FYI, the Model 3 images used by @AutoExpress were mock-ups based on their own speculation.
Tesla Model III to challenge BMW 3 Series
31–40 of 90 posts
Re: Tesla Model III to challenge BMW 3 Series
#32It's entirely possible the naming decisions are being made by Musk himself. If they are not, I find this article an irritating exemplar of the CEO-centric view of the world that many articles -- and many CEOs -- seem to take. If they are , well, that goes double.
Musk isn't just a CEO. He's their Steve Jobs -- co-founder and visionary. He's chief product architect. And he's also the money. I think he deserves the right to have a CEO-centric view of his company.
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Re: Tesla Model III to challenge BMW 3 Series
#33Re: Tesla Model III to challenge BMW 3 Series
#34I really hope they make a compact pickup for the industrial sector, Ford pulled out of that market with the Ranger.
Re: Tesla Model III to challenge BMW 3 Series
#35Got to drive a Tesla last weekend. If this car is anything like the one I drove, even remotely close, Tesla wins. And I'm not even talking about the electronics panel.
Re: Tesla Model III to challenge BMW 3 Series
#36I surely hope Tesla will get this car to market on time. The timeline of 2016-2017 seems very aggressive given the Gigafactory has not even found a location let allow begun producing batteries. Elon has noted that a big issue with the "cheaper" Tesla was getting battery cost down aka building the factory to produce them at huge scale. Combine this with producing a more easily purchased vehicle due to lower price and I could see a battery shortage issue.
My second hope: that the Model III won't have a 3 month lead time like the Model S currently does.
Re: Tesla Model III to challenge BMW 3 Series
#37If the Tesla Model E was going to be sued by Ford for their E-Series vans, won't the the Tesla Model 3 get sued by BMW for their 3-Series cars?
Re: Tesla Model III to challenge BMW 3 Series
#38Earlier quoted context omitted.
If Ford is suing them for Model E, they would undoubtedly sue them for Model T.
The Model T is over 100 years old now, surely Ford can't have a monopoly on a name that long right?
Trademarks don't expire as long as you keep using them - and you don't have to use them in necessarily very conspicuous ways (that's the reason all iMac boxes have "Think Different" in small lettering on the side[1]). I wouldn't be surprised if Ford still maintained the Model T trademark.
[1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Think_different#Product_packagi...
Re: Tesla Model III to challenge BMW 3 Series
#39Re: Tesla Model III to challenge BMW 3 Series
#40A $35,000 price (before presumed tax rebates) would really make this car a very much more main-stream vehicle rather than a "Luxury Car". If they can pull off the whole charger network expansion thing, this will be Tesla's bread and butter car for a while.
Tesla typically markets the price of their car inclusive of tax rebates. Pricing it below an entry-level 3-series would be foolish, so I'd definitely expect to see it at ~$43k (probably $45k with 2 years of inflation).
Elon Musk has said before that the $35k price point is assuming that the $7500 federal tax credit is no longer available. http://insideevs.com/highlights-from-teslas-2nd-quarter-qa/
He's also said that the price point will the equivalent to this price point so I'd assume that it will be adjusted for inflation as well. Then after options (supercharging, tech package, maybe larger battery pack, etc), a more realistic price point would be between $40-55k. But for a stripped down version, you'd still be able to get away with $35k.