"To achieve these prices while remaining financially sustainable, Tesla is shifting sales worldwide to online only. You can now buy a Tesla in North America via your phone in about 1 minute, and that capability will soon be extended worldwide. We are also making it much easier to try out and return a Tesla, so that a test drive prior to purchase isn’t needed. You can now return a car within 7 days or 1,000 miles for a full refund. Quite literally, you could buy a Tesla, drive several hundred miles for a weekend road trip with friends and then return it for free. With the highest consumer satisfaction score of any car on the road, we are confident you will want to keep your Model 3.
Shifting all sales online, combined with other ongoing cost efficiencies, will enable us to lower all vehicle prices by about 6% on average, allowing us to achieve the $35,000 Model 3 price point earlier than we expected. Over the next few months, we will be winding down many of our stores,"
* basic model interior has cloth seats and paired down amenities compared to current model 3
* Looks like autopilot costs $3000 over base
* Full Self-Driving Capability (on-ramp to off-ramp highway driving, autopark and summor your car in a parking lot) is another $5000 over basic autopilot
* Coming this year: ability to "Recognize and respond to traffic lights and stop signs." and "Automatic driving on city streets."
I'm really excited for Tesla and have been waiting to order one some day. But the problem is, while battery performance in winter doesn't concern me too much - rear while drive and extremely low clearance does. It's just a non-starter in northern climates. My Subaru outback handles this with ease and I feel the Tesla would be a nightmare. It's unfortunate really, they want to make it feel like a race car instead of a practical car.
We had an all time record snowfall in February and it's been an intense winter.
EDIT: I realize they have an all wheel drive option but it's 10k more than the 35k option putting it in a luxury market. Not many Americans can responsibly afford a 45k car.
As someone who drives an M3 every day in the winter in the northern US in snow, ice and everything in between, let me assure you rear wheel drive is not an issue. Tires are what matter, not the drivetrain. Get a good set of winter tires and it'll be fine.
As a previous owner of RWD mercs and both RWD and 4WD BMWs, I totally agree with this - winter tyres actually make more difference than going from RWD to 4WD!
Out of curiosity, how far north might you be? We've had record snow in MN this year for February and own an SUV and half-ton truck. This month had a few painful days for what normally would be fine in an M3 with winter rubber. While these types of days aren't always the norm I would argue there's a lot of value in AWD and 4WD systems, especially with appropriate seasonal tires. Ultimately though I agree with your logic. An AWD with improper tires is worse in the snow than a RWD vehicle with the right ones. I think the fallacy many fall into is AWD is a silver bullet.
Ground clearance is another issue in itself, however. I've often wondered how often this becomes an issue in Tesla vehicles.
Yeah good point about ground clearance. We don't get as much snow here as MN, but probably similar to Chicago. Traction-wise, it's as bad as it gets anywhere in the US, but I've never had to deal with very deep snow in the M3.
Does anyone have any experience with Tesla's electric door handles (Model S)? How do they perform in wet/cold climate where it freezes during the night?
And then there is the falcon wings: any experiences with snow on the roof while opening the doors?
My Model 3's door handles were frozen shut one morning. I had to carefully chip it off before I could get in.
I've also had ice on the charging port that I had to chip off before it would open. I now believe they have added some sort of heating through a software update.
The 3 is one of the most practical cars I've driven, but I'm not in a place that requires me to drive in heavy snow. The race car feel only applies if you get the top end. Little to no maintenance, savings over gas, quiet, lots of cabin room as well as trunk/frunk space - how more practical does a car need to be?
It's practical in CA like climates - but it's not practical in cities such as Minneapolis, MN. I'm not talking off road driving here, just driving in a city in the winter. My wife has a Honda fit and it also is a nightmare clearance wise. But it is front wheel drive, which helps. I will watch out for the Model Y though, but it's unlikely it will be in an affordable range.
I live in Minneapolis and see Teslas all the time. The AWD Model 3 is priced similarly to an AWD 3-series or A4, both of which I also see constantly. It's frustrating that Tesla tries to position the Model 3 as an inexpensive car when it's really situated as an entry-level luxury sedan, but the price and features are appropriate for the segment it's in.
I did the loan option. The Tesla associates were very, very busy and were incredibly bad about answering any questions about the loan. It was the only negative part about the buying process. I went to pick up the car (3 hours away) and they were still changing around my loan details when I arrived.
Negative part of their loan: they refused to cover the tax with the loan, which has not been my experience through any other car purchase. This means you must cover the down payment plus full tax amount when you pick up. They never told me that until the night before I went to pick it up.
If I had to do it again, I would have got a loan through a credit union.
Smarter on what dimension? Loans charge interest so will always be more expensive in the long run. If you're talking about the opportunity cost of "well what if I invested that cash in the stock market and made higher returns than my loan interest", I would mention that the banks obviously know about this (that's what they do with _their_ money) and it's a factor in how they set interest rates.
I think that Tesla know enough about UTC and have a slick enough website that they could get the time right for people outside Silicon Valley, who knows people in Timbuktu could be part of the grand reveal too.
Shifting all sales online, combined with other ongoing cost efficiencies, will enable us to lower all vehicle prices by about 6% on average, allowing us to achieve the $35,000 Model 3 price point earlier than we expected. Over the next few months, we will be winding down many of our stores,"
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