Tesla’s Model 3 Is Becoming One of America’s Best-Selling Sedans • Hacker News Board

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

#171

Post by icantdrive55 » Thu, Oct 04, 2018, 2:27 AM UTC

pretendscholar wrote: post #124

btilly wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a bad example. Early Teslas had 2 gears, but then got rid of that and now only have one. That got rid of the transmission and gearbox, and the car breaks less as a result. ICE cars can't do that because their engines work best in a fairly narrow range of RPMs. But electric has no such limit.

The point being that having fewer parts in and of itself does not mean that it will break down less frequently.

I can't afford a Tesla, or really any new car, but I love simple machines that just work.

I have an old 80's Toyota truck that I just can't part with. It wasen't over engineered, nor complicated. Just a vechicle I can work on, if needed? It starts, and goes. I've worked on it in the middle of s desert, with a chesp socket set.

If Tesla's do break down infrequently, they should include that in the advertising. Even though I used to be a mechanic, and a electrician the vechicle looks daunting on a mechanical level. It doesn't help that the company, like all automotive companies, don't want their customers working on their vechicle.

(Tesla has so much potential, but it needs a calm, cool, practical commander. I feel, with the right management, Tesla could become the model A of this generation?)

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

#172

Post by freerobby » Thu, Oct 04, 2018, 2:28 AM UTC

acconrad wrote: post #95

I cannot for the life of me rationalize spending so much on a car. The $35,000 just doesn't make sense in New England, so I need to add in AWD. Then I need to add in the autopilot because isn't that the point of owning a Tesla so you don't have to drive your car someday? Now, with government incentives , this car is $50k. Couldn't you grab a Rav4 Hybrid with Comma AI and basically have an electric car with AWD for $3…

> I cannot for the life of me rationalize spending so much on a car. The $35,000 just doesn't make sense in New England, so I need to add in AWD. Then I need to add in the autopilot because isn't that the point of owning a Tesla so you don't have to drive your car someday? Now, with government incentives, this car is $50k.

Nah, that's only if you're throwing in LR and a Premium Interior.

$35k + $6k for AWD + $5k for AP = $46k.

That's before any incentives or gas savings. And you're also getting an ADAS that outperforms Comma, a huge and growing Supercharger network, and all the OTA updates and hardware utilization to come. Skip Enhanced Autopilot software and you're only $5k over the average new car price (before incentives!).

Tesla has built a profitable EV in a market that treats EVs as loss leaders. The market's about to learn a hard lesson.

[1]https://mediaroom.kbb.com/2018-02-01-Average-New-Car-Prices-...

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

#173

Post by CarVac » Thu, Oct 04, 2018, 2:28 AM UTC

FireBeyond wrote: post #138

CarVac wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't count because they were able to change the form factor as they liked, whereas the Model S is a normal-looking sedan with fully exposed wheels.

Do you also not count the Insight? "That's not fair, they were -trying- to make it aerodynamic!" doesn't really fly as an argument.

It's more about the "not-normal"-ness.

The Insight looks like a sporty coupe. The XL1 and EV1 look like pills.

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

#174

Post by rjplatte » Thu, Oct 04, 2018, 2:31 AM UTC

stephengillie wrote: post #100

rjplatte wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My Prius is getting long in the tooth. Good replacement?

356 ft-lb of torque. And the same MPG (50+) in the 2018+ models. You might not beat a Porsche Cayenne, but you'll give it a hard time.

Damn. I enjoy smoking Dodge Neons and older Mustangs light-to-light as it is, but that just sounds fun.

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

#175

Post by greglindahl » Thu, Oct 04, 2018, 2:32 AM UTC

King-Aaron wrote: post #162

greglindahl wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You probably have class warfare in your country, too. You didn't say anything about the average consumer, but they're criticizing you as if you had.

Very much so. However it could be noted that the 'average' Australian income is in the area of $80k/yr ( https://www.livingin-australia.com/salaries-australia/ ) and the purchase of a $60k car is not uncommon at all.

Don't worry -- what usually happens is that someone will show up to complain that the average person in the 3rd world has a much smaller income, therefore you are out of touch.

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

#176

Post by brownbat » Thu, Oct 04, 2018, 2:33 AM UTC

CarVac wrote: post #98

xltk wrote: post #90

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 be…

The door handles are probably a deliberate choice to get the drag down as low as possible, without the expense of motorized handles like the S or motorized doors like the X. No other cars on the road have drag coefficients as low as the Model 3 (or the Model S, for that matter). From what I've seen, Teslas are the only cars that have the B-pillar flush to the glass, and flush, cavity-less door handles. That plus the…

I wonder if the gains would be significant if the regs allowed side mirrors to be replaced with cameras and a screen or projection onto the side windows.

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

#177

Post by threeseed » Thu, Oct 04, 2018, 2:34 AM UTC

ObsoleteNerd wrote: post #154

person_of_color wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You must live in an affluent area. It's a 100k+ car here.

Inner Melbourne (near Prahran). I'm in an apartment complex, and there's 2 downstairs, and I walk past 2 houses with them in the driveway on our ~1.5km walk to my kids favourite park. They are in fancy houses over towards Windsor/St Kilda end, of course, but they're here. You'll also see a couple on Chapel St on any given day walking down it, and plenty around St Kilda (there's a house with an S and X off Fitzroy St…

You live in one of the wealthier suburbs in Australia and so you could play the same game with Ferrari or Porsche etc.

Get back to me when you're seeing them en masse in Frankston, Campbellfield or any other working class suburb.

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

#178

Post by geerlingguy » Thu, Oct 04, 2018, 2:36 AM UTC

MBCook wrote: post #29

alexandros wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait times in the US for the existing models are already low enough that there's basically no backlog. (out of the 420k reservations they had at some point, you can think of it as half those reservations being overseas -- not yet tapped, and of the remaining 210k half or likely more of those are for the 35k version. They've already shipped 91k cars, pretty much only to the US and Canada, so the US/Canada backlog for…

The backlog may be down but I’m with the GP that this was probably pent-up demand. I would expect another jump when (if) the fabled $30,000 model comes out. But can they keep up this level of demand for two years? Three years? I’m not so sure. Only time will tell.

I’m guessing there is a large market of people like me. Happy with my current middle of the road sedan, just waiting until it starts having major issues before looking at the next car.

After test driving a leaf and model S I’ve decided there’s. I way I go for another non-electric, the driving experience is just so much better without the gas engine lag, transmission, noise, muck, maintenance etc.

So I’m a few years the 3 will hopefully be cheaper and on my short list of cars to consider... maybe even used!

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

#179

Post by jchb » Thu, Oct 04, 2018, 2:37 AM UTC

jd20 wrote: post #87

kidsnow wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

You might already know this, but you shouldn't really be washing your car on the driveway, especially if you aren't sure whether your drains there are connected to the sewer pipes, rather than the storm drain. A Tesla will give off less oil products but there is still the soap (phosphate) and rubber dust. A car wash treats and recycles the water.

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

#180

Post by SEJeff » Thu, Oct 04, 2018, 2:41 AM UTC

xltk wrote: post #90

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 be…

The left scrollwheel on the steering wheel handles volume.