made the evening new multiple times due to people lined up outside the dealership waiting to put their money down. Like I said, I’m completely blown away by this demand which i think is great. Good to hear from one of the 325,000 people that put their $1000 down.
Styling, range, and brand cool factor are the three big pieces, IMO. Especially range.
People feel a lot more comfortable with the idea of 200 miles range than 80 miles even if they never drive more than 50 miles except on road trips. And I sort of get it. My wife is on the board of a charity that’s based about 40 miles away, and travels down there for board meetings about once a month. She’d be sweating bullets on the way back from those meetings with an 80-mile car, but a 200-mile car wouldn’t have any trouble.
If I drive my Mazda3 for 10 years and 150K miles, and I burn $4/G gas @ 30mpg (my actual mileage), my total fuel cost will be $20K. + $18K I spent to to buy it = $38K. Tell me, why going into trouble buying 35K electric compact, wait in line and after all not to be able
a – shift your gears
b – rev your engine
c – smell the gas and oil
All above are pretty exciting things to do.
I’m with you here :-)
To counter, the tesla can likely hit 60 faster than your MZ3. Quite a bit faster in fact. The electric motor also lends a luxury car beating silence to the cabin (although this may not be true for the model3 at highway speeds due to wind/road noise).
On the other hand, you did not include the price of electricity. This seems to be a typical error on the part of electric car buyers. Electricity might be cheaper than gas, but it is not free ;-)
Driving in heavy traffic, it’s kind of nice not having to shift gears. With the Model 3, you can kick back and relax and let the car deal with the traffic. EV motor sounds can be pretty cool. That gas turbine whine is kind of nice. As for smells, how about when you’re slogging through traffic on a hot day in your 150k mile car and you coolant. Maybe wondering if it’s the car in front or maybe it’s you and you’re about to make a visit to the side of the road. That’s not so nice.
You’re joking, right? Please tell me you are joking. Putting aside the tax incentives on the electric which make it cheaper, all of the things you are describing are actually flaws resulting from the technological LIMITATIONS of gas engines. They are not the driving experience itself, just unavoidable disadvantages of internal combustion technology, but you have come to associate them in your mind with the pleasure of driving. If for the last 100 years we had been driving silent, odorless and shift free electrics and someone proposed a new kind of car that ran on a highly flammable fuel that was noisy and smelly and required you to shift constantly and every few thousand miles you would have to get rid of several liters of dirty black oil, you would tell them that they were nuts.
Jack Denver: +1
I’ll miss the sound of ICEs with more than four cylinders, but nothing else about them.
If you like, we can pipe in the sound of any motor you want. BMW is already doing this in their gas powered cars.
Might as well play the same noise outside the cars so that pedestrians can hear them coming.
Well then give me “Porsche 917.mp3” then.
When everyone will buy electric car, instead of merely sending CO2 into atmosphere, we will be sending really bad pollutants produced at power plants.
Speaking of traffic, if I have no time to stop for gas and stopped in traffic, I can still run A/C. But if my battery is low, I will have to sweat and in the winter, I will have to freeze my arse.
A lot of people say, “oh, switching gears in traffic” – don’t do it! put it into first and go, or second. Don’t work your clutch, just cruise.
ICE has a lot of disadvantages. Change oil, lots of parts, exhaust, fossil fuel, pneumatics, hydraulics, electrics – too complex. But as whole, it is still the one that gives you most freedom and fun. Besides, that black oil is collected and use to generate heat and lubricants.
And do you know that if masses will move to electric cars (our grid wouldn’t support it anyways), do you know how many people will lose jobs?
Slavuta’s great grandfather in 1916:
And do you know that if masses will move away from horses (our petrol stations wouldn’t support it anyways), do you know how many people will lose jobs?
@slavuta
Pollutants at large centralized power plants are still less than what comes from millions of inefficient little power plants on wheels. To say nothing of ICEs’ indirect emissions. (The gas you buy at the station didn’t get there by magic. It already arrives with a carbon overhead.) EVs aren’t perfect, but they are a net win for the environment. Also, they get greener as the grid gets greener–something that cannot be said for gas cars.
As for jobs, the number of people who would lose their jobs in a mass shift to EVs is likely canceled out by the number of people who would gain new jobs working with EVs. Or their jobs would simply shift focus.
Seems like they could have just crowdfunded the car. I’m sure there are folks who’d pony up $10K or more to be put at the front of the line.
.
.
Additional funding tiers:
Space-Ex: a date with newly single Elon Musk
$100 thousand
Henrik Fisker: custom interior and exterior, using rare gems, metals and hides of endangered species
$100 million
Sultan of Brunei: shooting brakes! and anything else your heart desires
$100 billion
Very interesting! A few Questions…
1) I thought the sedan market was dead.
2) When can I buy it in one ton crew cab config with an 8 foot box?
“When can I buy it in one ton crew cab config with an 8 foot box?”
Elon Musk has said that UE likes to start with the basic physics and solve the problem.
It seems to that this approach is unlikely to result in a full sized pickup used that gets used like a car.
I bet we’ll see a commercial van from Tesla long before we see a suburban cowboy Cadillac. And I bet that commercial van will look cool, too.
I’d like a green pickup truck that can tow as a 20-year utility and RVing vehicle. I just don’t think Tesla’s philosophy and mission is going to allow them to prioritize in that sort of vehicle until Elon Musk retires on Mars.
I’m interested to see what Ford’s doing with the F-150 diesel and hybrid variants that are rumored to be available around 2020. They announces that the hybrid existed, but that it would have no plug. Those are both interesting. But I’ve already allocated those funds for a Model 3, which wins by not have a tailpipe*.
* [Discussion of my local power grid and its emissions profile deleted for brevity. There was a smartass comment about the tailpipe for my Model 3 being located in Indianapolis, but it’s more complicated than that.]
I thought I’d see those pre-orders on Ebay, but not yet. I suspect there maybe some unhappy folks, when cars are late, not the specs they hoped for, cost more than expected etc. This might make lawyers happy tho.
When placing the reservation deposit for the Model 3, the employees and documentation very clearly stipulated that orders are not transferable to anyone other than a spouse, and even then only with prior written consent from Tesla. The person placing the reservation deposit must be the person ultimately purchasing the car.
Tesla gave me three options for my $1,000 deposit:
1. When the time comes, confirm an order for a Model 3 and accept delivery.
2. Prior to confirming an order for a Model 3, cancel the reservation and receive a refund.
3. Apply the deposit towards another Tesla product or CPO vehicle.
I can’t see any way that any of these reservations will end up on eBay or the like. As far as deposits go for vaporware, the people placing them are as close to solid purchase intenders as possible.
I’m thinking this could become the ultimate lesson in “Osborn Effect.”
(1) Pre-announce next generation product well ahead of being able to deliver
(2) Earn less income as sales of existing product slack off
(3) Encounter additional delays due to technical problems (like every other Tesla product delivery; and even if there is no delay, late 2017 is a long way off!)
(4) Competitors ship product
(5) run out of cash
I predict a tertiary stock offering well before the model 3 ships. Fortunately, even if the stock fall by a factor of 10, there is lots of money that can be raised.
It’s not quite the same. The Osborne effect had pre-announced an upcoming model that was to replace the existing model. Customers stopped buying the Osborne I and decided to wait for the Osborne II, and thus starved the company of cash.
The upcoming Tesla Model 3 does not replace the Model S. The two cars address two different markets.
Elon’s “launch” consists of what amounts to a shiny show concept car that will require two to four years of development, reliability and endurance testing and government-mandated safety certifications, let alone massive production tooling, before the first one rolls off the assembly line, if past auto industry experience is a guide. I hope the “early adopters” have patience.
What people don’t realize is that it took Detroit talent and experience to bring the Model “S” to market. Elon extolled the high-tech aspects of the vehicle without giving credit to the old-school auto platform developers. Now, according to reliable reports, a lot of that Detroit talent has since left Tesla.
Mr. Musk could have a real challenge on his hands delivering on the Model “3” before 2020.
It’s never been a secret that much of Tesla’s talent came from other car mfrs – no shame in that.
The biggest challenge they face is ironing out the details of the vehicle itself, and getting the Gigafactory to produce cells (a new 21700 form factor, IIRC).
What won’t be so hard is the basic technology: motor, drivetrain, inverter, touchscreen, charging, steering, suspension, and those fancy door handles. Tesla has already conquered these mountains for the Model S, so on the Model 3 they will just be variations on the theme.
But on second thought, as a product developer I understand the hard road to travel between working prototype and production. Even scaled versions of existing designs don’t always work right.
“The biggest challenge they face is ironing out the details of the vehicle itself, and getting the Gigafactory to produce cells (a new 21700 form factor, IIRC).”
Disagree. The biggest challenge they face is trying to actually get the operations in place to manufacture automobiles in a large scale assembly line. The Model S is still being made the way that exotics are assembled, more or less.
Really? The S and X assembled the way an exotic is assembled? Hmm. Okay, the Aventador is maybe 1,200 a year. Tesla, right now, is producing cars at a rate of 80,000 per year. Model Xs alone have jumped to 750 per week. I spent a lot of time observing and literally crawling around high volume auto plants early in my career (Including Fremont). Also had a parent that was an expert at auto production that communicated a great deal of information to me throughout my childhood.
Looking at a slide show of Tesla production in Fremont, it really looks like any high volume plant I’ve ever seen.
Here is an annoying slide show of the Model S production line. Exactly how is Tesla production similar to an Exotic? There are some photos of what looks like a repair area. We had those too back in conventional plants. Cars were occasionally pulled off the line for repair or quality checks.
http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-tesla-fremont-model-s-production-pictures-photogallery.html
Tres, spoke to this before as have others. They don’t have the systems in place. There was a report that they currently have 4000 employees at the plant in Freemont cranking out 5,500 cars a month. Nummi had around 4,800 employees and turned out 20,000 cars a month it would seem there are some major inefficiencies there. I like Tesla but realistically they do have some very major hurdles ahead.
Heard on an exorbitant-entry-fee golf course four years from now:
“I just got my new Tesla!”
“Really? Which one is it?”
“It’s the Model 3”
“You mean like a Model T or Model A?”
“Oh, no…Model 3”
“You do know that sometime in the 1950s manufacturers started giving actual model names to cars, right?”
“They did?”
“Yeah, and then some years later they had really cool names that really meant something, like TORONADO, RIVIERA and ELDORADO”
That’s why I have eleven GM cars and SUVs, with actual names.
No Tesla needed, ever.
TESLA, the rock band from Sacramento, yes!!
jeff,
Fee free to buy a Model 3, and then go ahead and name it anything you like. Ots of young women do that.
Key thing is, once you settle on a really cool name, pick a font and have somebody fabricate a couple of badges to put on your car.
It’s a shame you’ve been stuck with buying GM cars all these years, when you could have bought better cars with names you thought of yourself!
Eldorado: an imaginary city!
Tesla: a real, visionary inventor!
Edits: Feel. Lots.
Tesla’s range is double that of any other full EV on the market. They’ve also addressed the road trip/range anxiety factor with their ever growing Supercharger and Destination charger network. Tesla’s chargers are both free at point of use, and conveniently located for those on road trips. Even as competitors move to build EV’s that match Tesla’s range, they are doing nothing to address the Supercharger side of the Tesla equation.
If I buy a Bolt, Leaf 2.0, BMW i3, etc. I’m stuck using J1772 or CHAeDeMO chargers that are not as conveniently located, not as fast, and not necessarily free. According to CHAeDeMO’s website, a disturbingly large percentage of their installed base is located at Nissan dealerships.
Road trip charging is an incredibly important part of the EV equation the major OEM’s are all completely ceding to Tesla, because they still, fundamentally, view EV’s as compliance cars.