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Model 3 Unveiling [video]

model3.tesla.com

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Re: Model 3 Unveiling [video]

#301

Post by makomk »

aerovistae wrote: post #150
jvm wrote: post #136

> Both cars will start at $30,000 or less after federal tax credits of $7,500 are applied. And both go at least 200 miles on a fully charged battery. The Bolt is a five-passenger hatchback that boasts cargo space and more legroom for rear passengers—front-seat backs are an inch thinner than in most cars. Looks almost identical specs-wise to Chevy Bolt, which will be available at the end of 2016 rather than 2017. http…

As if to suggest people wouldn't be willing to wait a year to get the 3 instead of the Bolt. Do you really think these two products have equivalent level of appeal? I'm sorry, I may be missing something re: specs, but can you point to where it says that the Bolt will go 0-60 in Also, does the Bolt have a nationwide supercharging network? Does it have autopilot? Does it have an astounding, unparalleled safety rating?

Anyone who didn't preorder right after the announcement is going to be waiting longer than a year, probably more like three years from when the Chevy Volt is available to when they get their Model 3 if they were to preorder the 3 right now.

Re: Model 3 Unveiling [video]

#302

Post by pinouchon »

savrajsingh wrote: post #85
aresant wrote: post #55

I love Tesla the company and respect the hell out of Elon. But his presentation style is hard to watch - he is literally stammering through what feels like a dry script. I've never seen him live before is this par for the course or nerves? Edit - wow that is a better looking car than I expected. You can be as awkward serving as you like if that's the main course!

He's a good reminder that it's not necessary to be the best speaker to be an amazing and inspiring leader. You could imagine another universe where Elon interviews at a tech company and doesn't get hired, just based on his presentation style.

When he was younger he actually went to IBM, didn't have the balls to hand in his CV, and left.

Re: Model 3 Unveiling [video]

#303

Post by dingaling »

Ingon wrote: post #76
lai wrote: post #65

Wow it looks really nice. The front is completely sealed.

Yeah, I understand that's a bold "see, I'm electric" statement, but still feels a bit awkward.

Reminiscent of the Aston Martin blank-plate look from the 1980s:

https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/hphotos-xaf1/t51.2885-15/s...

Re: Model 3 Unveiling [video]

#304

Post by codeulike »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #286
dynofuz wrote: post #68

over 100000 orders... so they just made $100M in less than a day in just reservations. nice.

Well, they're just reservations and they can't exactly spend the money, since they'd have to repay it. Also it's 10M, not 100.

They can totally spend the money.

Re: Model 3 Unveiling [video]

#305

Post by ZeroGravitas »

forgetsusername wrote: post #278
DarkTree wrote: post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I agree fixed costs shouldn't be ignored, isn't it true that they are called fixed costs for a reason? As in, as Tesla scales up production and is selling way more cars, their fixed cost per unit sold will go down with economies of scale. I think gross margin is much more meaningful here, but definitely correct me if I'm wrong.

> While I agree fixed costs shouldn't be ignored, isn't it true that they are called fixed costs for a reason Building cars is a capital and R&D intensive business. I'm not sure where the idea that those costs will basically go away comes form.

They don't "go away", they get divided amongst a greater number of cars as production ramps up.

It's not even just Tesla cars, as other electric cars come to market, the prices for components they need in common (battery being the big one) will fall with scale too.

The battery is about half the cost of an electric car and battery prices have been dropping steadily, between 2007 and 2014 it halved (if you look a the whole market) or reduced by 2/3rds (if you look at leading manufacturers like Tesla) and are projected to continue to decline by 8-10% per year.

Re: Model 3 Unveiling [video]

#306

Post by gutnor »

BobTheCoder wrote: post #130
aresant wrote: post #55

I love Tesla the company and respect the hell out of Elon. But his presentation style is hard to watch - he is literally stammering through what feels like a dry script. I've never seen him live before is this par for the course or nerves? Edit - wow that is a better looking car than I expected. You can be as awkward serving as you like if that's the main course!

He is just like you and me (nerds) doing the best he can at a role he isn't very suited for (public speaking). When you consider this and he still doesn't try and palm this stuff off I think he is doing great.

He sounds genuine, and he probably is, but he chose to keep it that way, he is not a poor nerd crumbling under pressure.

Think of it: he has over 20 year experience as an entrepreneur. Actually his whole career after school was being a business man, with the majority of it in high level position and with considerable success. During his career he had and still has to talk and negotiate with Heads of States, Nasa Scientists and Astronauts, Banks, other CEO of the most important companies in the world ( his peers ), ...

He chose to do the unveiling, he has the confidence to do that. If he thought he was not up to it or that his style was letting him down, he could have chosen any other unveiling strategy.

Re: Model 3 Unveiling [video]

#307

Post by melvinmt »

refurb wrote: post #219
abtinf wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Tesla isn't profitable On a per-unit sold basis, Tesla Model S is wildly profitable, with a gross margin north of 30% [1]. However, they are obviously still in startup mode, so they reinvest all of those earnings along with investor capital into improving the business. >Cutting the price means they have to produce at a far lower cost while expanding factory capacity. Corporate finance is a little more nuanced than t…

On a per-unit sold basis, Tesla Model S is wildly profitable, with a gross margin north of 30% OK, I searched for "30%" in your link and nothing came up. So I scanned and saw nothing that claimed a gross margin of 30%. Where's it hiding? I assume by gross margin you mean, "revenue - COGS". This of course ignores all the fixed costs, so it doesn't mean much. Even if they weren't investing in future growth, their fix c…

> This of course ignores all the fixed costs, so it doesn't mean much.

Au contraire, my friend. In business finance there are roughly 2 methods to calculate costs per unit: direct costing (DC) and absorption costing (AC) and they both have their benefits/disadvantages.

DC is where you leave out fixed costs to estimate if you will ever reach economics of scale. If a growth in production doesn't lead to diminishing marginal costs under the DC method, then you can never reach profitability under AC.

As long as DC leads to gross margin profits, there's hope of economies of scale and "all" you need to do is to increase production to make it work.

Of course this distinction doesn't apply for accounting and your P&L (however there are ways to get 'creative' with costs and depreciation there as well) so this is purely about decision making: should I build product/factory or not?

Re: Model 3 Unveiling [video]

#308

Post by antvei »

usaphp wrote: post #237
refurb wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree. His comment was in regards to "production capability, supply chain and support network". The fact is that BMW produced 40x more vehicles in 2015, which would suggest their supply chain and support network is much more robust.

The comment he replied to said nothing about Tesla competing with BMW on all models, the original comment was referring to model 3 vs bmw 3 series and C class Merc

Pretty sure everyone knew what he was taking about, well, except you...

Re: Model 3 Unveiling [video]

#309

Post by yAnonymous »

hrnnnnnn wrote: post #266
CamperBob2 wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What went wrong with Star Citizen?

Long, extremely detailed analysis here: http://dereksmart.org/

That guy is easily the biggest tool in the industry. Just because he doesn't have what it takes to make even half decent games, he criticizes people with higher ambitions and skills.

Re: Model 3 Unveiling [video]

#310

Post by mattlutze »

usaphp wrote: post #204
dragontamer wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

35k is definitely a luxury vehicle. Brand new cars like Honda Fit and Ford Focus are $15k. Nissan Maxima / Honda Accord is ~$22k starting. $35k is where BMW and Lexus start. He's still competing against the luxury segment, but "entry" luxury.

I disagree, bmw 3 series and basic Lexus are not "luxury" cars, they are called "Premium" cars. Luxury cars are Porshes, Maseratti, Bentley, bmw 6 series, mercedes CLS etc... Honda Fit and Ford Focus are small budget cars, Nissan maxima and accord are regular sedans. If you call bmw 3 series a luxury car - then what would you call a porshe than? Edit: Mercedec CLA is considered a luxury vehicle in a different class (…

It's just a marketing thing, what "entry-level luxury" or "luxury" or "exotic" means is defined mostly buy the companies selling the cars, and the media industry talking about those cars.

The hive mind of Wikipedia considers the marketing segment to include the Audi A4 and the BMW 3-series: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxury_vehicle#Luxury_market_s...

Enterprise Rent-a-Car runs a Lincoln MKZ or similar: https://www.enterprise.com/en/car-rental/vehicles/us/cars/lu...

Car and Driver includes a bunch: http://www.caranddriver.com/flipbook/swank-for-less-bank-ent...

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