Official Tesla Model 3 thread

Randy said:

... The cost of the E will have to be 1/3 of the Model S to meet what they've promised. Will it have the same features or be as nice? Probably not. Will the cost of the options raise it up considerably higher than the promised price? Probably...

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The price target announced is the base model price. I have never see any company market anything other than the base model price in general announcements.
The cost of the E will need to be 1/2 the price of the base model S, not 1/3.

However, it certainly is wayyyy to early for anyone to call this competition for the Leaf much less a killer of it.

They serve different markets. And, who knows what the capabilities of the second generation Leaf will be.

Without a credible link, I think we should dismiss this as an April fool prank.

ILETRIC said:

Model E could make its official debut at the 2015 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Tesla confirmed Friday. It would begin selling in 2016 or 2017.

A nail in Leaf's coffin?

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LOL!!! Was the Fusion Energi the nail in the Prius coffin? it has more range, more space, more bling?? so, Toyota dead right? wrong because we still have that obstacle aka sticker shock. a valid argument could be made that the PiP is bolstered by ill conceived CA HOV regs but the bottom line is that a $40,000 car is not even in the same arena as a LEAF no matter what the propulsion system is

mkjayakumar said:

Without a credible link, I think we should dismiss this as an April fool prank.

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Actually, it looks like it was was a December-fools-day-prank by Tesla, that someone dug-up and reposted...

December 15, 2013|By David Undercoffler

...In early 2015, the company plans to introduce its next model, a high-volume car starting around $40,000.

...The third, lower-priced model could make its official debut at the 2015 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Tesla confirmed Friday. It would begin selling in 2016 or 2017....

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http://articles.latimes.com/2013/dec/15/autos/la-fi-hy-autos-tesla-model-e-debut-2015-20131213" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

kmp647 said:

Real story? Link? Or April fools perhaps?

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http://evworld.com/news.cfm?newsid=32742

And yes, you may be right it's a repost. I'm sure we'll hear more about it soon.

Over on the Tesla forum, they concluded that this was sloppy reporting, and that in all likelihood there will be a final Model X reveal at the auto show. Some reporters don't know an X from an E (or even that Tesla is designing more than one thing).

In 2009 Elon said the Model S would debut at $49,900. See where that has gone and apply similar factors to succeeding models. But also consider that by the time the car appears, inflation will have raised everyone's price.

LTLFTcomposite said:

Have they broken ground on the gigafactory?

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They have not even chosen where to build it, nor have they signed on any partners. They're close to an agreement with Panasonic, but you don't dig until you're sure.

gbarry42 said:

Over on the Tesla forum, they concluded that this was sloppy reporting, and that in all likelihood there will be a final Model X reveal at the auto show. Some reporters don't know an X from an E (or even that Tesla is designing more than one thing).

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That makes sense.

Though, I think 2015 NAIS would be a good place to show Model E. By then Model X would be out - and Model E and its reservations would keep Tesla story alive.

Also, the designers would have time to develop E this year - X design should have been finalized by now.

evnow said:

Though, I think 2015 NAIS would be a good place to show Model E. By then Model X would be out - and Model E and its reservations would keep Tesla story alive. Also, the designers would have time to develop E this year - X design should have been finalized by now.

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You see? There is hope for us 60-mile-range Leafers after all.

Seems to be somewhat tenuous based on a '2015' comment in an interview...

http://www.autobild.de/artikel/tesla-chefdesigner-von-holzhausen-im-interview-4485757.html

Und wir arbeiten mit Hochdruck an der "3rd Gen", der Dritten-Generation-Plattform ... … das Massenmodell, das 2015 gegen den 3er BMW antritt? Genau.

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Google 'translate'...

And we are working hard on the "3rd Gen", the third generation platform ... ... the mass model, which in 2015 against the 3 Series BMW competes? Exactly.

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That seemed to be converted into 2015 Detroit auto show reveal by the folks at gas2.org...
http://gas2.org/2013/12/13/tesla-model-e-reveal-slated-2015-detroit-auto-show/

Tesla’s chief designer, Franz von Holzhauzen, fanned the flames of speculation with a recent interview, which he sets the probable unveiling of the Model E at the 2015 North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

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If Tesla could produce a $40,000 car that gets at least 140 miles of range I think they would get more business. Most people in this economy just cannot afford $60,000 for a car.

2048Megabytes said:

If Tesla could produce a $40,000 car that gets at least 140 miles of range I think they would get more business. Most people in this economy just cannot afford $60,000 for a car.

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Tesla will not make a car that gets less than 200 mile EV range - since that complicates SuperCharger network infrastructure (which assumes certain range for their cars).

2048Megabytes said:

If Tesla could produce a $40,000 car that gets at least 140 miles of range I think they would get more business. Most people in this economy just cannot afford $60,000 for a car.

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They don't want much more demand for their cars right now. They have moved from selling 2500 cars over 3-4 years to 25k a year.
Until they get some more funds from sales of the Model S and X they need to focus on growing their infrastructure, sales and service to support a much larger fleet.

evnow said:

Tesla will not make a car that gets less than 200 mile EV range - since that complicates SuperCharger network infrastructure (which assumes certain range for their cars).

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I wonder about that. It seems unrealistic to get a 200 mile (EPA) range car for under $40k in the next three to four years. My assumption (WAG) was that Tesla would have a base model that has a lower range and then an upgraded model at greater cost that would also be Supercharger capable. (Much as they tried to do with the original three battery sizes with the Model S.)

However, I'd love for you to be right; if they can produce a 200 mile (EPA) range car for under $40k, great! Time for a pizza bet?

dgpcolorado said:

I wonder about that. It seems unrealistic to get a 200 mile (EPA) range car for under $40k in the next three to four years. My assumption (WAG) was that Tesla would have a base model that has a lower range and then an upgraded model at greater cost that would also be Supercharger capable.

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Going by Tesla/Musk's track record with the S, my guess is that the real answer is that their $40,000 car is:
1) After $7500 rebate
2) Stripped down features (no NAV, backup camera, etc)
3) Only white or black non-metallic paint
4) no access to the Supercharger network, and no fast-charge capability
5) This low-end, $40,000 model will be the LAST in production, after all the $50-80,000 models are manufactured first.
6) Slower acceleration than upscaled models
7) Tesla will then kill production of the "$40,000" base model, citing "lack of demand". :?
These are all the things that soured me on the S, so I'm not expecting much to come of this new entry. I hope they prove me wrong.

Musk has been very clear the price is for the base model.
Afaik, anytime any company quotes a price for a lineup of cars it is always base price.
He has also stated that the $35k price target is without tax incentives. The first few might still qualify, but Tesla should be bumping into the 200k number pretty soon after release of the gen 3.

Why in the world would you expect a young automaker to make a model that gets less than 2% of the orders?

keydiver said:

dgpcolorado said:

I wonder about that. It seems unrealistic to get a 200 mile (EPA) range car for under $40k in the next three to four years. My assumption (WAG) was that Tesla would have a base model that has a lower range and then an upgraded model at greater cost that would also be Supercharger capable.

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Going by Tesla/Musk's track record with the S, my guess is that the real answer is that their $40,000 car is:
1) After $7500 rebate
2) Stripped down features (no NAV, backup camera, etc)
3) Only white or black non-metallic paint
4) no access to the Supercharger network, and no fast-charge capability
5) This low-end, $40,000 model will be the LAST in production, after all the $50-80,000 models are manufactured first.
6) Slower acceleration than upscaled models
7) Tesla will then kill production of the "$40,000" base model, citing "lack of demand". :?

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Close but I'd change that to
1) After $7500 rebate
2) Stripped down features (maybe a 10" center console instead of the 17"?)
3) Only white or black non-metallic paint, Other colors will be a $750 upgrade like on the Model S
4) access to the Supercharger network will cost $2000 extra just like on the Model S
5) This low-end, $40,000 model will be LATER in production, after all the $70-80,000 models are manufactured first, and possibly after some of the $60,000 versions but they'll be pumping them out at maximum rate and the early birds get more bugs so if you want one it won't hurt to wait a bit.
6) Slower acceleration than upscaled models (so what, it'll still be a nicer car than a Leaf or Prius)

Zythryn said:

Why in the world would you expect a young automaker to make a model that gets less than 2% of the orders?

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IMHO, the Base S got only 4% of the orders because of what I listed above. They only canceled production MONTHS AFTER they dropped the bomb and made the base model useless. :x At that point, most people who wanted a base model either canceled the order or upgraded to the next level. Or, many like me who hadn't yet put down a deposit just walked away. They didn't WANT to sell a $50,000 S, and I think they only have themselves to blame for only 4% requesting a base model.

1) After $7500 rebate - no
2) Stripped down features (no NAV, backup camera, etc) - yes
3) Only white or black non-metallic paint - possible
4) no access to the Supercharger network, and no fast-charge capability - no
5) This low-end, $40,000 model will be the LAST in production, after all the $50-80,000 models are manufactured first. - yes
6) Slower acceleration than upscaled models - yes
7) Tesla will then kill production of the "$40,000" base model, citing "lack of demand". :? - no

dgpcolorado said:

evnow said:

Tesla will not make a car that gets less than 200 mile EV range - since that complicates SuperCharger network infrastructure (which assumes certain range for their cars).

Click to expand...

I wonder about that. It seems unrealistic to get a 200 mile (EPA) range car for under $40k in the next three to four years. My assumption (WAG) was that Tesla would have a base model that has a lower range and then an upgraded model at greater cost that would also be Supercharger capable. (Much as they tried to do with the original three battery sizes with the Model S.)

However, I'd love for you to be right; if they can produce a 200 mile (EPA) range car for under $40k, great! Time for a pizza bet?

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I've heard somewhere that Tesla only pays about 250 per kWh for its cells, so that's only $15,000 for the pack if it's a 60. That's totally doable. I bet they could do it now. But why? It would just sell out because Panasonic can't make the cells fast enough to even meet Model S demand. They might as well ride the current model demand until Nissan decides to put out something with some range. Plus, they have some buyback price floor set on used Model Ses. That would tank their value.

Don't be pessimistic - the backup camera is now mandated. ;-)