13 ms·
Tesla's Long-Awaited, Lower-Priced Model 3 to Arrive Friday
- Shivetya 9y agoGrats to them. Really curious what the configuration of the cars to be delivered on the 28th are. Also will be very interesting over the next year with two 200+ "affordable" EVs on the market and another pair to be announced in September if those early adopters on this end of the market will think of their purchases a few months down the road
- Shank 9y agoThe configuration is a really good question. The website doesn't allow any customization right now because it's so early -- so I assume these 30 initial shipments are people who've been in contact with Tesla directly about being the first batch. Elon has said in the past that too much customization really put a damper on Model X, so I wouldn't be surprised if these are all nearly identical except for color. There's also no all wheel drive model yet (https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/845284390397665280 https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/845284390397665280) and therefore no "performance" option either.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- jsight 9y agoYeah, from what I am hearing the initial batches will only have a few options: - Wheels - Paint - "Autopilot"
- bryanlarsen 9y agoAccording to the article wheels and paint are the only options. However auto pilot is probably a software only option at this point in time, not affecting the build complexity, so you might be right about that too.
- mikeash 9y agoI think they said there would be about 70 possible configurations for the Model 3 initially. The Model S/X have something like a million possible configurations. I'd speculate that these first 30 are identical and fully loaded (at least, fully loaded relative to the initial options available), as that's what they've done with previous models. On the other hand, they're really pushing to have their own employees buy the first cars they make, so maybe they'll aim for cheaper options instead.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- jonas21 9y ago> Musk also tweeted that production would increase "exponentially," with 100 cars in August, more than 1,500 in September and 20,000 per month in December. Finally, someone who says things will grow exponentially and actually means it!
- Brakenshire 9y agoI just worry how many cars they'll be producing in 5 years time.
- taneq 9y agoForget global warming, the real danger is the entire Earth being turned into paperclips^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H Model 3s.
- countryqt30 9y agoThis is ACTUALLY NOT exponential. 1st month: factor of 15 (100->1500) 2nd+3rd month: factor of 13.333/2 =6.6 (1500->20000) This is logarithmic, growth is slowing down rapidly.
- Robotbeat 9y ago20,000 cars per month by December is an incredibly ambitious goal. If achieved, they have a very good chance of getting their 500,000 cars in 2018, something that virtually everyone (including myself) thought could not be done. So two things: 1) If you don't have a dog in this race, wait and see if Tesla really does achieve these goals. Outrageous claims require strong evidence. 2) If you're a competitor, now is not the time to fold your arms, look down your nose, and say it can't be done. Tesla has a 50/50 (30% chance? 60% chance?) chance of eating your lunch, so it's a gamble to assume they won't succeed. And if you're a luxury car maker, you don't need me to tell you that as the Model S is already eating your (high profit margin) lunch: "Tesla’s Model S outsells Mercedes S-Class, Porsche Panamera, and BMW 6/7 Series combined in the US" https://electrek.co/2017/05/26/tesls-model-s-leading-us-large-luxury-segment/ https://electrek.co/2017/05/26/tesls-model-s-leading-us-larg... If you're a competitor, you really have only one option: assume Tesla will succeed and so try to compete like hell.
- jacquesm 9y ago> Tesla’s Model S outsells Mercedes S-Class, Porsche Panamera, and BMW 6/7 Series combined in the US Those cars are not even in the same class, of course Tesla would outsell them. Compare sales of the model S in Germany with the C class, BMW 3 (or maybe the 5) and just forget about Porsche. Other cars you could compare it with are larger sedans of the premium variety Japanese manufacturers (Toyota -> Lexus, Nissan -> Infinity). I'm really happy to see Tesla make moves but if you're going to make comparisons it helps if they're apples to apples otherwise you just make Tesla look bad. Downvoters are encouraged to spend some time behind the wheel of an S class (even a 10 year old one will do) and then to go drive a Tesla for a bit.
- Robotbeat 9y agoAnd yet, by all appearances, the Model S /is/ cutting into S-class sales. Whether the experience is exactly the same or not is irrelevant. If you're a luxury car maker, you're already feeling this; it's not a hypothetical.
- 9y ago
- ramshanker 9y agoI just wonder, how much bandwidth these cars send home (Tesla HQ) as learning data.
- ASpring 9y agoAlso curious about this. Tesla has the ability to to hoard millions of hours of driving experience per year. Data seems to trump all in ML applications so far and Tesla definitely has the most available to harvest. At the same time, Tesla is primarily video based and it is likely quite difficult to call home with gigabytes of video every night.
- austenallred 9y agoThat's pretty clearly part of the long term play
- kuschku 9y agoAnd I hope we can end this stuff where companies take training data produced by civilians for free, and then keep it secret. If you use data given to you by your users, you should have to release it into the public domain.
- krick 9y agoIs it possible to disable reporting? If, say, I'm not thrilled by idea telling the guys from Tesla where I'm heading to?
- Roritharr 9y agoI really wonder how the top-speed is on those cars in their various configurations. For me this is the deal breaker on all other "affordable" solutions thus far.
- jjallen 9y agoThe top-speed is really a prime concern for choosing your car? Interesting. Do you live in a no-speed-limit jurisdiction, such as Germany?
- narrowtux 9y agoI do live in Germany, and it is a concern for me. The VW e-up costs 22k EUR and has a top speed of 130 km/h, the BMW i3 full electric version w/o range extender costs about 35k EUR and has a top speed of 150 km/h. This performance would be fine if I bought a car under 10k EUR but not for this price.
- chaostheory 9y agoJust adding more data: The 2017 Volt (Opel Ampera-e) has a top speed of about 160 km/h / 100 mph for 35k EUR, $33k USD Pretty sure the Model 3 can acheive this, if not be faster, since this is just the norm and not 'fast'.
- chaostheory 9y agoForgot to add - I do 80-85 mph 128-136 kmh 5 days a week on my Volt
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- cmrdporcupine 9y agoSame here, I do bursts of 120-130kmh highway driving every day and occasionally go higher. But I usually switch into Hold mode (turns on the combustion engine) so I don't waste too much battery. To be honest, the extra torque of an electric engine makes slow speeds seem faster. When I was in my diesel VW I found myself at 140-150km/h quite often by accident. In the Volt I'm comfortable going slower because it "feels" faster somehow.
- martincmartin 9y agoThe U.S. $7500 tax credit for buying electric cars is cut in half two quarters after a manufacturer hits 200,000 units. Two quarters later it is cut to 25 percent, and at the start of the sixth quarter after the limit is reached, the credit disappears completely. I wonder if enough people know about this to produce pressure to buy Model 3's quickly? https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/how-does-the-electric-car-tax-credit-work https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/how-does-the-electric-ca...
- toomuchtodo 9y agoTesla is planning deliveries to maximize the amount of owners who can receive a credit. Estimated phase out schedule: http://i.imgur.com/D3AoD18.png http://i.imgur.com/D3AoD18.png
- mikeash 9y agoThere's definitely a ton of discussion about the credit in the Tesla fan community, with reservation holders speculating and worrying about whether they'll be able to obtain the full credit. I don't think buying pressure matters too much at this point, though. It'll be a while before they can build enough for buyers to be the limiting factor. The tax credit will probably start phasing out while they're still production-limited.
- jonknee 9y agoIt's arriving Friday and they still haven't released official photos of the interior nor have any options configurations. Really odd way to launch a vehicle. https://www.tesla.com/model3 https://www.tesla.com/model3
- mikeash 9y agoThe very first car comes off the line on Friday. The first deliveries are at the end of the month. First deliveries to the general public (i.e. not employees or specially chosen VIP customers) are still a couple of months out. This is how they did the Model X. They had a reveal event, and at the end of that event they delivered the first six units on stage. Mere mortals didn't start getting theirs until quite a bit later.
- k3oni 9y agoThe first model 3's won't have any extra options, Musk made that clear a while ago by discussing the wrong release of the X with too many options that ended up backing up the deliveries.
- ClassyJacket 9y agoBut they haven't even officially shown off the interior at all. The car hasn't been fully shown, even in its one configuration.
- magnetic 9y agoWhy is that a problem? They've gotten a ton of Model 3 reservations before people even knew what it looked like. These are faith buyers.
- dx034 9y agoBecause Tesla still wants to exist in 10 years. If they disappoint eager buyers now it could be the last Tesla they'll buy. Next time they have to decide, most car companies will have a fully electric range.
- canada_dry 9y agoGiven the recent stories behind the scenes of Musk's companies... I can't help but imagine that there are hundreds of almost broken, spent, and exhausted young people (many of them very low paid "interns") who have been working for peanuts making this happen.
- yalogin 9y agoEven if they hit their production targets, everything hinges on how well and how soon they can get their autnomous feature to work. If Google gets theirs to work and into a production car before Tesla does it will be tough for Tesla. Until then the stock will have good momentum.
- lquist 9y agoWhy will it be tough for them? They will be able to figure it out 6 months later. Google can't make that much money in the short term in the grand scheme of this potential market.
- davedx 9y agoI don't agree with this analysis. The Model 3 is a superior mass market electric car to almost all competitors (only the Chevy Bolt is comparable on cost and range). Autonomous driving will be a game changer, but it's also vitally important for Tesla to capture the electric vehicle mass market.
- BoorishBears 9y agoThe Volt is a more practical competitor to the Model 3, which is part of why I dropped my model 3 reservation for a 2017. Other reasons include a lackluster test drive of a Model S and my increasing skepticism of Tesla's practices as a company (aggressively selling cars before adding new features at a completely random cadence but claiming model years are unnecessary, promises like AP2 parity, QC failures at 20k cars over several months while also planning to make 20k cars a month, etc.) But I digress, 40-50 mile range on EV only mode means most people can complete their commutes on EV only with a Volt. I charge at work and at home, so I can get 50 miles to work, 50 miles by lunch, and another 50 miles to go home. A Volt specced out like mine has a Mobileye sensor for lane keeping assist, ACC, an interior not as needlessly spartan as the 3, 0-30 times slightly faster than last year's Model S 85, and a hatchback. After driving the Volt I'm really saddened that GM won't push the Volt more. Not a single Model 3 reservation I know wouldn't be better served by a Volt, but most of them had no idea about stuff like the improved 50 mile range. Some even write it off as a hybrid (which it technically is, but they think 1-2 mile range, not 50)