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Luxury is the wrong word for the segment Tesla is competing in. “Premium” is closer, but still wrong. “High end” feels a lot closer. A kitchen aid mixer isn’t
by erikpukinskis 9y ago
Luxury is the wrong word for the segment Tesla is competing in. “Premium” is closer, but still wrong.
“High end” feels a lot closer. A kitchen aid mixer isn’t a luxury item, but it has a good profit margin and people who love mixers will buy it.
Tesla is more like that... there’s no hand stitched Italian leather or whatever, but the software is top of the line, the drivetrain is top of the line, it has unique features that make it a better car, without competing on who can make the prettiest mahogony inlay.
Like, not having to stand at a smelly gas station in your heels and pump your gas is a luxury. But Tesla doesn’t sell you a wall charger with gold accents.
- Fins 9y agoBut then it's not even that they are competing in that segment, they are that segment. Outside of people with sufficient disposable income who hate fossil fuels so much they are willing to wait for a full charge (and I've seen some of their supercharger centers; might be better than your average gas station ion a middle of nowhere, but not really a place where I'd want to spend well over an hour for a full charge, when I can be in and out of a gas pump in 5 minutes). It's a legitimate niche, but not necessarily a very large one. Also, I am not sure if they really make a better car. Unique, for sure. Myself, if it doesn't have AWD, I don't buy it...
- erikpukinskis 9y agoI think all of Tesla's lines have AWD?
- Fins 9y agoThey do, eventually, but as many things with Tesla it is sometimes hard to tell what is actually available (as in you can go and buy it) and what is to be available "real soon now" for several years. It is not cheap, either.
- greglindahl 9y ago2 of 3 shipping cars -- while dual-motor Model 3's have been spotted in the wild, you can't order one yet.
- Fins 9y agoDidn't AWD on Model S become widely available only relatively recently? I seem to remember it being an option last time I looked at it.
- greglindahl 9y agoOctober 2014 is when it became available, not sure what you mean by 'widely available' and 'an option'. From launch it was available at both smaller and larger battery sizes, now they've started offering it as the only choice for some battery sizes.
- Fins 9y agoWell, an option, as an option on Model 3, yeah. Can't quite buy it. In any case, yes, it seems that it is more available now than I thought. Now if it only felt as a 70K+ car...