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https://www.engadget.com/2008-06-30-tesla-motors-elon-musk-promises-sub-30k-all-electric-car-in-le.html https://www.engadget.com/2008-06-30-tesla-motors-elon-mu

https://www.engadget.com/2008-06-30-tesla-motors-elon-musk-promises-sub-30k-all-electric-car-in-le.html https://www.engadget.com/2008-06-30-tesla-motors-elon-musk-p... This goalpost hasn't moved for 14-yrs.

alsodumb 4y ago
I mean it's well known that Tesla has a insane profit margin (in the car manufacturing market) when compared to other players. The could sell a car around 30,000$ (adjusted for inflation) if they want to - they in fact came pretty close to that a while ago. The question is, why would they? Why would they reduce their price if they can actively sell all the cars the manufacture? They in fact had months of wait time until recently. Why would they sell a cheaper car when there is no serious competition cutting their market share? It's no different than apple not reducing the cost of their iphone - they have no incentive to do so as long as they are making money and have no serious competition under-cutting them. Tesla's pitch is partly 'electric car good for climate' yes, but at the end of the day they are a for-profit company and their main objective would be to maximize profit.
- solarkraft 4y ago
  > at the end of the day they are a for-profit company and their main objective would be to maximize profit. The Tesla master plan was from the beginning to reinvest these profits into manufacturing a cheaper car. They did this with the Model 3, but now it kind of looks like they've given up.
wlesieutre 4y ago
If you take $30,000 in May 2008 and adjust for inflation [1] to February 2019, the equivalent price would be $35,005. In February 2019, Tesla announced [2] a Model 3 for $35,000. So if you're looking at the numbers by relative buying power, they weren't doing too bad up until car prices went insane the last two years. [1] https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm [2] https://www.tesla.com/blog/35000-tesla-model-3-available-now https://www.tesla.com/blog/35000-tesla-model-3-available-now
- HWR_14 4y ago
  I thought they sold a very small number at 35k, and certainly the implication is that price point (at least adjusted for inflation) would be maintained. What's the cheapest Tesla you can buy now.

alsodumb 4y ago

I mean it's well known that Tesla has a insane profit margin (in the car manufacturing market) when compared to other players. The could sell a car around 30,000$ (adjusted for inflation) if they want to - they in fact came pretty close to that a while ago. The question is, why would they? Why would they reduce their price if they can actively sell all the cars the manufacture? They in fact had months of wait time until recently. Why would they sell a cheaper car when there is no serious competition cutting their market share? It's no different than apple not reducing the cost of their iphone - they have no incentive to do so as long as they are making money and have no serious competition under-cutting them. Tesla's pitch is partly 'electric car good for climate' yes, but at the end of the day they are a for-profit company and their main objective would be to maximize profit.

solarkraft 4y ago
> at the end of the day they are a for-profit company and their main objective would be to maximize profit. The Tesla master plan was from the beginning to reinvest these profits into manufacturing a cheaper car. They did this with the Model 3, but now it kind of looks like they've given up.

wlesieutre 4y ago

If you take $30,000 in May 2008 and adjust for inflation [1] to February 2019, the equivalent price would be $35,005. In February 2019, Tesla announced [2] a Model 3 for $35,000. So if you're looking at the numbers by relative buying power, they weren't doing too bad up until car prices went insane the last two years. [1] https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm [2] https://www.tesla.com/blog/35000-tesla-model-3-available-now https://www.tesla.com/blog/35000-tesla-model-3-available-now

HWR_14 4y ago
I thought they sold a very small number at 35k, and certainly the implication is that price point (at least adjusted for inflation) would be maintained. What's the cheapest Tesla you can buy now.