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

Post by artificial » Thu, Oct 04, 2018, 2:42 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.

Post by twblalock » Thu, Oct 04, 2018, 2:45 AM UTC

resters wrote: post #161

twblalock wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn’t say Tesla was a bailout, and I didn’t say it was underhanded. I said that Tesla would not have survived without government money, and that is true.

So you are arguing that without that capital Musk would not have been able to raise money from the private sector?

Post by SEJeff » Thu, Oct 04, 2018, 2:46 AM UTC

rootusrootus wrote: post #168

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,…

You really expect it to work out cheaper than an ICE car? Interesting. The Model S, as a data point, is one of the most expensive cars you can own, by total cost of ownership over five years. The 3 is cheaper but still pretty expensive for the class it's in. I guess if you plan on keeping it 10-20 years it might eventually recoup the high capital cost in fuel savings, but that's a pretty daring bet. Good luck!

Post by illumin8 » Thu, Oct 04, 2018, 2:48 AM UTC

kllrnohj wrote: post #128

alexandros wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would like to go on the record as saying that the big car companies of today, short of a miracle, are on track to meet the big mobile phone companies of the pre-iPhone era. Remember when Blackberry, Nokia, Motorola, Alcatel, Sony seemed unassailable?

Both Audi & Jaguar are looking on track to, on their first attempts, quite soundly beat Tesla at the electric SUV game. Similar price, similar range, and vastly better quality. And really if you think about it that shouldn't be surprising. The big car companies today don't need a miracle at all. They are in a pretty good spot. They know how to do all the really hard stuff about building a car (the actual manufacturin…

Post by illumin8 » Thu, Oct 04, 2018, 2:50 AM UTC

jbob2000 wrote: post #167

RickS wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been driving the C class cars through CarToGo, their rideshare-as-marketing operation. They are horrid . Clunky, with seats that could never pass as leather, gaudy plastic bits everywhere, and needlessly complex interfaces. Not to mention their touch screens, which... ugh. They are like a poor person's idea of what a rich person's car might look like. Flash and trim and affectation with no underlying reason what…

I actually really like my 2016 C-class. It has a “hold” feature where, if you are at a stop light, you can give the brake pedal an extra push to “hold” the brakes and you can then take your foot off the brake pedal to rest, while the car keeps the brakes on. Then, when you start to accelerate, it automatically releases the brake and you go, just as if you swapped from the brake pedal to accelerator. You can also do t…