4 ms·

If you're one of the people who put down the $1K refundable deposit, how do you feel about this page? I understand they're trying to push Model S sales, but don

If you're one of the people who put down the $1K refundable deposit, how do you feel about this page? I understand they're trying to push Model S sales, but don't do it at the expense of customers willing to wait years and put a hefty deposit down. This strikes me as a rare misplay by Tesla. The Model 3 comes with a glass roof standard so it's conveniently left out of the premium options section -- that's pretty misleading. By the tone of the spec table, you'd think a well-equipped Corolla will be competitive with the Model 3.

hangonhn 9y ago
I'm one of those people. I think the deposit was put down in a moment of excitement, which has since died down quite a bit. Not only am I one of those people who gave them a deposit, I'm also likely one of those people who they meant to target: I drive a BMW 3-series, which would be the Model 3's main competitor. Now given all that, this display made me really not excited about the Model 3. Electric car is nice but that's the only thing the Model 3 has going for it when compared to the 3 series. I don't see them emphasizing self driving and the acceleration is kind of just par for course, which shouldn't be the case for an electric car. Given Tesla's reputation for a Spartan interior, what am I getting out of it other than it being electric? The way I see it, I'm better off waiting a few more years to see if things improve. My current 328i has given me 5 years of good driving and no headache at all. Better integrating with smartphones would be great but the latest 3-series offers that as an option already. So I have to wonder, why a Model 3 over a 3-series?
- crush-n-spread 9y ago
  Personally I could never drive a ICE car when an equivalent electric vehicle presented itself. I would never forgive myself. Everyone needs to get to electric cars as soon as possible or we cook and die here on Earth. It makes the arguments about the interior seem really tone deaf. Again, personally. EDIT: Autopilot and constant software updates are huge.
  - hangonhn 9y ago
    I think your response is a bit narrow and takes my response out of context. It also ignores a number of other issues to make electric cars look better than they really are. 1. Electric cars use a lot of copper and lithium. Mining of both are horribly polluting. The worst EPA superfund site is a former copper mine. Lithium mining is also pretty bad. However they are at least localized. Electric cars still need power, most of which still comes from carbon emitting sources. Until the world switches to renewables, electric cars still generate carbon indirectly. California and other areas are much better about this but Tesla Model 3 customers don't all live in CA. 2. I was trying to answer the initial question from the perspective of a potential customer of the Model 3. If someone is as passionate about the carbon emitting issue as you, they can already do that with Nissan Leaf, BMW i3, or Chevy Volt. They don't need to wait nor pay more for the the Tesla Model 3. So within that context, the other things that make BM3 3-series what it is matters. These things include the interior, etc. 3. BMW already do updates over the air but not nearly at the rate that Tesla does. Tesla really has embraced software whereas other carmakers treat it as an overhead. I really hate how Autopilot is presented. It's not really self-driving because they keep telling you to be involved in the driving process. Until they can confidently say it's completely autonomous, it's more of a novelty than an useful feature. Edited: Kudos for being so passionate about the issue. It does matter to me and which is why I still haven't completely dismissed the Model 3 as a choice.
    - sxates 9y ago
      To be fair on #1, even considering the entire supply chain and lifecycle of an EV vs ICE, the EV comes out WAY ahead of the ICE in terms of carbon impact. Even better if you have solar panels on your roof, or live in a place like California that has a significant amount of renewables in the main grid.
    - icantdrive55 9y ago
      "If someone is as passionate about the carbon emitting issue as you, they can already do that with Nissan Leaf, BMW i3, or Chevy Volt. They don't need to wait nor pay more for the the Tesla Model 3" 1. I don't get it either. Then again--I don't think like a wealthy person. I am drooling for my first electric vechicle, but not willing to spend a lot of money. Plus, as a former mechanic, I want to be able to do all the repairs, including modifying/flashing new software. That might never happen, so I might need to build my own electric vechicle? 2. I do think they are the future though. Form a practical point, they have less things to go wrong. It will be so nice not to have to worry about a transmission that goes at 140k, and not having to worry about smog tests, and all the crap that fossil fuel cars bring. 3. We need to modernize the electrical grid. Since the vechicles are pulling electricity at night, it won't be an immediate problem, but we will eventually need more Power, and better state by state management of the grid. 4. I really think Tesla is making a mistake by not open sourcing certain parts of their software.(just the basic operating system, not the AI portion.) A few years ago, I wanted to buy a wrecked Tesla, and soon found it's practically impossible. Yes--guys wreck them, but you just can't repair them, and get a Salvage title. I buy old vechicles and repair them. I can't do that with a Tesla. I know the founder of Tesla knows the old marketing adage, "If you win over a man, you have him for life." If I had ten minutes with "forget his name--Musk", I would beg him to let the little guys get their hands on wrecked Teslas. Once you win over the Shade Tree mechanics, you might have a product for life. Right now, I just appreciate the Technolgy that's hidden in Teslas. Aesthetically, they look like every other vechicle in my community. Just boring. 4. I do see forsee a big vechicle manufacturer building an affordable, good looking electric vechicle, and blowing away Tesla. Something along the lines of the the old Ford Mustangs.
- jedberg 9y ago
  > I drive a BMW 3-series, which would be the Model 3's main competitor. See my other comments about how at the Tesla store they describe the Model 3 as a competitor to the Civic and Corolla, not the BMW and Lexus.
  - hangonhn 9y ago
    Oh wow. Do they really think they can succeed with that? A Civic is a LOT cheaper than a Model 3. If Tesla can drive Model 3's price to be competitive with the Civic, then they really, really deserve a lot of accolade. A world with electric Civics would be a huge step forward for the world.
    - jedberg 9y ago
      I think they are hoping to capitalize on the folks that want electric to save the planet or find the autopilot software worth paying extra for.
      - vkou 9y ago
        Civics have autopilot, too.
        sliken 9y ago
        Yes, but how many lives has it saves per million miles driven?
- smw 9y ago
  I honestly care less about the all-electric than the autopilot features. Don't really want to spend 100k on a car, but want it to drive for me.
  - sliken 9y ago
    Just because you like driving doesn't mean it won't see something before you do. 12 or so cameras, ultrasound, and radar might well draw attention to something before you'd notice it otherwise. Even 0.5 seconds warning might well significantly decrease the severity of a crash or even avoid it. The move obvious example is when a car two cars in front of a tesla had an accident and the telsa warned about it before most people would have noticed.
- sliken 9y ago
  A decent chance of decreasing the severity of a collision or even avoiding it.
jedberg 9y ago
> you'd think a well-equipped Corolla will be competitive with the Model 3. When I was at the Tesla store, this is what they said. Their exact words were, "Think of it as an electric Honda Civic".
michaldudek 9y ago
I have put down the deposit and don't really care until final unveiling. I understand their goals in upselling Model 3 reservation holders. I don't really mind that the $1000 is holding my position in line at Tesla. Otherwise it would sit useless in my bank account. It is a bit depressing how they downsell the Model 3, but I'm hoping it's just their weird strategy. If some people pull their deposits then even better, I can get my car sooner :P But I definitely won't be buying before test driving it.
elihu 9y ago
Meh. I put down a deposit because I wanted to keep my options open and if I didn't I probably wouldn't be able to get one before Tesla runs out of tax credits. When it comes out, we'll see what the actual specs are. My main concerns about the Model 3 are that 1) I don't like the privacy and security implications of an always-on Internet connection, 2) it is yet to be seen how open Tesla is about service/maintenance documentation for the Model 3, and 3) I have some doubts about whether I'll like looking over to the right to see the instruments. Tesla's model 3 versus model S page doesn't give me any insight into any of those concerns.
kneel 9y ago
I waited in line to reserve a model 3. Pretty disappointed by the news lately. It's pretty much a given that the first release will have some problems but add onto that the complete bareness of the model 3 base model and I'm scratching my head whether this is worth it. If it's going to be close to 50k for a model 3 with autopilot I'm probably going to cancel. EVs are nice but I don't have loads of cash to throw at them.
Matheus28 9y ago
Glass roof is standard on Model S too now...
tomwilson 9y ago
I lined up pre-reveal to put my preorder in but I've already basically decided it's not for me. Looks kind of bland and the interior appears like it might be ridiculously spartan and the 4wd and performance versions are quite a way off, and their build quality will probably leave a lot to be desired for a while.

hangonhn 9y ago

I'm one of those people. I think the deposit was put down in a moment of excitement, which has since died down quite a bit. Not only am I one of those people who gave them a deposit, I'm also likely one of those people who they meant to target: I drive a BMW 3-series, which would be the Model 3's main competitor. Now given all that, this display made me really not excited about the Model 3. Electric car is nice but that's the only thing the Model 3 has going for it when compared to the 3 series. I don't see them emphasizing self driving and the acceleration is kind of just par for course, which shouldn't be the case for an electric car. Given Tesla's reputation for a Spartan interior, what am I getting out of it other than it being electric? The way I see it, I'm better off waiting a few more years to see if things improve. My current 328i has given me 5 years of good driving and no headache at all. Better integrating with smartphones would be great but the latest 3-series offers that as an option already. So I have to wonder, why a Model 3 over a 3-series?

crush-n-spread 9y ago
Personally I could never drive a ICE car when an equivalent electric vehicle presented itself. I would never forgive myself. Everyone needs to get to electric cars as soon as possible or we cook and die here on Earth. It makes the arguments about the interior seem really tone deaf. Again, personally. EDIT: Autopilot and constant software updates are huge.
- hangonhn 9y ago
  I think your response is a bit narrow and takes my response out of context. It also ignores a number of other issues to make electric cars look better than they really are. 1. Electric cars use a lot of copper and lithium. Mining of both are horribly polluting. The worst EPA superfund site is a former copper mine. Lithium mining is also pretty bad. However they are at least localized. Electric cars still need power, most of which still comes from carbon emitting sources. Until the world switches to renewables, electric cars still generate carbon indirectly. California and other areas are much better about this but Tesla Model 3 customers don't all live in CA. 2. I was trying to answer the initial question from the perspective of a potential customer of the Model 3. If someone is as passionate about the carbon emitting issue as you, they can already do that with Nissan Leaf, BMW i3, or Chevy Volt. They don't need to wait nor pay more for the the Tesla Model 3. So within that context, the other things that make BM3 3-series what it is matters. These things include the interior, etc. 3. BMW already do updates over the air but not nearly at the rate that Tesla does. Tesla really has embraced software whereas other carmakers treat it as an overhead. I really hate how Autopilot is presented. It's not really self-driving because they keep telling you to be involved in the driving process. Until they can confidently say it's completely autonomous, it's more of a novelty than an useful feature. Edited: Kudos for being so passionate about the issue. It does matter to me and which is why I still haven't completely dismissed the Model 3 as a choice.
  - sxates 9y ago
    To be fair on #1, even considering the entire supply chain and lifecycle of an EV vs ICE, the EV comes out WAY ahead of the ICE in terms of carbon impact. Even better if you have solar panels on your roof, or live in a place like California that has a significant amount of renewables in the main grid.
  - icantdrive55 9y ago
    "If someone is as passionate about the carbon emitting issue as you, they can already do that with Nissan Leaf, BMW i3, or Chevy Volt. They don't need to wait nor pay more for the the Tesla Model 3" 1. I don't get it either. Then again--I don't think like a wealthy person. I am drooling for my first electric vechicle, but not willing to spend a lot of money. Plus, as a former mechanic, I want to be able to do all the repairs, including modifying/flashing new software. That might never happen, so I might need to build my own electric vechicle? 2. I do think they are the future though. Form a practical point, they have less things to go wrong. It will be so nice not to have to worry about a transmission that goes at 140k, and not having to worry about smog tests, and all the crap that fossil fuel cars bring. 3. We need to modernize the electrical grid. Since the vechicles are pulling electricity at night, it won't be an immediate problem, but we will eventually need more Power, and better state by state management of the grid. 4. I really think Tesla is making a mistake by not open sourcing certain parts of their software.(just the basic operating system, not the AI portion.) A few years ago, I wanted to buy a wrecked Tesla, and soon found it's practically impossible. Yes--guys wreck them, but you just can't repair them, and get a Salvage title. I buy old vechicles and repair them. I can't do that with a Tesla. I know the founder of Tesla knows the old marketing adage, "If you win over a man, you have him for life." If I had ten minutes with "forget his name--Musk", I would beg him to let the little guys get their hands on wrecked Teslas. Once you win over the Shade Tree mechanics, you might have a product for life. Right now, I just appreciate the Technolgy that's hidden in Teslas. Aesthetically, they look like every other vechicle in my community. Just boring. 4. I do see forsee a big vechicle manufacturer building an affordable, good looking electric vechicle, and blowing away Tesla. Something along the lines of the the old Ford Mustangs.
jedberg 9y ago
> I drive a BMW 3-series, which would be the Model 3's main competitor. See my other comments about how at the Tesla store they describe the Model 3 as a competitor to the Civic and Corolla, not the BMW and Lexus.
- hangonhn 9y ago
  Oh wow. Do they really think they can succeed with that? A Civic is a LOT cheaper than a Model 3. If Tesla can drive Model 3's price to be competitive with the Civic, then they really, really deserve a lot of accolade. A world with electric Civics would be a huge step forward for the world.
  - jedberg 9y ago
    I think they are hoping to capitalize on the folks that want electric to save the planet or find the autopilot software worth paying extra for.
    - vkou 9y ago
      Civics have autopilot, too.
      - sliken 9y ago
        Yes, but how many lives has it saves per million miles driven?
smw 9y ago
I honestly care less about the all-electric than the autopilot features. Don't really want to spend 100k on a car, but want it to drive for me.
- sliken 9y ago
  Just because you like driving doesn't mean it won't see something before you do. 12 or so cameras, ultrasound, and radar might well draw attention to something before you'd notice it otherwise. Even 0.5 seconds warning might well significantly decrease the severity of a crash or even avoid it. The move obvious example is when a car two cars in front of a tesla had an accident and the telsa warned about it before most people would have noticed.
sliken 9y ago
A decent chance of decreasing the severity of a collision or even avoiding it.

jedberg 9y ago

> you'd think a well-equipped Corolla will be competitive with the Model 3. When I was at the Tesla store, this is what they said. Their exact words were, "Think of it as an electric Honda Civic".

michaldudek 9y ago

I have put down the deposit and don't really care until final unveiling. I understand their goals in upselling Model 3 reservation holders. I don't really mind that the $1000 is holding my position in line at Tesla. Otherwise it would sit useless in my bank account. It is a bit depressing how they downsell the Model 3, but I'm hoping it's just their weird strategy. If some people pull their deposits then even better, I can get my car sooner :P But I definitely won't be buying before test driving it.

elihu 9y ago

Meh. I put down a deposit because I wanted to keep my options open and if I didn't I probably wouldn't be able to get one before Tesla runs out of tax credits. When it comes out, we'll see what the actual specs are. My main concerns about the Model 3 are that 1) I don't like the privacy and security implications of an always-on Internet connection, 2) it is yet to be seen how open Tesla is about service/maintenance documentation for the Model 3, and 3) I have some doubts about whether I'll like looking over to the right to see the instruments. Tesla's model 3 versus model S page doesn't give me any insight into any of those concerns.

kneel 9y ago

I waited in line to reserve a model 3. Pretty disappointed by the news lately. It's pretty much a given that the first release will have some problems but add onto that the complete bareness of the model 3 base model and I'm scratching my head whether this is worth it. If it's going to be close to 50k for a model 3 with autopilot I'm probably going to cancel. EVs are nice but I don't have loads of cash to throw at them.

Matheus28 9y ago

Glass roof is standard on Model S too now...

tomwilson 9y ago

I lined up pre-reveal to put my preorder in but I've already basically decided it's not for me. Looks kind of bland and the interior appears like it might be ridiculously spartan and the 4wd and performance versions are quite a way off, and their build quality will probably leave a lot to be desired for a while.