Tesla Model 3

[RedDevil]

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news...icial-11317364

Tesla's upcoming vehicle assembly facility in Shanghai is expected to be completed in May this year, a Shanghai city government official said on Wednesday.

While we're at it, more May Tesla news:
https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-mode...es-may-review/
Best Muscle car

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by wdb

I'm seeing Model 3's pretty regularly around here now. The store closure thing has me curious though; where would I go for warranty service and other work? The nearest "service center" to me is a bit over an hour away, and it is listed as a "store and service center". Is it closing?

And there's no way in the world I would ever buy something that costs that much money without laying hands on it first. I get that there's a cult that doesn't care, but I do. I suppose I could waylay a stranger and ask them to let me crawl over their car and take it for a test drive, but that might or might not go well.

I also looked for charging locations while I was checking their maps. Although I live on the periphery of the east coast megalopolis, my area is very ill served by charging stations. I understand Tesla is putting these stations up themselves, trying to solve the chicken/egg dilemma, and I think that's great. But unless I'm using it to commute into the maelstrom, a Tesla is not a practical vehicle for me at this time. In other words it would have to be a commuter vehicle, covering part of my needs. Even at $35K that does not seem economically sensible; my last commuting-centric purchase was a Honda Fit for $15K.

I continue to watch with interest. And the garage we're building will have 100A service.

I may not be current on data,but I don't believe there will be any changes with respect to service availability.
Worse case is,they bring a loner car to you,while they take your car away for service,then reverse the process after completing the job.
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As to pricing,the Model 3,I think,is targeting the Accord/Camry/Altima/Malibu/etc. market,the largest segment.And at $35,000,consumers are already paying this much with up-market option packages.
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The cars will be the same,whether from a dealer or not.We save 15% by not having a showroom.It's a cost-saving way to expedite getting commuters into EVs.(when I was in Japan in 1998,you could by a car at a grocery store)
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As to Supercharger stations,as of last March,Tesla was installing 13-stations a day,and will end up with a 'fueling' station every 134-miles,nationwide.
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Gasoline has already increased 20-cents/gallon in the last 30-days,you'll never see this price volatility with electric power.
And the highest-performance cars on Earth now,run on REGULAR,UNLEADED kWhs.You'll never pay for 'PREMIUM.'

[JSH]

Originally Posted by RedDevil

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news...icial-11317364

Maybe the shell of the building

[thingstodo]

Originally Posted by aerohead

And the highest-performance cars on Earth now,run on REGULAR,UNLEADED kWhs.You'll never pay for 'PREMIUM.'

Oh ... the marketing guys have replaced PREMIUM with GREEN ... and you pay a premium whether you buy it from a Coop or a power company or install your own wind/solar/micro-hydro/whatever. If you install your own, you will make your investment back, and more, if you stay at your home long enough.

Agreed that there is no LEAD. And less CO2. And .. and .. and ...

But there will ALWAYS be something PREMIUM to pay for!

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by aerohead

I may not be current on data,but I don't believe there will be any changes with respect to service availability.
Worse case is,they bring a loner car to you,while they take your car away for service,then reverse the process after completing the job.

Seems like a brilliant strategy to me. Elon is defining the future of automotive profitability. Software updates you purchase on your phone to unlock potential on your car; brilliant. No salesmen; fantastic! The future of automotive sales is online, not showrooms.

There's little additional cost to drive to a customer location to pick up their vehicle and drop off a loaner compared with a customer dropping the vehicle off themselves. That added convenience is very nice, and Tesla doesn't have to maintain a lobby for people to wait around in.

Perhaps when self-driving becomes reliable enough, a functioning car can simply be told to drive to the service center for repair.

[JSH]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

There's little additional cost to drive to a customer location to pick up their vehicle and drop off a loaner compared with a customer dropping the vehicle off themselves. That added convenience is very nice, and Tesla doesn't have to maintain a lobby for people to wait around in.

It costs quite a bit more to drive a rollback wrecker both ways compared to driving a car. However, the key is that today the customer pays to deliver the car to the dealer while in Tesla's business model the service center pays the cost (and then passes it on to the customer)

It sounds fine when the car is under warranty like most Tesla owners today.
Do you want to pay the round-trip cost for a wrecker to pick up your car if the Tesla service center is 100 miles away and the vehicle is out of warranty?

[Xist]

Hopefully most Tesla repairs could be performed on-site.

There were car salesmen in Afghanistan. I know a couple of Soldiers that bought cars, presumably sight-unseen.

[redpoint5]

I just don't see an EV failing to operate under its own power unless it was involved in a wreck or some other unlikely failure. I wouldn't want to pay to have it towed 100 miles, but then again it would be a minor expense compared to whatever repairs it would require at that point.

I've got a trailer capable of car hauling, so this is a moot point for me.

For cars that can operate under their own power, it's a minor expense to send someone out to pick it up while dropping off the loaner. Enterprise car rentals does this. They used to pay my sister next to nothing to drive a car out to a customer. I think she had to take a taxi back.

[JSH]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

I just don't see an EV failing to operate under its own power unless it was involved in a wreck or some other unlikely failure. I wouldn't want to pay to have it towed 100 miles, but then again it would be a minor expense compared to whatever repairs it would require at that point.

I've got a trailer capable of car hauling, so this is a moot point for me.

For cars that can operate under their own power, it's a minor expense to send someone out to pick it up while dropping off the loaner. Enterprise car rentals does this. They used to pay my sister next to nothing to drive a car out to a customer. I think she had to take a taxi back.

My point is that Tesla owners love the Tesla method because the cost is covered under warranty. They might not be so pleased when they have to pay out of pocket and they don't get a free loaner.

Tesla's method works when because they are small company selling expensive cars. I doubt it will work so well when they have millions of cars in the field.

The only Tesla service center in the state of Oregon is located in Portland. How much do you think it costs just for transport to service a car in Bend?

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

Seems like a brilliant strategy to me. Elon is defining the future of automotive profitability. Software updates you purchase on your phone to unlock potential on your car; brilliant. No salesmen; fantastic! The future of automotive sales is online, not showrooms.

There's little additional cost to drive to a customer location to pick up their vehicle and drop off a loaner compared with a customer dropping the vehicle off themselves. That added convenience is very nice, and Tesla doesn't have to maintain a lobby for people to wait around in.

Perhaps when self-driving becomes reliable enough, a functioning car can simply be told to drive to the service center for repair.

*The OBD-III will spit out the error code
*That will be sent to the 3-D printer at the public library
*Swing by the library to pick up your part on your way to the gym
*'Home-bot' installs it while you veg out in the Barcalounger recliner once you're back home.