Tesla model 3

In reply to tuna55:

Note. I did not say the Infiniti brand launch was good. Iirc it lead to dismal sales.

Does anyone have a good answer for the "Why won't Tesla sell parts to owners" issue yet? That would be a MAJOR stumbling block for me.

I'd be all about the rwd trim, lower acceleration potential, but 300+ range. That's a formula I could happily live with without much sacrifice. I'll be interested to see space and utilization of configuration differences between the 3 and the Bolt.

The first one was the Chevy Volt. The current one is call the Bolt. Will the next one be call the Dolt?

tuna55 wrote: It's clever, but deceptive.

This is kind of what I was thinking, and I'm not sure it's good for the EV market, nor is selling cars at below cost, AND getting significant chunks of their price subsidized by tax dollars.
I still read a lot of criticism for GM pulling their electric car program citing cost. It seems that still today if you had to actually run a business making electric cars and had to sell them without subsidies, you'd STILL have the same problem.
I don't know, maybe you look at Tesla like a race program that throws money down a hole to create exciting tech and entertain people and the investors are the sponsors?
Tesla makes me feel like I don't understand business.

Well, now that i've seen the Model 3, i still plan to buy a used Model S. It's cool, but not as cool as a Model S will still be in 2018. And now that this is on the internet forever I can find it later and see if I was a fool!

Since DW drives about 12 miles a day, I've been half-considering going electric. If these look like the pictures and are priced at $35k and are nice to drive, I'm definitely interested in getting her one next year.

In reply to Duke:

If it's just 12 miles a day why not save yourself $30k and buy a used leaf with like 10,000 miles?

bastomatic wrote: In reply to Duke: If it's just 12 miles a day why not save yourself $30k and buy a used leaf with like 10,000 miles?

Because dull and ugly. Clearly, at under 5,000 miles a year, fuel is not a major expense and the payback would be, well, a looooong time. So we'd be doing it for emissions reasons (which is not exactly a huge difference, considering electricity generation) and for something interesting to drive.

fair enough. You can breathe a little easier as far as emissions go. I did the numbers a while ago and for even in heavily coal-reliant Michigan, the Leaf polluted half as much as an economy car.

tuna55 wrote: Does anyone have a good answer for the "Why won't Tesla sell parts to owners" issue yet? That would be a MAJOR stumbling block for me.

Only reasons: Because they can, the typical Tesla owner doesn't complain, and they haven't been taken to court over it...yet.

I actually like driving the Leaf, but ok. Compared to a compact RWD with a lot of torque it could be considered boring, but next to an ICE high-efficiency fwd hatchback it's actually fairly entertaining.

Even at $35k it's not a bad deal without the tax credit. The car probably has the same sort of advantages for safety that the Model S does and undoubtedly even if they cut some corners due to price will be an extremely safe car. 200 mile range. I'm sold.

RossD wrote: The first one was the Chevy Volt. The current one is call the Bolt. Will the next one be call the Dolt?

Two different cars, they'll still make both the Volt and the Bolt!

Vigo wrote: I actually like driving the Leaf, but ok. Compared to a compact RWD with a lot of torque it could be considered boring, but next to an ICE high-efficiency hatchback it's actually fairly entertaining.

Agreed. There was nothing that I did not love about the LEAF.

Sine_Qua_Non wrote:

Fueled by Caffeine wrote: In Seattle the ability to put a $1k deposit down seems popular. The line is 2 blocks long

Half them are probably flippers.

Could you flip an electric? I mean, if there is a $7500 tax credit, that only applies to the new car buyer, right? So why should I buy a flipped car when I can get a new one?

tuna55 wrote: Does anyone have a good answer for the "Why won't Tesla sell parts to owners" issue yet? That would be a MAJOR stumbling block for me.

Because they don't have to. The laws that require automakers to sell parts only apply to emissions related items. What's emissions related on an electric?

Just reserved one. The $1K is refundable if you don't agree to buy one when it's offered. May be about time to replace spouse's '11 Flex when the 3s are available & I got myself a new car recently so late 2017 availability may work well. $7500 tax credit ends when 200,000 have been sold & latest figures I saw had approx. 135,000 reserved. Gettin in while the gittins good.

t25torx wrote:

EvanR wrote: Maybe someday I will live someplace where I can have 220VAC in the garage. Until then, no electric car for me :(

As a guy who added two 220v lines to his garage, get off your lazy butt and run some dang wire.

That would be fine if I owned my garage and/or it was attached to my house. I rent, and the garage building is standalone, with no 220VAC in sight.

I like it..............a lot! Perfect DD. I only drive about 10-20 miles a day and wanted an EV but the others were just too boring looking and driving.

I like it enough to preorder. I doubt I'll be in the first 100,000 so I'm budgeting for no tax incentives. I figure they should hit the Midwest maybe late 2018, early 2019, which means I'll have to get something to drive while I wait.

First new attainable car I've been excited about in a very long time.

i would totally have one of these. I like the idea of it and I like that it is rwd the size is about perfect and it looks good.

I would probably only buy one if the performance version is less than $40k which I doubt but if I wanted a commuter DD and I wanted to pay $30k this would be the car. Trying to convince my brother to buy one lol

So Tesla just borrowed $130 million for 18 months (or longer) at 0% interest with no covenants to protect the lenders? Zero protection in bankruptcy court, and no collateral.

While I very much doubt Tesla's ability to manufacture cars profitably, their ability to manipulate the government and, now, their customers is genius.

If I weren't so violently opposed to the notion of buying a new car I'd have my name on the list.
And I say that as someone who owns a few shares of TSLA stock, I've drank about as much kool-aide as one can without actually owning one.
Over 200k names on the list already, I'm actually surprised the stock hasn't had more movement as a result.
(For a stock that has - in the past - moved 10+ points on the strength of a single tweet)