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Tesla's Promised $35,000 Model 3 Is Still a Long Way Off (engadget.com)
When the Model 3 was first unveiled, it was pitched as an EV for the masses that would have a reasonable $35,000 price. Two years later and we still don't have a clear timeline as to when the $35,000 Model 3 will ship. In fact, Elon Musk last weekend unveiled the pricing and specs of a newer, more expensive Model 3 with AWD. It will cost $78,000. Engadget reports: CEO Elon Musk recently tweeted that the $35,000 Model 3 now won't ship until three to six months after Tesla achieves its 5,000 vehicle-per-week production goal. The reason for the new delay in the base model is simple: If the company was to ship it now, it would lose money on every vehicle and "die," as Musk put it. If Tesla had hit its initial forecasts and was producing 5,000 vehicles a week by January, the base, $35,000 Model 3 probably wouldn't have been delayed by so much. One potential problem for Tesla, as the WSJ points out, is that many of the 500,000 buyers who laid down a $1,000 deposit did so expecting to buy a $35,000 car, not a $49,000 one. When they get a letter saying the time has come to configure their EVs, quite a few might decide to back out, which could impact Tesla's already precarious cash flow situation.
It's almost like you want to sell the higher margin ones first, in order to help pay for the amazing capital expenditure it takes to build a car assembly line.
Who is shocked by this? Nobody should be, as this is how it has always worked.
Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
Ioniq's EPA range is 124 miles. You're asking them to nearly double the Ioniq's range for pocket change.
Ioniq is also produced in very small volumes which Hyundai refuses to increase significantly - a good sign that the vehicle is a "compliance car".
Ioniq is also smaller, and much slower than Model 3.
Let's all say it together: stop confusing drivecycles. The Leaf's EPA range is 151 miles. The Zoe has no EPA rating, but given that it's WLTP range is only 5% more than the Leaf, expect around 159 miles. They're both slower vehicles (the Zoe *much* slower, even less HP than the Ioniq), but most importantly, they're both terrible at charging (the Ioniq is worse than the Model 3, but nothing compared to these two). Zoe only does "high power" AC charging, which is less common than DC charging, and only up to 43kW, vehicle-limited (Model 3 = up to 117kW from current superchargers, charger-limited - and a new gen of supercharger is coming out late this summer). Leaf is even worse: Nominally it can take up to 50kW, and in practice, at first, lower 40s. But the latest Leaf has been plagued with a problem called #RapidGate (google it). Basically, their lack of pack cooling finally caught up with them; you barely make it any distance on a trip before it throttles you back to half speed. And speaking of the lack of pack cooling, it means that Leafs suffer degradation faster than other EVs. And is it worth mentioning that the Zoe's interior quality is among the worst in modern EVs (arguably only beaten by the e-NV200) and has the least amount of cargo space?
There's a reason that half a million people flocked to the Model 3 and not the "competition", and yes, that's in quotes for a reason.
Give a boy a gun and you arm him for a day. Teach him how to make a gun, and the whole metaphor breaks down.
The schedule was front and centre. Production of LRs was to begin first and follow an S curve starting at in July, peaking in December. Anyone logged into their account could see their particular estimated window for the LR version, which for early US reservation holders was somewhere along this curve. They could also see that if they chose the SR pack, it wouldn't be available until after LR production had peaked, in Q1.
Literally nothing has changed except for how long the LR rampup took. Maybe a slight stretch between LR peak and SR delivery, depending on how you interpret the delivery windows, but nothing meaningful. Yet once or twice a month we're treated to concern trolling about it, from people who have no interest in the Model 3 themselves. Just like we've been enduring this relentless concern trolling about the rampup. But now that the rampup has nearly completed, I guess we have to switch the concern trolling to something else. Tell me, after the SR is delivered, what's going to be the next topic to incessantly concern troll? Air suspension? The tow hitch? The Model Y?
Give a boy a gun and you arm him for a day. Teach him how to make a gun, and the whole metaphor breaks down.
Alternative explanation: it's actually very small.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
that maybe so, that won't make the average punter who forked out the $1000 to support Tesla and reserve their $35k any happier that they are being given the arse end of the deal.
If anyone plunked down a deposit expecting to not have to wait a long time then they are idiots. 1) Tesla ALWAYS over promises delivery dates and routinely misses them. This is nothing new. 2) Tesla has ZERO experience with production at this volume. There is a learning curve. 3) If you buy the "cheap" model then you aren't their best customer and you should expect to go to the back of the line. Every business serves their best customers first. 4) A car received later is better than a car not received at all. 5) Tesla was up front that the pimped out models would be delivered first. Almost everyone has had to wait a little longer than hoped for.
It's just frustrating. I don't want to go back to fossil, but I need more range. The Leaf 40 is a disaster, and who knows if the 60 will be any better.
So buy a Chevy Bolt or a Volt. Both have much better range than the Leaf and are decent cars in their own right. The Leaf is a car that is useful for short commutes and that's it. If you need more then buy something else.
There's the powerful counterpoint of course that those vehicles actually exist, the $35k Tesla 3 does not in production quantities and is sliding further into the future with every announcement.
The Ioniq EV sold 6797 units last year globally. Tesla delivered more Model 3s than that last QUARTER and is accelerating production. In fact Tesla delivered more Model 3s than the Chevy Bolt and Nissan Lead COMBINED in Jan and Feb this year. Right now Tesla is delivering around 2800 Model 3s per week.
By the time I can walk into a Tesla dealer (especially in the UK as the RHD will be even further behind) and buy a standard Tesla 3, there will be probably another 2 major updates to that Ioniq. And maybe Ford etc will have their hands properly in play.
That's a nice little fantasy story you are telling yourself. You do know Ford is literally stopping production of almost all non-truck vehicles right? And you think the Ioniq is going to magically be redesigned massively to compete on range with the Tesla?