Tesla Model 3 event

[directhex]

Friday night was the big launch party for the Tesla Model 3, with the first 50 production models shipped to new owners.

We finally got details on prices etc.

Base spec: $35,000

Premium package: $5,000

Extended range battery (220 -> 310 miles): $9,000

Paint options: $1,000

Autopilot: $5,000

Self-driving (requires autopilot): $3,000

The first production run is $49,000 - mandatory premium package and extended battery. Later in 2018 they'll start shipping the base spec.

All the above are RWD only. 4WD is coming after the base model starts shipping.

You can also log into your teslamotors.com account to see where you are in the queue (depending on model preference):



More info on http://www.teslarati.com/tesla-model...10-mi-premium/

[TeePee]

Interesting... In two days time Tesla will release their earnings report. No surprises there either.

[Gerrard]

Assuming a $1-£1 rate, it actually seems to be pretty good value. There is still the issue of how long batteries last and what happens with them in 8-10 years, but otherwise it looks good. I would be interested in seeing what the AWD brings in terms of acceleration; probably around the 4.2s of the S.

The big downside to this, more Tesla owners and there will be queues for those superchargers.

[Lucio]

It's a pretty good price for what it is, a luxury saloon, though there's never been a lot of reporting on what the running costs of a Tesla are like, after all being main dealer only for most repairs, do parts wear out, if so what needs replacing, and how much does it cost?

I applaud Tesla for pushing the concept of fully electric vehicles, but they are and likely always will be, a luxury car manufacturer.

[peterb]

It's a pretty good price for what it is, a luxury saloon, though there's never been a lot of reporting on what the running costs of a Tesla are like, after all being main dealer only for most repairs, do parts wear out, if so what needs replacing, and how much does it cost?

I applaud Tesla for pushing the concept of fully electric vehicles, but they are and likely always will be, a luxury car manufacturer.

I'm not sure about always being a luxury car mfr. certainly the price premium on a high end helps them recoup the initial investment, but I can see them producing a smaller vehicle in future (although I guess by US standards, this is a small vehicle!)

The extended range makes it more attractive, but even so, at $50K it isn't cheap - that will be at least £60K when you add VAT and cost for importing and conversion to RHD.

[Saracen]

As far as I'm concerned, for my purposes, this js a significant step in the right direction but even with the extended range battery, range is still insufficient. That means a $44k car, which at that price doesn't include the premium spec, and still operating on a currently ('xcuse pun) inadequate 'refueling' infracture, is competing which an impressive collection of conventionally fuelled alternatives. For me, it misses the mark, even at US pricing, and I take the point about exchange rates, VAT, etc.

That said, government policy remains unclear going forward but potential incentivisation includes scrapage schemes or tax breaks ... including reduced or zero-rate VAT.

It seems to me these will appeal to people prepared to pay a premium for fully electric, on principle. I'm not.

So this is a significant step towards me going electric, but it's still some way short. Also of possible interest would be Honda fuel-cell technology .... subject to the same infracstructure reservations.

For me, right now, the question is whether to simply go conventional and postpone any electric decision until the car change after next (and I don't upgrade often), or sit on my hands for a couple of years and wait it out. Cartainly, this is too little car for significantly too much money for my taste.

That said, another couple of years complicates my choice politically, too, and I'd prefer to see the Brexit dust settle too. If, as is starting to look likely, the EU decides to play hardball, that will put paid to me buying EU cars in the future, eliminating BMW, Mercedes, etc, and I'm currently already reluctant to go that way until I see how things go, making Japanese or, yes, Tesla, look more appealing.

[directhex]

Fuel cell is dead. The meager infrastructure in California is dead. The last holdouts on fuel cell over batteries have relented.

[directhex]

A big factor in the US are the government incentives. On the comparable Chevrolet Bolt that's $7500 off federal taxes, plus state incentives ($2500 cash from the state government here in Massachusetts). The federal incentive is a bit up in the air right now- there's a cap per manufacturer which Tesla is expected to hit sooner rather than later

[peterb]

I am looking at this whole travel thing. Flogging up the M6/M40/S34/A303 <insert major route of your choice> at any time other than a weekend or late evening is no pleasure at all, so one option is to go for something like a Nissan Leaf for local journeys and use the train for longer ones. Trains are far more relaxing and with careful planning and advanced tickets make them relatively affordable.

[TeePee]

I am looking at this whole travel thing. Flogging up the M6/M40/S34/A303 <insert major route of your choice> at any time other than a weekend or late evening is no pleasure at all, so one option is to go for something like a Nissan Leaf for local journeys and use the train for longer ones. Trains are far more relaxing and with careful planning and advanced tickets make them relatively affordable.

This is how you 'go green'. Tesla, for all the noise, is destined for bankruptcy.

[Saracen]

Fuel cell is dead. The meager infrastructure in California is dead. The last holdouts on fuel cell over batteries have relented.

Perhaps. But nobody's told Honda dealers, who are still talking about it to customers .... as of about a week ago including me.

[Saracen]

I am looking at this whole travel thing. Flogging up the M6/M40/S34/A303 <insert major route of your choice> at any time other than a weekend or late evening is no pleasure at all, so one option is to go for something like a Nissan Leaf for local journeys and use the train for longer ones. Trains are far more relaxing and with careful planning and advanced tickets make them relatively affordable.

Yes, but if you are going to need the car when you get there, the added cost of car hire tends to make it very uncompetitive again. It can, depending on point A and point B, be either much quicker by train, or much slower, the latter being especially true if your final destination (or point if origin) is a slow, awkward distance from a major rail line. And of course, lugging suitcases and/or other baggage (like the computers, camera gear, golf clubs, etc I often travel with) across London as you get from main line station to main line station via several underground lines, is no fun at all.

[DanceswithUnix]

I am looking at this whole travel thing. Flogging up the M6/M40/S34/A303 <insert major route of your choice> at any time other than a weekend or late evening is no pleasure at all, so one option is to go for something like a Nissan Leaf for local journeys and use the train for longer ones. Trains are far more relaxing and with careful planning and advanced tickets make them relatively affordable.

There is a chance for it to be cost competitive with only one person travelling, but the only times I have used the train for the whole family are:
1/ Going to London, because I don't want to drive around London.
2/ Going to Disneyland Paris where it is a direct train avoiding air travel.

Other times I have looked it has been way too expensive.

[badass]

I am looking at this whole travel thing. Flogging up the M6/M40/S34/A303 <insert major route of your choice> at any time other than a weekend or late evening is no pleasure at all, so one option is to go for something like a Nissan Leaf for local journeys and use the train for longer ones. Trains are far more relaxing and with careful planning and advanced tickets make them relatively affordable.

Advance warning: The long distance trains are fine. A lot of local trains still don't have air conditioning! They get hotter than the outside.

I only say this because I thought the same thing - arrive at destination more relaxed, having got more work done whilst travelling. However during some days in the summer, I still opted to drive as even when stuck in a traffic jam, the Air con is nice! Plus most taxi drivers are so tight they don't have the air con on either - remember you have to get from the station to ultimate destination.

[jimbouk]

Advance warning: The long distance trains are fine. A lot of local trains still don't have air conditioning! They get hotter than the outside.

You say that, except half the First Great Western carriages air-con failed when it got hot on the London - Bristol route. Not fun.

I've given up on trains, even just myself with in a 50 mpg car it's rarely cheaper to train and then there are bags, the cost of buses / taxi's each end, the delays/cancellations (had enough of those) so yeah I just drive now. Self-driving cars would be the answer to this I guess, but the most I'd spend on a car currently is £5k and that's pushing it so it's going to be many years before I get to that point.

[Ttaskmaster]

Trains are far more relaxing and with careful planning and advanced tickets make them relatively affordable.

If it takes me longer than a couple of minutes to route-plan, I am not interested.
Even though my colleague is an outright Trainiac (we even work in a railway-interfacing capacity) and knows the lines better than the back of his hand, it still took him over 2 hours to plan a money-saving route. That is WAY too complicated and not in the slightest bit fun.

potential incentivisation includes scrapage schemes or tax breaks ... including reduced or zero-rate VAT

Still a rich person's purchase.
No amount of incentivisation will be enough to make switching a viable choice for my end of the market.