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Tesla Launches Base Model 3 For $35,000 With Shorter Range, New Interior (electrek.co)

Posted by BeauHD on from the better-late-than-never dept.

In a call with reporters Thursday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the company is finally launching the long-promised standard Model 3 with a base price of $35,000. "The automaker is now making several new versions of the Model 3 available with a shorter range and new interior options," reports Electrek. From the report: Today, Tesla sent an email to its retail stores the details of the announcement of the new options being available to order in the U.S. today and available as soon as next month. All the details are expected to become available in the next hour, but here's what we know so far: Customers are now able to order the $35,000 Model 3 with a standard interior and standard battery pack enabling 130mph top speed and 5.6s 0-60s acceleration. Tesla is also making a new "Partial Premium Interior" with better seats than the standard interior available with a different "standard range plus" battery pack for a $2,000 premium. The Model 3 Standard Range Plus results in 240 miles of range, a top speed of 140mph, 0-60mph acceleration of just 5.3 seconds. Tesla says that deliveries are starting within the next 2 to 4 weeks depending on the configuration in the U.S. In Europe, Musk said it will be available to order within the "next 3 to 6 months." Slashdot reader Rei provides additional details: The new unveiling introduced a whole slew of variants, including (price, range, top speed, 0-60, premium):

SR: $35K, 220 miles, 130mph, 5.6 seconds, non-PUP
SR+: $37K, 240 miles, 140mph, 5.3 seconds, partial-PUP
MR: $40K, 264 miles, 140mph, 5.2 seconds, PUP
LR: $43K, 325 miles, 140mph, 5.0 seconds, PUP
AWD: $47K, 310 miles, 145mph, 4.5 seconds, PUP
P: $48K, 310 miles, 162mph, 3.2 seconds, PUP

Pricing, ranges, and features have by and large significantly surpassed initial promises. For example, the Long Range (LR) variant was supposed to be a $9K premium over SR, with the Premium Upgrades Package another $5k, but now PUP is included in LR and the price difference is only $8K. Range and performance specs have been upgraded not just on new vehicles, but will also be upgraded on existing vehicles, where applicable, via software update. The price for Autopilot has dropped from $5K to $3K, and some features once planned to be premium-only -- including the glass roof and auto dimming, power folding, heated side mirrors -- are now standard. The Model S and X product line has also been modified, with higher performance at the top end and lower prices at the bottom.

To achieve cost savings, in addition to production optimizations and the recent layoffs, Tesla announced an unexpected strategy: they're closing most of their stores. Sales will only be conducted online. Instead of test drives, cars can be returned within 7 days or 1,000 miles at no charge. "Quite literally, you could buy a Tesla, drive several hundred miles for a weekend road trip with friends and then return it for free," Tesla said in their blog post.

5 of 265 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Closing their stores? by omnichad · · Score: 5, Insightful

    cars are something people want a shopping experience with

    No. That is literally the worst part of car ownership.

  2. You get a 7-day, 1,000-mile evaluation instead! by Morgaine · · Score: 5, Insightful

    A car is something that most consumers want to sit in and explore in the showroom.

    Apparently Tesla is giving potential customers 7 days of full possession and 1,000 miles of test drive instead, if I understood it correctly.

    That seems enormously superior to sniffing around in a showroom for an hour, to me at least.

    --
    "The question of whether machines can think is no more interesting than [] whether submarines can swim" - Dijkstra
    1. Re:You get a 7-day, 1,000-mile evaluation instead! by Miamicanes · · Score: 5, Insightful

      If Tesla were smart, they'd cut a deal with someone like Hertz or Avis, so that if you wanted to test-drive a Tesla, you could go rent one for a week (at some non-free price that would be considered a fair price if you were just renting it to drive for a week while traveling), then apply the price of up to 4 rental weeks from the past year to the purchase price of a Tesla if you decided to buy one.

      IMHO, that would kill two birds with one stone... it would avoid the problems of dealing with returned cars from people who changed their minds (since the same cars would be rented over and over), while simultaneously drawing in potential buyers who might decide to rent a Tesla for a week while on vacation & decide that they absolutely LOVED it. It also minimizes the impact of regional availability... a family from a small town in North Dakota or Montana could rent a Tesla while vacationing in Orlando, Miami, or Las Vegas for a week just as easily as a family from Seattle or Atlanta. It also minimizes the risk to the people trying one out... if even a "normal" rental car in Miami is going to cost $200 for the week, and you can get a Tesla for $50-100 more, lots of people who might not have gone out of their way just to rent a Tesla in their hometown might say "fuck it, I'm on vacation, gimme the Tesla!"

      Honestly, I think their BIGGEST problem would be supplying with the rental car company with enough cars to satisfy the demand. They probably WOULD have to start off for the first year or two by limiting it to just a couple of very popular vacation markets... say...

      year 1: Orlando and Las Vegas

      year 2: Miami, Washington DC, Los Angeles, Chicago

      year 3: every remaining international airport in Florida, plus every city that currently HAS a Tesla showroom. I'd expect that over time, places like South Florida would probably have Tesla-equipped Avis/Hertz locations at BOTH the airport AND some off-airport suburban locations that seriously blurred the line between "rental car office" and "de-facto Tesla showroom".

      Their biggest problem would be convincing Hertz or Avis to keep the cars in circulation for 2-3 years instead of replacing them all annually (since otherwise, Tesla would be struggling just to keep the rental car company fully supplied, let alone anyone else).

    2. Re:You get a 7-day, 1,000-mile evaluation instead! by R3d+M3rcury · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Except that you actually have to pay for it.

      I mean, before I plunk down $35,000 for a car, I’d like to try it out first. Maybe take it for a test drive or something. And I don’t even want to think of the issues of financing that purchase and then deciding I don’t want the car...

  3. Re:Closing their stores? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The trouble is that when you actually want to buy the car, you're at some point going to get shuffled into a room with the slimy 'finance' guy who'll waste an hour of your time trying to swindle and guilt you into paying for crap you don't want (and in most cases, you'll deal with other annoying "oh, you can't get that price.. Oh, ok.. let me go check with my manager" [wait 20 mins] on repeat before you get there). The dealerships I bought from are dead to me. In their world, this stuff still happens. I moved on a long time ago and I see exactly what they are.