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Tesla’s Model 3 Is Becoming One of America’s Best-Selling Sedans

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Re: Tesla’s Model 3 Is Becoming One of America’s Best-Selling Sedans

#81

Post by webkike »

mrfusion wrote: post #79
btilly wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You'd have to survey their customers. Speaking personally, my wife and I are new customers. This is the first time that we've spent over $30k on a car. Between rebates, the cost of gas, and reductions in maintenance costs, we think that we save somewhere between 1/3 to 1/2 on the lifetime cost of ownership over the life of this car versus an ICE car. It is still a luxury, but between features like the driving assist,…

I’m not convinced on the lower maintenance costs. Can you speak to that a bit? It seems like there’s still a lot that can go wrong and you’re stuck paying whatever tesla wants to charge you to fix it.

Sure, but electric cars have far fewer moving parts. Components are simply less likely to break.

Re: Tesla’s Model 3 Is Becoming One of America’s Best-Selling Sedans

#82

Post by bgorman »

partiallypro wrote: post #75
samfisher83 wrote: post #45

Sedans in general have cratered. Everyone is back to buying SUVs and Trucks. Its like we are going back to 1999.

Most people don't buy SUV's, they buy "crossovers" which pack the capacity of an SUV but get way way better gas mileage. As for Trucks, they have improved considerably in gas mileage as well. But the SUV is mostly false, SUVs have bitten the dust, crossovers like Rav4, Outback, etc have taken over. Even in luxury brands, I see tons of BMW, Mercedes and Jaguar crossovers. They look nice.

I'm pretty sure the Rav4 is considered a SUV. I don't think the Outback is a crossover. Subaru's main crossover seems to be the XV.

Re: Tesla’s Model 3 Is Becoming One of America’s Best-Selling Sedans

#83

Post by samcheng »

mrfusion wrote: post #79
btilly wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You'd have to survey their customers. Speaking personally, my wife and I are new customers. This is the first time that we've spent over $30k on a car. Between rebates, the cost of gas, and reductions in maintenance costs, we think that we save somewhere between 1/3 to 1/2 on the lifetime cost of ownership over the life of this car versus an ICE car. It is still a luxury, but between features like the driving assist,…

I’m not convinced on the lower maintenance costs. Can you speak to that a bit? It seems like there’s still a lot that can go wrong and you’re stuck paying whatever tesla wants to charge you to fix it.

Look under the hood of a Tesla, and you'll understand why maintenance costs are lower.

There is still a lot that can go wrong on the body, notably the infamous door handles, but the power train is just much, much simpler. Notably, no oil changes, no gas, and due to regenerative braking, the physical brakes last a lot longer. Longer-term, while there is a coolant change required, there is no timing belt replacement, no spark plugs, no catalytic converter / muffler, etc.

The batteries themselves have seemed to hold up relatively well, but in the 10+ year range, that is indeed a concern, as they represent a large fraction of the value of the car. But prices are dropping, and maybe a cheaper and better battery pack can be retrofitted when the time comes?

Re: Tesla’s Model 3 Is Becoming One of America’s Best-Selling Sedans

#84

Post by btilly »

romed wrote: post #54
btilly wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's been obvious to me for about 20 years. Ever since I read the case study in The Innovator's Dilemma explaining that electric cars would take over around 2020. If Elon should burn out and crash Tesla, it will still happen. Only instead of being Tesla delivering the death blow, it will be those electric golf carts growing up, turning into full cars, and wiping out traditional automakers. Either way the underlying…

The case for electric cars taking over by 2020 is looking pretty darn wrong at this point, isn’t it?

I said "around 2020", not "by 2020".

His prediction was based on projecting technology curves out and comparing to a set of requirements around acceleration (able to merge onto a highway), range, and cost. Such projections out decades in advance are naturally imprecise. I would have considered it a darned good prediction if the first mass market electric cars had arrived anywhere between 2015 and 2025.

Re: Tesla’s Model 3 Is Becoming One of America’s Best-Selling Sedans

#85

Post by WillPostForFood »

stephengillie wrote: post #44
hamandcheese wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to mention it’s actually aesthetically pleasing.

The big fat nose is funny looking, and the interior is barren. It looks like a child's toy.

It is very subjective, I think it looks like a car from 10 years in the future.

Re: Tesla’s Model 3 Is Becoming One of America’s Best-Selling Sedans

#86

Post by King-Aaron »

webkike wrote: post #81
mrfusion wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m not convinced on the lower maintenance costs. Can you speak to that a bit? It seems like there’s still a lot that can go wrong and you’re stuck paying whatever tesla wants to charge you to fix it.

Sure, but electric cars have far fewer moving parts. Components are simply less likely to break.

> Components are simply less likely to break

I wouldn't say that they're less likely to break, but rather there's just fewer parts to potentially break. Your point is still completely valid of course.

Re: Tesla’s Model 3 Is Becoming One of America’s Best-Selling Sedans

#87

Post by jd20 »

kidsnow wrote: post #17
taf2 wrote: post #10

Anecdotal but I see more and more tesla’s On the road especially model 3s

In the South Bay part of the Bay Area, they are like 1 out of every 10 cars.

Driving through Cupertino neighborhoods, I've seen several homes with not one, not two, but three(!) Tesla's in their driveway.

When I wash my Model S in the driveway, people walking by will often come up to tell me how much they love their own Tesla's (or wanting to know how I like mine). Never had that happen when I wash my Audi :) The Audi is even the more expensive car.

Re: Tesla’s Model 3 Is Becoming One of America’s Best-Selling Sedans

#88

Post by btilly »

haberman wrote: post #55
btilly wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You'd have to survey their customers. Speaking personally, my wife and I are new customers. This is the first time that we've spent over $30k on a car. Between rebates, the cost of gas, and reductions in maintenance costs, we think that we save somewhere between 1/3 to 1/2 on the lifetime cost of ownership over the life of this car versus an ICE car. It is still a luxury, but between features like the driving assist,…

> But we have set it to never charge over 80% of capacity to maximize that limit. New Tesla owner here, hadn't heard that! Will you not charge above 80% even on trips?

The factory default is that you only charge to 90%, and they advise you to only go to 100% for trips.

We do 80%, but are willing to raise it for trips.

The reason why it matters is that charging lithium ion batteries to 100% lowers their lifespan. Since we don't need the range normally, we leave it at 80%.

Re: Tesla’s Model 3 Is Becoming One of America’s Best-Selling Sedans

#89

Post by pretendscholar »

webkike wrote: post #81
mrfusion wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m not convinced on the lower maintenance costs. Can you speak to that a bit? It seems like there’s still a lot that can go wrong and you’re stuck paying whatever tesla wants to charge you to fix it.

Sure, but electric cars have far fewer moving parts. Components are simply less likely to break.

Fewer moving parts does not mean that the components are less likely to break. A car with only one gear would have fewer parts but would break down more often.

Re: Tesla’s Model 3 Is Becoming One of America’s Best-Selling Sedans

#90

Post by xltk »

I personally wouldn't purchase a Model 3. I rented the long range version for a round-trip trip from San Francisco to Sacramento (about 90 miles/2 hours each way). The main things that stood out:

- Changing volume and airflow through the central touchscreen were much more challenging than the physical knobs and buttons most cars have. I'd even argue they were distracting and dangerous to use while driving. I don't believe this was a learning curve issue. Having to accurately place your finger above a touch screen and repeatedly hit a plus button is an inferior experience to rotating a knob.

- The self-driving ability has a long way to go before it is useful for anything except cruising on the freeway. In two separate instances, the car slowed at a stop sign down to 15mph before blowing through it (which could have been a non-cheap ticket that went on my record if a cop were around), and almost hit another car when two lanes merged into one.

- The supercharging stations charge at a slower rate than advertised, and cost only a little less to use than filling up a car with unleaded gas.

- The door handles are difficult to use. Maybe this is a learning curve issue, but pressing the handle in at the correct position takes more dexterity than simply pulling on a standard handle.

The technology and presentation is impressive, but I felt the driving experience was subpar.

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