Tesla Offers Up Another Reason Not to Order Its Cheapest Car

by Steph Willems

October 19th, 2018 10:47 AM

tesla offers up another reason not to order its cheapest car

Tesla’s Model 3 line as evolved once again, this time adding a new model closer to the bottom of the range while eliminating the second-cheapest configuration (and currently the cheapest Model 3 you can actually get delivered).

Announced Thursday night, the rear-drive Model 3 Long Range — which started at $44,000 but required the addition of a $5,000 premium package — is gone from the lineup, replaced by a Mid Range sedan with two driven wheels and a lower-capacity battery. The price for 50 fewer miles of range? $45,000.

Hmmm… it seems someone in Palo Alto was busy with their calculator.

While CEO Elon Musk tweeted that the Model 3 Long Range RWD will still be available for about a week, going forward buyers will only be able to select a dual-motor Long Range variant ($54,000 to start) if they desire 310 miles of driving range. That model’s Performance sibling is also available, stickering at $64,000 before a federal tax credit that’ll be cut in half at the beginning of next year.

The low-end replacement model boasts 260 miles of range and a lowered top speed of 125 miles per hour. 0-60 comes along in a pokier 5.6 seconds. Essentially, the Mid Range model is just the defunct Long Range RWD model, just with fewer cells in its identically-sized battery pack. Adding Autopilot features will cost another $5,000.

For those keeping track, this new model stickers for $10,000 more than the much-touted, still unavailable base model, which is expected to cost $35,000 and offer a range of about 215 miles. In a tweet, Musk said removing cells from the Long Range model’s battery to create a Mid Range option was quicker than designing a whole new battery. Whether you consider this a deal likely depends on your level of reverence for Musk.

If you’ve ordered a base model, well, expect to continue waiting. Tesla claims the Standard model won’t reach customers for another four to six months.

[Image: Tesla]

#ElectricVehicles #EVs #Model3 #ProductPlanning #Tesla #TeslaModel3

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13 of 58 comments

Asdf on Oct 19, 2018

The fact that the Model 3 has an INSANELY LONG charging time, as well as the fact that there is no "Long range" version of the Model 3 (dishonest marketing designation notwithstanding), should have been reasons good enough not to order the car in any version. Not to mention the strong likelihood that Tesla will be bankrupt soon.

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- Tekdemon on Oct 21, 2018
  
  It takes about a half hour to top up half the pack from 10% to 60% on existing chargers and the car is capable of higher charge rates when newer chargers come out. How is that INSANELY LONG when it's the fastest charging (by miles/minute) EV on the market?
  
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- Asdf on Oct 21, 2018
  
  @tekdemon It takes about 5 minutes to fill a fuel tank. Fully charging an EV shouldn't take longer than that, and yet it takes from half an hour to several hours just to top up, hence my obvious observation that the charging time is "insanely long".
  
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FWD Donuts on Oct 19, 2018

The Model 3 is available in 5 colors. Black is available at no additional charge. Two are available for a $1500 upcharge. Two more at a $2000 upcharge. The shenanigans from a pricing standpoint are really getting old. And before the fanboys get all "well, everybody does it" -- no, I haven't seen another automaker offer a product with one color as standard with everything else offered as an option. Tesla better get a hard nosed manufacturing executive as Chairman in there. Otherwise, they're going to blow it. They've got incredible cache -- but everyone has their limits.

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- APaGttH on Oct 19, 2018
  
  GM is doing it - for the life of me I can't remember on which car/SUV, but they are doing it. I want to say Mercedes or Audi is doing it also. The main difference is the optional colors aren't $1500 to start - they are $395 (in GMs case) and around $700 for Mercedes and/or Audi. The other game that Tesla is playing on the Model 3 is the standard rims are hopelessly ugly - they are horrid. If the car is slightly more than an appliance to the buyer, they're shelling out $1500 for the upgraded rims. The upgraded rims are always pictured, those horrors dull charcoal "aero" rims are never shown in PR pics.
  
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- Civicjohn on Oct 19, 2018
  
  @APaGttH, you have to understand those are “aero” wheels, that save the planet in a more incremental fashion! As to other posts above, I sincerely doubt the colbalt mixture is changing in the 2170 cells, otherwise that would be “tweet worthy”. Musk already said they weren’t changing the cells in the Model S/X in 2018, and gave guidance in Q4 2017 for sales of 100k S/X in 2018, but the i-Pace is killing it in Norway, so expect deals in the near future. If a company had 400K+ orders for $55-65k cars, why bring out a $45k car available in 10 weeks? There’s no way in hell that the remaining deposits are for those types, otherwise they would be crazy to promise delivery times like this. Maybe Sir Elon will give guidance regarding the deposits on the next earnings call, but he never has before. Good peon Fred Lambert (who is the biggest shill for Tesla) had to roll out on his website today: 1. No more FSD (due to “confusion”) 2. $45k version (where they just pulled out some cells) 3. Production numbers that don’t back up what was said on the last earnings call 4. Tesla found out that some customers have got a 3.3 0-60 mph on the Performance Model, so they changed the numbers on the website 5. The new “Mid Range” has a lower top speed than the $35k model All in a span of 24 hours, before the earnings call. They have done everything they can to show a profit in Q3. If they don’t raise funds for the upcoming bond payments (conversion price $359) the next 2 quarters it will be a big hit to earnings. Never mind that they don’t have a freaking nickel for the China GF. The parking lot I watch where the local Tesla dealer stuffs cars has tripled in the last 3 weeks. They will be “cars in transit” to dress up the financials. welcome back pch
  
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- JimZ on Oct 20, 2018
  
  @APaGttH every manufacturer has some "extra cost" paint options, but they're usually reserved for low volume "eye catcher" colors, or legit more expensive ones like tri-coat. I haven't seen any where *every* color save one is extra.
  
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- Mcs on Oct 20, 2018
  
  @civicjohn "As to other posts above, I sincerely doubt the colbalt mixture is changing in the 2170 cells, otherwise that would be “tweet worthy”." That's a stated goal of all the battery manufacturers. It's been tweeted out plenty of times by all of the manufacturers. Panasonic has stated that as a goal. Musk has stated in the past they intend to get it to zero. They're already beyond NMC 811 and these newest cells are another step along the path. It's not just Panasonic. Other makers are making progress as well. Samsung, CATL, Sk Innovations. The whole industry. It's happening and not surprising that one manufacturer has started to put the cells into its packs. https://cleantechnica.com/2018/03/04/exciting-developments-nmc-811-lithium-battery-technology/
  
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- Carlson Fan on Oct 20, 2018
  
  @APaGttH GM is doing it – for the life of me I can’t remember on which car/SUV, but they are doing it. I want to say Mercedes or Audi is doing it also." The metallic white tri-coat paint on my 2013 Chevy Volt was a $1000 option 6 yeas ago. It is beautiful!
  
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- Dan on Oct 20, 2018
  
  All of the colors except plain white and plain red are upcharges on the new Ram, plain white isn't available on anything past the Big Horn and on the higher trims plain red isn't either. The other colors (Longhorn, only colors) are $1-200 and not $1500 but that's still living up the fundamental principle that the entire retail side of the auto industry are lying pieces of chit.
  
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- Civicjohn on Oct 20, 2018
  
  @mcs I think I missed your point. I can Google NMC or Tesla or Panasonic cell and see the research and PR related to cell technology. My feeble brain understands the difference between 811 and 622 and other battery chemistry to wring out the colbalt component while keeping the cell stable and getting faster charging. Are you saying that Panasonic has changed the cathode chemistry in the 2170 cell at the Gigafactory?
  
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- Tekdemon on Oct 21, 2018
  
  @APaGttH The aero covers come off though and there's a cheap set of nice center caps. The car looks fine with the base wheels and center caps sans the aero covers. I fail to see how this base car: http://imgbox.com/ciUub2VG is "hideous" with the base wheels. If you don't like the dark grey it's trivial to have them painted silver.
  
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- Mcs on Oct 21, 2018
  
  @civicjohn: Yeah, that's my theory anyway. I think they have changed the electrode design. Don't know what they're doing to increase the durability as the cobalt is reduced. 2170 is just a form factor and I think my friends with the solid state tech could extrude a cell with that form factor if they wanted. Even the semi-solid labs could probably do it. Here's a good example of how battery technology is quietly advancing. Some say there isn't much progress, but that's not true. Semi-solid lithium metal cells just went into production. Actual production. They're expensive for now, but lighter, denser, and more durable. These cells are a big advance over the current technologies and available for purchase. Yet, no big headlines. They won't be in EVs until after 2020 according to the company, but they are a big advance. https://tinyurl.com/yb7k92vb http://www.solidenergysystems.com/technology/ I doubt this is the tech inside of the newest Tesla cells, but I do think this is similar to what they'll use in the new roadster. It's probably what will define the next generation of batteries.
  
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