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What I will say is the Model 3 is going to try to be a lot of things. Musk has many times referred to the Model 3 as an A4/3 series competitor, but in reality, I think that $35,000 model is going to be somewhere below and will likely compete with the top end economy models (ie Accord, Avalon, etc). We shall see, but I think the desired customer base for Tesla is something more than even "Potential 3 series buyers"
As with Model S (and BMW) few will likely to get the base model - most will likely be more than 40K. And due to overall Tesla volume, the credits will phase out by the time the 3 hits in volume, so there will be few discounts. That $35K was just a teaser, in reality it will still be an expensive car.
As with Model S (and BMW) few will likely to get the base model - most will likely be more than 40K. And due to overall Tesla volume, the credits will phase out by the time the 3 hits in volume, so there will be few discounts. That $35K was just a teaser, in reality it will still be an expensive car.
I agree, which makes it all the more impressive that Tesla has convinced your typical Accord/Mazda buyer that they, too will one day be able to buy a Tesla. People I know can't afford that expensive of a car have quickly parted with their $1000.
I'm kind of in awe that Tesla has done what they have been able to do.
He once said that he will not buy something that he doesn't understand the business model. I wonder what is his understanding of a company paying yearly 175x less what it is worth; that is very against what he said in the past. I assume that he meant speculation in a limited time frame. As I said that window of opportunity has passed.
Tesla and Amazon will be the epitomes of the upcoming market share crash. Write this somewhere.
7 things we learned from Elon Musk’s Tesla shareholder meeting
June 6, 2017
1) Our First "Look" At The Model Y
Musk first teased the Model Y in October of 2015 when he tweeted, and then deleted, a short mention of the company’s forthcoming all-electric crossover SUV. He’s been light on details ever since, as the company has been focused on launching the Model X and Model 3. At the meeting today, though, he flashed what is our first glimpse of the Y.
There’s very little to go off of in that image, I know, but it appears in line with what Musk has said about the car. It will be a crossover, one that’s sized smaller than a Model X but bigger than the Model 3. It will also be a much simpler car with respect to the electrical systems inside — Musk said last month that the Y will have far less wiring than its other cars as the company moves away from its standard 12-volt battery architecture.
Musk also said last month that the Model Y, which is targeted for 2019, would be built on an entirely new vehicle architecture platform, contradicting assumptions that it would be built on the Model 3’s platform as a cost-saving measure. Musk said today that “there are a number of really major manufacturing improvements that can be done that allow us to build a car in a way that a car’s never been built before” by building the Model Y on a new platform.
2) Building The Model X On The Model S Platform Was "A Mistake"
In fact, Musk justified starting a new platform for the Model Y by trashing the platform-borrowing approach that it has taken with its cars so far. “I think actually we made a mistake in trying to derive the Model X from the model S platform,” he said. “It would have been better to just design an SUV the way an SUV should be designed, [and] design a sedan the way a sedan should be designed. Otherwise you’re just trying to shoehorn something in that doesn’t make sense.”
3) The First Model 3s Will Be "Very Simple"
The Model 3 is the car that’s supposed to bring Tesla to the masses, and yet it wasn’t discussed much — even though it’s launching this summer. Musk did say, though, that the configurator for those who have preordered the car will go live toward the end of next month, when the first Model 3s roll off the line.
But he added that those customers will have to deal with a very limited set of options — essentially color and wheel type — in order to make sure the company can ramp up production accordingly.
“I should say that we’ve kept the initial configurations of the Model 3 very simple,” Musk said. “A big mistake we made with the X, which is primarily my responsibility — there was way too much complexity right at the beginning. That was very foolish.”
Musk said he’s learned from the Model X rollout, which allowed for so much customization at launch that Tesla wound up hurting its own production timelines. “[Model X] is like a faberge egg of cars. It’s really an amazing product, but it has way too many cool things in it that should have really been rolled in with version two, version three,” he said. “We got overconfident and created something great that probably will never be made again. And perhaps should not be.”
5) Tesla Is Letting Customers Of Its Upcoming Semi Truck Help With Design
Tesla is working on making an all-electric, heavy duty big rig that it plans to unveil at an event this September. We’ve known that for a while, but what’s new is that Musk said the company is collaborating with potential customers of the semi truck to help design it correctly.
“We’re getting them closely involved in the design process, so the biggest customers of the heavy duty Tesla semi are helping ensure that it is specified to their needs, so it’s not a mystery,” Musk told the shareholders. “They already know that it’s going to meet their needs, because they’ve told us what those needs are. So it’ll really just be a question of scaling volume to make as many as we can.”
Musk added that he hopes to reach production scale on the Tesla Semi in two years.
6)Something Else Could Be Announced At The Semi Truck Event In September
Musk got cheeky when he was asked whether Tesla is working on anything else in addition to its road cars, semi truck, home battery storage service, and solar panel business. “There’s a few other things I haven’t mentioned here. I just like, really recommend showing up for the semi truck unveiling,” he said. “Maybe there’s a little more than we’re saying here. Maybe. Could be. Who knows?”
Maybe it's because it's a car company and we all live in an iPhone a year world, but the glacial pace at which Tesla is even making announcements and promises is painful.
Maybe it's because it's a car company and we all live in an iPhone a year world, but the glacial pace at which Tesla is even making announcements and promises is painful.
Just remember...it was a company that was never supposed to succeed, even in Musk's original thought.
They fact they survived and keep moving forward is pretty phenomenal.
I drove my friend's i3 yesterday and just reminded me why i hate driving E cars.... For people who have motion sickness, Electric cars are not for you. If you have frequent passengers who have motion sickness, Electric cars are not for you.
The way the car accelerates and decelerates will make you dizzy..... I don't understand the science behind it but my stomach don't lie.
Is it because of the immediate and flat/linear torque?
Tesla Model X Gets 5-Star Crash Rating In Every Category From NHTSA
Lowest probability of injury among all SUVs tested
June 14, 2017
The Tesla Model X has been granted a five-star crash rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Not only did it score an overall five stars, but the SUV also earned five stars in every category and subcategory of testing, making it the first SUV ever to receive top ratings across the board, Tesla touts in a new release.
The Model X nabbed five stars in the main categories of front, side, and rollover crash tests. It also earned five stars in all subcategories, including front driver-side, front passenger-side, side driver-side, side passenger-side, front-seat, combined rear-seat, side barrier, overall side pole, and rollover tests.
In the event of a serious crash, Model X occupants have an overall 93 percent chance of walking away without a serious injury. With that statistic, the Model X has the lowest probability of injury of any SUV ever tested by NHTSA. And other than the Model S, it has the lowest probability of injury among all cars NHTSA has ever tested.
On top of these stats, the Model X has the lowest rollover probability of any SUV on the road. According to Tesla, the Model X’s low center of gravity, achieved by a battery pack that’s mounted beneath the floor, ensures the Model X achieves an exceptional rating in this category.
Tesla is talking to the music labels about creating its own streaming service
Why not work directly with Spotify, Apple and others? Good question.
Jun 22, 2017
Put this one in the “You can do that, but why would you want to do that?” file: Tesla is talking to the music industry about creating its own streaming music service.
Music industry sources say the carmaker has had talks with all of the major labels about licensing a proprietary music service that would come bundled with its cars, which already come equipped with a high-tech dashboard and internet connectivity.
Label sources aren’t clear about the full scope of Tesla’s ambitions, but believe it is interested in offering multiple tiers of service, starting with a Pandora-like web radio offering.
The bigger question: Why doesn’t Tesla simply integrate existing services, like Spotify or Apple Music, into all of its cars from the start — especially since Tesla already does a deal with Spotify for Teslas sold outside the U.S.?
“We believe it’s important to have an exceptional in-car experience so our customers can listen to the music they want from whatever source they choose,” a Tesla spokesperson said. “Our goal is to simply achieve maximum happiness for our customers.”
Tesla’s negotiations do not guarantee that a plant will be built. Under Chinese law, such a project would require Tesla to find a Chinese joint-venture partner. While China is full of Chevrolets, Fords and Volkswagens, most are made in factories jointly owned by a foreign automaker and a local company.
The City of Shanghai controls the SAIC Motor Corporation, one of China’s largest automakers and a partner for General Motors and Volkswagen. It was not clear whether Tesla’s negotiations with the city government would steer the company to negotiate with SAIC. Calls to the Chinese automaker were not returned.
Tesla could get around the joint-venture requirement by building a wholly owned factory in a foreign trade zone in China. But it would still have to pay the 25 percent import duty for cars sold in China, as the factory would be treated as outside China for trade purposes.
Tesla delivered 22,000 vehicles in second quarter, blames 'severe production shortfall' of battery packs
Tesla delivered just over 22,000 vehicles in the second quarter, down from 25,000 in the previous quarter.
The electric automaker blamed a severe production shortfall of 100 kWh battery packs.
July 3, 2017
Tesla delivered just more than 22,000 vehicles in the second quarter, down from 25,000 in the previous quarter.
The electric car maker blamed a severe production shortfall of 100 kilowatt-hour battery packs. The company said production average 40 percent below demand, until early June. But once the issue was resolved, Tesla said production speed rebounded.
Despite the slowdown, deliveries were up 53 percent from the same period a year earlier.
Of the over 22,000 vehicles delivered, 12,000 were Model S cars and just over 10,000 were Model X vehicles. Tesla produced 25,708 vehicles in the quarter, bringing production for the first half of the year to 51,126.
Tesla also said it added more Model X cars to its test drive and display fleet because its stores had been running with too few, or in some cases, none at all.
"There appears to be substantial untapped sales potential for Model X," the company said.
The automaker also claimed that "production quality and field reliability of the Model X, for which Tesla has been fairly criticized, have improved dramatically." Tesla said that it's now "rare" for a new Model X to have "initial quality problems."
The first production of Tesla's Model 3 that meets regulatory requirements will be finished this week and deliveries will start July 28.
Delivery numbers are conservative, the company warned, saying final numbers could vary up to half a percent. For the second half of the year, Tesla said deliveries will "likely exceed" those in the first half of the year.
Tesla Sales Fall to Zero in Hong Kong After Tax Break Is Slashed
New registrations of company’s vehicles dropped to zero from 2,939
July 9, 2017
Tesla Inc.’s sales in Hong Kong came to a standstill after authorities slashed a tax break for electric vehicles on April 1, demonstrating how sensitive the company’s performance can be to government incentive programs.
Not a single newly purchased Tesla model was registered in Hong Kong in April, according to official data from the city’s Transportation Department analyzed by The Wall Street Journal.
In March, shortly after the tax change was announced and ahead of the April 1 deadline, 2,939 Tesla vehicles were registered there—almost twice as many as in the last six months of 2016.
The end of the tax exemption “has really put the brakes on electric-vehicle adoption in Hong Kong,” said Mark Webb-Johnson, a founder of Charged Hong Kong, a group that promotes electric vehicles.
As a result of the new policy, the cost of a basic Tesla Model S four-door car in Hong Konghas effectively risen to around $130,000 from less than $75,000.
Hong Kong’s decision is effective through March 2018, and the government has said it would review the policy before then.
Tesla doesn’t break out vehicle sales by country or region and declined to discuss specifics in Hong Kong. But it acknowledged in a statement a slowdown, calling it “expected” after the tax change and a “short-term” challenge.
“Tesla welcomes government policies that support our mission and make it easier for more people to buy electric vehicles; however, our business does not rely on it,” Tesla said. The company said its sales in China, where it faces large tariffs, has risen without government incentives. “At the end of the day, when people love something, they buy it,” it said.
Buyers of Teslas and other electric vehicles in many markets benefit from government incentives. Tesla notes on its website that U.S. purchasers are eligible for a $7,500 federal income-tax credit, plus additional incentives in some states.
Norway has exempted electric vehicles from a range of charges, including import taxes, a 25% value-added tax and the purchase taxes that apply to gas-powered vehicles, according to Tesla. Those policies have helped make Norway, with a population of around 5 million, one of Tesla’s biggest markets, ranking second in revenue in 2015 and third last year after the U.S. and China, according to the company.
Incentives vary elsewhere in Europe. Germany exempts electric vehicles from circulation taxes for a decade, while the U.K. exempts such vehicles from an annual circulation tax and full electric cars are exempt from a company car tax, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association.
Tesla warns investors in securities filings that such incentives can change and says that “could have some impact on demand for our products and services.”
Last year in Denmark, an incentive program expired and was replaced with a less generous one. New car-registrations for all-electric vehicles of all brands fell 70% in 2016 in the country to 1,373 vehicles, while across the European Union the number grew by 7% to 63,278 vehicles. In the first quarter of this year, only 48 all-electric vehicles were registered in Denmark.
Hong Kong, though relatively small, is a significant outpost of luxury-car buyers and trend setters. Its government had long waived its vehicle-registration tax for newly purchased electric automobiles, adding to the attractiveness of Tesla’s cars.
Citing increased congestion of privately owned vehicles on its streets, the government said in February that it would be changing the policy so the tax would be waived only on the first 97,500 Hong Kong dollars (US$12,500) of an electric car’s purchase price for individuals.
The Hong Kong registrations data don’t show actual sales figures but are a close proxy because new cars in Hong Kong must be registered to be driven.
In May, only five privately owned electric vehicles were registered, according to documents provided to district council members and viewed by the Journal.
The reversal in Hong Kong comes as Tesla is planning to expand in mainland China, the world’s largest new-car market. Last month, Tesla said it was exploring with the Shanghai city government the possibility of opening a manufacturing facility in China. China charges a 25% duty on all imported cars.
Dave Sullivan, an analyst for the consulting firm AutoPacific Inc., said the Hong Kong decline could foreshadow challenges for Tesla as a luxury brand in China.
I've been thinking of buying January 2019 $150 "puts" of TSLA.
Unless Apple or Amazon buy Tesla I cna't see how Tesla has their ~$50B market cap.
Interesting idea. Would your bet on a rough halving of TSLA's current valuation by 2019 be based on pessimism regarding the company's ability to deliver on the promise of the Model 3 as well as anticipated sun-setting of tax incentives in 2017-18?
This is Tesla’s big new all-electric truck – the Tesla Semi
Nov. 16, 2017
Tesla has unveiled its all-electric semi truck, aptly dubbed the ‘Tesla Semi,’ as promised, and the resulting Class 8 transport vehicle is indeed a sight to behold.
It boasts a considerable charge capacity, and has a very aesthetically distinct look, as you can see, which will obviously help it stand out from other commercial freight vehicles on the road.
The Tesla Semi will go 0 to 60 mph in just 5 seconds, which is incredibly fast compared to a diesel truck. It can go 0 to 60 mph towing 80,000 lbs, its max tow load, in just 20 seconds. It can go 65 mph up a 5 percent grade, which is way better than the 45 mph max that a diesel competitor can do. And for range, it can go 500 miles at highway speed, and less than 80 percent trips are at 250 miles. It also has a better drag coefficient than a super car thanks to its extremely aerodynamic design.
The real secret weapon of the truck, however, isn’t that it can turn into a giant fighting robot (this feature hasn’t been activated yet, if it does exist, and Tesla won’t admit that it does). Instead, it’s that the truck offers a transmission that requires no shifting of gears (as is normal for fully electric vehicles) with regenerative braking that provides “basically infinite” brake life per Tesla.
Tesla also says that the Semi outperforms its diesel rivals in terms of responsiveness and handling, and can cover more miles than a diesel semi truck in the same timespan, with safer operation in and around regular traffic. It also uses a number of Model 3 components to maximize production efficiencies, including individual Model 3 motors for each wheel, and even Model 3 inset door handles.
Another standout for Tesla’s Semi lies in its design – the company points out that that cabin is tailor-made for drivers, with starts that are designed to make it easier to get in and out, and the ability to stand fully when inside the cab. The driver is also centered in the cab relative to the road, a unique twist on vehicle design in general, but a logical one for a car class that almost never has a passenger. There’s a removable jump seat for a passenger, too, offset and behind the main driver position.
Tesla has also added not one, but two of its favorite in-cabin vehicle features to the Semi: Touchscreens. These are positioned on either side of the driver and offer navigation information, blind spot monitoring, and trip data logging applications. There’s also a suite of fleet management and routing tools, which Tesla says would ordinarily require third-party add-on hardware to incorporate into a car.
Electric trucks aren’t the exclusive purview of Musk and Tesla, of course. There’s the somewhat trollishly named Nikola, which is working on a hybrid hydrogen powered electric powertrain, which its building with Bosch. Also, Daimler has revealed its own concept for a Mitsubishi E-FUSO fully electric Vision One truck with 220 miles of range, but with no specified release window.
What’s the big deal about an electric semi truck? It’s a fair question, especially given the range of traditional Diesel engine heavy duty trucks. These can have ranges of up to nearly 900 miles on a single tank. But the long-term advantages of electric trucks could make a lot of sense, both from a relatively obvious ecological perspective, which is obvious, and from the perspective of cost-effectiveness.
It also charges up at solar-powered Megachargers, and can get 400 miles of range on a single 30 minute charge, which can be done while you’re loading and unloading by detaching the cab. Tesla plans to have these Megachargers placed worldwide to ensure that people can move from one destination to anther easily and charge without issue at both destination and origin.
Electric trucks could be longer-lived and less expensive to maintain over the long term, and the cost to refuel them over their lifetimes should be far less than the cost to operate a truck that uses an internal combustion engine. Tesla says the Semi requires “significantly less maintenance” than a diesel truck, in particular because it lacks the high-strain moving parts of internal combustion engine vehicles, including the engine, transmission, after-treatment system and differentials.
The Tesla Semi also offers advanced safety features, with a special battery design that reinforces the battery units themselves and also helps lower the center of gravity of the truck overall thanks to their positioning in the chassis. The windshield is also built of glass designed to resist impacts, and the truck is made to avoid jackknifing, a common problem for this class of truck, by automatically detecting any stability that could lead to this issue and torquing each wheel accordingly, whose also activating the brakes as needed.
Surround view cameras try to eliminate blind sots, and also help to support object detection, providing alerts to the driver automatically when they identify potential hazards.
Tesla has also built Enhanced Autopilot features into its Semi, which is not surprising given the work it’s done pioneering and refining these drier assistance features on its lineup of consumer cars. On the Semi, Tesla’s Autopilot offers automated emergency braking, lane keeping and lane departure warnings to help encourage safe highway driving.
This is definitely a futuristic version of the modern transport truck, with a lot of bells and whistles that indeed look like they could make the lives of both freight shipping companies and drivers much more comfortable and convenient overall. The focus on drivers, in particular, is interesting as it appears as though Tesla is hoping to gain support for its trucking from ground-up endorsement, as well as by appealing to the long-term financial reasoning of the shipping companies themselves.
This version of the truck is a day truck, without a sleeper and designed for short hauls accordingly. But Tesla said it could easily extend the cab to accommodate a sleeper cabin, and then extend the underlying battery pack to support that, too. It can also be used with or without the aerodynamic cowling above the hood, depending on the height of the trailer it’s pulling.
Tesla will probably still face a lot of challenges in terms of both getting this truck built at scale, and encouraging broad adoption. But it’s sticking to its playbook of looking at an industry where the legacy players have done something one way for a long time with relatively little in the way of innovation, and changing things drastically. The question is whether applying this model will continue to work in its favor. With a million mile warranty against any breakdowns on every truck, Tesla is doing its best to convince people that change is a good thing.
Don't worry. I made fun of AZuser for posting about the Tesla semi but not the Roadster. After looking in Automotive News, I subsequently deleted my post
They are brutally slow in traffic lights. 8 cars can get through a light and intersection before a fully loaded semi does. Smoother traffic flow
Yep...most of the traffic jams are caused by slow moving trucks.
And this will put all the other truck companies on notice, start developing hybrid trucks are you are done.
Anheuser-Busch has placed an order for 40 Tesla Semi trucks, the American division of mega-brewer AB InBev announced Thursday.
The beer maker said its preorder is one of the largest placed for the long-awaited model that Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveiled last month. Tesla isn't making public statements about its customers or potential customers, although Jalopnik.com's list of compiled reports shows Tesla has at least 140 Semis preordered. Walmartordered 15 last month.
The move is part of Anheuser-Busch's goal to reduce its operational carbon footprint by 30 percent by 2025. To be sure, 40 trucks would represent a fraction of the 750 total trucks in the company's dedicated fleet, which delivers products from breweries to local distributors. Those drives are a couple hundred miles, within theSemi's 500 mile range, said James Sembrot, senior director of logistics strategy.
Anheuser-Busch settled on 40 semitrailers thinking it would be a good place to start, Sembrot said, since the earliest the company could receive its orders is likely 2019. The semitrailers will be fully electric and equipped with Tesla's semi-autonomous Autopilot system.
The brewer placed the order, putting in an undisclosed dollar amount, but Sembrot said it's too early to say whether it will buy them outright or if one of its dedicated fleet partners will buy them.
"The important thing was to get the Tesla Semis reserved so we have our place in line, and we'll address details later on," he said.
Elon Musk confirms Tesla pickup truck coming ‘after Model Y’
Dec. 26, 2017
After some confusion over Tesla’s plan to build an electric pickup truck at the Tesla Semi event last month, CEO Elon Musk now confirms that a Tesla pickup truck is coming “right after Model Y.”
Musk had previously confirmed that Model Y, a small SUV or crossover built on the Model 3 platform, would be Tesla’s priority once Model 3 production is ramped up.
That’s why it was surprising for Tesla to unveil the next generation Roadster at the Tesla Semi event since the vehicle was expected to come out after Model Y, which has yet to be unveiled.
At the same event, Musk also released the first image of a Tesla electric pickup truck, but some people still think it’s a joke.
He claimed that it was a smaller version of Tesla Semi and “a pickup truck that can carry a pickup truck.”
While it sounded like a joke, Musk had previously mentioned his intention to leverage work on the Tesla Semi to create a Tesla pickup truck.
Today, he confirmed that he already has “the core design/engineering elements” in his mind and wants to bring it to market right after Model Y:
Musk has indeed been talking about building an electric truck for a while now. During a Tesla owners event in 2013, Musk discussed his idea for a Tesla truck:
I am quite keen on building a truck and I think there’s a lot one can do with truck technology.
One of the things that I think should be present in trucks is something like an air suspension that dynamically adjusts the load and sorta keeps the angle of the truck correct and the ride height even and adjust the dampening in real-time. Because the challenge you have with any vehicle where there’s a big potential difference between the minimum and maximum load is that the suspension is always wrong and usually wrong by a lot.
I was driving an F-250 down the 405 one day and honestly that thing… it was resonating on 405 on the little ridges. I thought my teeth were going to rattle out of my head. If you put load on it it’s fine, but if you’re empty it’s not. It would be good to do that and obviously to make it light and really handle well. That’s where having a battery pack low can improve the center of gravity. I think it’s possible to produce a really well handling truck that feels good at any load point. That would be really great.”
Now, we have a slightly better idea of the timing since it’s coming “right after Model Y.”
Update: Musk later added that the Tesla pickup will be “similar in size” or “slightly bigger” than a Ford F150:
I think the torque will be very useful in towing and pulling in the F150's market, but i also think there is certain expectation and tradition when it comes to that part of the market... not sure how the typical truck driver would feel about it.
05-13-2017, 08:23 PM
