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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

#191

Post by ghouse »

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…

Superchargers in CA cost $0.25/kWh. The model 3 averages If you charge at home, overnight, you pay about $0.125/kWh, which extends the operating cost advantage further.

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

#192

Post by SEJeff »

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.

Things EVs lack or have less chances of breaking:

* Fanbelts

* Flywheels

* Transmissions

* Oil Changes

* Brakes / Brake pads (regenerative breaking makes them last a lot longer)

* Transmissions

* Spark Plugs and wires

When there are less moving parts, there is less chance of them breaking. It really is as simple as that.

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

#193

Post by MetallicCloud »

King-Aaron wrote: post #129
sumeno wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is an absurdly out of touch comment. The vast majority of cars sold in the US aren't even close to $60k. The average new car is only $37k and only about 30% of car purchases are new cars.

Apologies, I'm not from the United States.

As a fellow Aussie, I still find it ludicrous that $60,000 AUD isn't much to spend on a car. Obviously only an anecdote, but I don't know anyone who has bought a car that even approaches that price, let alone for that to be the norm.

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

#194

Post by SEJeff »

jungturk wrote: post #165
kllrnohj wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I wonder if they're behind the curve when it comes to the software that's become so central to the Tesla experience.

Dealer network contractually prevents them from doing OTA updates for most things. I was told this at a Ford dealership (I've got a Fiesta and a Model 3) when I asked they they couldn't OTA update the old Sync voice nav vs putting in a USB drive to update some stuff with it recently.

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

#195

Post by mjamesaustin »

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…

To say Audi & Jaguar are on track to soundly beat Tesla is pretty presumptuous.

Tesla has a cost and experience advantage on batteries and electric powertrains. It becomes clear when you compare the stats of these competitors and realize they require 90kwh and 95kwh batteries to achieve the same range as a 75 kwh Model X.

That's not to mention the elephant in the room, which is fast charging. Tesla's supercharger network is leaps and bounds ahead of anyone else.

I'm hopeful Tesla will face some good competition from traditional automakers, but it's silly to act as if they've already been beat.

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

#196

Post by SEJeff »

wmf wrote: post #92
threeseed wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> there is an opportunity for upstarts who only do electric to take on gas cars. Sure. But the mistake everyone makes is that the drive train technology is not what differentiates a car. It's the brand, the design, quality of interior, availability etc. Those are much harder for upstarts to get right as we've seen with Tesla.

And I don't know if Tesla's drive train is that far ahead. Cars like the i-Pace have copied the dual-motor "skateboard" chassis, reasonable range, fast charging, etc. while including all the benefits of established car design/manufacturing.

Anecdotally, this teardown report seems to refute your statement a bit:

https://cleantechnica.com/2018/02/19/tesla-model-3-stuns-ger...

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

#197

Post by stephengillie »

wharryman wrote: post #143
rjplatte wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

My wife and I spent a lot of time deliberating between getting a Prius Prime (plug-in hybrid) and a Model 3. We have an 09 Camry Hybrid. FWIW, our Camry Hybrid is nice, but the battery halves trunk space, and the accel is sloooow compared to a normal Camry (which we owned before that). Fully loaded, the Prime is ~35k, and theoretically has more or at least equivalent features, can travel about 25 miles on EV alone, w…

> accel is sloooow compared to a normal Camry

Performance has consistently increased. My 2016 will beat a 2017 Altima up a steep hill. I test drove both up a hill that's between the Toyota and Nissan dealerships. Hybrid torque is noticable.

No HUD, and sadly no self-parking. The infotainment system feels a little simple and aged, but everything works. No Android Auto or iDrive(?) but Bluetooth works well. Only adaptive cruise, no normal cruise (or I forgot where is that button), and the follow distance is on a button on the steering wheel - so you can cycle between 160 ft, 130 ft, & 100 ft whenever you want.

It's like a 2007 Lexus, with fresh batteries and engine. The dash has 2 actual dials, and a programmable phone-sized screen. Climate controls are just 2 dials and a few buttons. The steering wheel is almost a video game controller - it has 2 D-pads and other buttons to control most things - audio controls, phone controls, menus, adaptive cruise, etc. And most of these have another control that the passenger can use too.

Grabbing the door handle, with the key in your pocket, unlocks the door - every Tesla is more complicated to enter.

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

#198

Post by dunpeal »

stephengillie wrote: post #155
muraiki wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, if there was ever a perfect example of someone misunderstanding what "Autopilot" does in a manner that could have killed somebody, this is it!

Can we stop calling the Tesla driver assistance package by its inaccurate brand name? It is harmful.

And maybe Tesla shouldn't give its features brand names that are inaccurate and put lives at risk?

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

#199

Post by Latteland »

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…

You needed to do at least read the minimal manual provided in the car's screen or on the web at tesla.com. Autopilot does not stop at stop signs or for people. You can't use it to drive the car when you are drunk. It's not for merging lanes. The things it does are following lanes as they curve, slowing down on curves, and detecting a car in front of you and slowing down. They have demonstrated other things, but it's not a full autopilot.

The volume can be controlled by the spinning dials in the steering wheel.

The supercharging stations charge just as they were advertised. When the car is mostly empty, they charge faster, and as the battery is more full they have to slow down the charging rate. This is how they are defined to work.

The door handles are slightly difficult to use.

It's not for everyone, and it's no crime not to like some things about it. But using the autopilot without understanding it's limitations could have lead to death for someone.

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

#200

Post by stephengillie »

Apocryphon wrote: post #56
stephengillie wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There is only a finite number of people willing/able to spend $1k on a mobile phone. A small modification.

The two values you're comparing differ by 60x.

Is a car 60x more useful than a phone? (Honest question, and probably varies by user. Though most cars last longer than most phones.)
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